Saint Sunday, Devil of a Saturday - Look at a couple of photos around Arnison Crag in my November 2002 album

Having driven northwards through the mist over Kirkstone Pass, I can see along the valley of Patterdale and my planned target for the day, Place Fell, is covered in mist but Arnison Crag is clear. I have tried to find Arnison Crag a couple of times whilst descending from St. Sunday Crag but have managed to miss it, so today I'll try to find it on the way up.

From the village of Patterdale take the path going behind the Post Office, past the best public toilets in the Lake District, and soon take a muddy path going off to the left. In a few minutes you arrive at a stone wall with a gate, don't go through the gate but follow the wall uphill. Accompanied by the wall, the climb is not too steep and you are surrounded by autumn's contrasting colours and as you gain height there is a rapidly improving view of Ullswater if you look backwards.

There is a point, after a mini rock face on the left, where the path fades as you come to steeper ground, I could have carried on but chose to follow a vague hairpin bend in the path that completely faded out at a much steeper slope. Rule 2 applies in these cases – if in doubt then climb, and I was soon standing on the delightful summit of Arnison Crag. A fine, colourful summit with rocks and a couple of cairns with fantastic views over Ullswater, Glenamara Park, Sheffield Pike and the mist on the tops of Place Fell and Helvellyn.

Down the other side of the summit I rejoined the path by the wall and set off towards Trough Head when the rain came in, I tried to ignore the rain for a couple of minutes but it was persistent and cold and was obviously going to keep me company for a while. At least when it's raining like this the visibility is reasonable even though it is too wet to use the camera.

At Trough Head a faint path starts to climb the fell but seems to meander along the contours heading in the direction of Deepdale Hause so I decided to apply Rule 2 again. Slanting upwards over the pathless fell in the direction of the highest ground I found the remains of a wall leading uphill accompanied by a faint path that I followed. After a while I came across a couple of cairns and the path disappeared again, so I continued uphill and eventually reached the ridge about 100 yards away from the slim cairn that probably indicates the start of the path down to Trough Head.

I set off along the ridge in the direction of St. Sunday Crag, by now the wing was strong enough to make my forehead ache and I was battered by it all along the ridge and I can't say whether I reached the summit of Birks or not. The ridge ends at a small col where the main path from Patterdale to St. Sunday Crag is joined just before the haul to the next ridge begins, at least the wind has subsided a little.

The climb up to the ridge is steep but with good rocky steps, the grass soon left behind, the view quickly disappears as the mist rolls in, it is still raining and the wind is even stronger when I get to the summit ridge. It's another battering from the wind as I walk along the ridge to the the summit in very poor visibility. This is an excellent walking ridge and especially towards Deepdale Hause it becomes narrower and more exhilarating, not that I can tell in this visibility.

Having descended to Deepdale Hause, Grisedale Tarn appears briefly as I reach the cairn marking the start of the path direct to the tarn. The better option is to ascend Fairfield, the scramble over Cofa Pike is interesting and when you can see how close to the edge you are it is quite exhilarating. At the expansive flat summit my old friend Fairfield is as inhospitable as ever but still there is a constant stream of people who keep appearing out of the mist.

As always I check the compass before attempting to leave Fairfield summit, whilst I have stopped at the summit shelter I change my top gloves because they are sodden but while being stopped my hands have got cold. I set off eastwards in the direction of Hart Crag and my hands are numb with cold, too cold to fasten my bootlace that has become unfastened. Still being battered by the wind there is no shelter on this summit plateau in which to get out of it so I carried on over to Hart Crag, follow the main path and bypass the summit cairn, taking the cairned path to the left towards Hartsop above How.

There is a rocky scramble to get off Hart Crag and in the shelter of boulders I stopped to put my hands inside my jacket for a few minutes, I must have made a pathetic looking figure. Boots fastened and hands partially thawed I set off down the rest of the scramble, interesting in the dry but care required over the bare rocks in the wet, still being battered by the wind and my ears ringing as the hailstones hit the hood of my jacket. At least the hands on nature of the scramble brought my fingers back to life.

The ridge of Hartsop above How is another exhilarating walk and the summit with its steep sides and deep gully is a fine place to be, except for today in the wind and the hail when the normally wet path has become an exceedingly muddy swamp. Only after descending from the summit cairn did the wind ease off a bit and the rain settled down to a drizzle did I got a view of the valleys below on either side. The wet grassy path descended easily to Deepdale Bridge, leaving a short-ish walk along the road back to Patterdale.

Definitely a walk to be done again in good weather.

Andy Wallace 30th November 2002