WWW.KARLSWALKS.CO.UK
PICTURES AND TRIP REPORTS FROM MY WALKS IN THE ENGLISH LAKE DISTRICT
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E-mail - karl@karlswalks.co.uk |
Not a great forecast for the bank holiday ( in the Lakes anyway, most other places seemed to be quite nice ) Undeterred I set out for a walk and a camp around and above the lovely Dunnerdale valley.
Low cloud and drizzly rain was my lot for today which was a shame as some of the long range views are very nice. I left my car on the patch of open ground by the Seathwaite to Cockley Beck road. The signpost across the road points to the Fickle stepping stones across the river Duddon.
I went the other way down into the shallow valley below Seathwaite Tarn. Even on a very dull day the bluebells were lovely to see..
The path follows Tarn Beck upstream. It's quite clear and dry at first but around this point it fades as it crosses a very wet area but I just followed the beck..
The first thing that I wanted to see today was the falls in Tarn Beck so after crossing this bridge I left the line of the path and made my way up hill following the falls..
There was no path and sometimes the going was a bit rough but nothing too bad..
The falls were as good as I hoped they would be and the time seemed to fly by as I discovered some dramatic cascades .....
.
..... and lots of summertime swimming holes.
I took a bit of video which you can watch here- https://youtu.be/hLJQ_01ICmc?si=cLz3HXw_ZAHHH84O make sure your sound is on!.
All to soon the ground leveled out so when I reached the sheepfold marked on the map I made a left turn uphill passing Loft Rigg How and then Troutal Fell..
And after a while the summit of Grey Friar was reached..
The "Matterhorn" rock. No long range views to the Helvellyn fells which normally set the rock of.
And after a bit more walking in the mist Brim Fell was reached.
As was the Dow Crag. The rock today was extremely slippery and I had seen two or three people have a fall so I by-passed the very top of Dow Crag. This is one of the gullies passed on the way to Buck Pike..
Finally after pitching up on White Pike I started to get some views..
Harter Fell was the first to appear.
Looking over to the Blawith Fells. The tarn is Beacon Tarn.
Pikes and Caw which I will be climbing tomorrow.
The Green Crag group are clear now as well as Harter. There still looks to be cloud over lower Eskdale though.
My pitch on White Pike with Black Combe in the background.
The fells walked earlier are clear now. Brown Pike is the top on the right with Buck Pike the next along then Dow Crag. Coniston Old Man is the fell in the right background.
Finally the Scafell range starts to appear..
Not the best sunset ever but after being in cloud all day it was very welcome.
Misty still on the Great Moss.
The sun burst through the clouds for about thirty seconds.
A lot clearer in the morning although Eskdale still seems to be under an inversion.
The Blawith Fells and the low lying land to the south are wreathed in a lovely morning mist.
It's a very steep path down from White Pike but these two seem to be keeping a close eye, making sure I'm ok.
Looking back to White Pike.
It might be a brighter day but the Scafell's are still covered..
And as I reach Caw I find that the mist has risen from the valley to meet me. Luckily it retreated again after a few minutes.
From Caw I followed the path down to the quarry which was next on my list to explore.
The quarry building and level..
The level was quite a bit more extensive than I was expecting so although I got wet feet I had to have a look. I took another video https://youtu.be/zaOEPhpHJ1I
I was thinking about the old quarrymen who had dug into the side of the fell, built the quarry buildings and even made this smooth road that I was walking down on now.
This lot wanted to have a word with me about that lamb burger I had in the Newfield Inn a few years ago but luckily their baa was worse than their bite so I escaped unscathed. I called in the Newfield Inn for a second (sheep free ) breakfast and then walked along the road to my car.
Previous walk - Castlerigg to Great Langdale - Next walk - A round from Ambleside and a night on Scrubby Crag