Far Eastern Fells

From here it’s a simple matter to descend by to the hause and continue on a good path which eventually twists round the beautiful Angle Tarn before heading to High Street.

I had other hills in mind however, and after rounding Satura Crag guessed that a thin path heading east would lead me onto the shoulder of Rest Dodd (2278ft), which it did.

From then it was a simple matter of keeping roughly south-east, nearly rejoining the High Street path, before the easy rise to Rampsgill Head (2581ft). Glancing ahead, the cairn on Kidsty Pike, just a few hundred yards away, was positively thronged. Maybe I should have made the effort but didn’t, continuing on the easy mile to High Raise (2634ft).

High Raise is the dominating fell of this little group, by virtue of its rocky top just about distinctive enough to be thought of as more than a satellite of High Street.

There is a subsidiary top, Wether Hill (2211ft), like Kidsty Pike a Wainwright but not a Hewitt, but unlike the Pike my route ran directly across it, following the old Roman road that traversed this hills. Over to my left, the Northern Fells looked inviting in the sun.

The Northern fells from Wether Hill

Just to show that the Romans could do crooked, the Roman road contoured round Loadpot Hill (2201ft), but I did not, for it was the last of the day’s five Hewitts. It’s an interesting place, with the relic of a shooting lodge just before the top, even if one of the flattest summits in Lakeland.

All that remained now was to descend to Ullswater. The top may be flat but its flank heading down to Howtown was not. I knew there was a path that headed down through the bracken, but how to find it? I had my 60-year old Wainwright guide with me, and really should have opened it, for it would have shown that the simple way was to join up with the former Roman road just below the summit and continue past some tarns above Brock Crag, the sketchy path soon becoming clear as it steepened.

Instead I continued north until I knew I was just above a beck that dropped to Howtown, then turned west. That’s not bad practice in itself; I didn’t want to get caught on the wrong (south) side of the beck. It wasn’t long before I could see the good path below me, and I was soon at valley level in the Howtown Hotel with enough time to sit on the grass in the sunshine and enjoy a pint. I would have enjoyed it even more if the pub were not almost the only one in Lakeland not to serve real ale. Still, the steamer jetty was not far away, and a boat trip is a very nice way to end a day.

From here it’s a simple plod, following fences, roughly west over the intervening heights of Great Yarlside and Harrop Pike to the first of the four fells, Gray Crag (2293ft). I was met by Tina and Anna plus dog, and we roughly shared the mile to its neighbour Tarn Crag (2178ft). They had come up from Longsleddale, and soon returned the same way, but I was sticking to the high ground a bit longer.

Branstree (2339ft) is a simple down-and-up plod, albeit with the day’s best views of the High Street range; it’s an entirely featureless top, unless you count a stone circle on a rectangular base that once house a (temporary?) trig point; surprisingly Wainwright, writing in 1957, made no reference to it. Things improve though on the descent, with bits of rock (Artle Crag) and a fine cairn.

The day’s final hill, Selside Pike (2149ft), is not too far now. To get there you have to pass through the tricky-sounding Captain Whelter Bog, but it was no worse than other bits of marshy ground earlier on.

Mosedale Cottage bothy, the following day

Navigation had been no problem so far, with clear paths and fences in excellent visibility. To get down to my night stop, the Mosedale Cottage bothy, needed a bit more thought. After a short descent, I contoured round beneath some crags before veering right on steeper ground. There were wall gaps in just the right places, so someone must have done this before.

I walked out the next morning, in totally different conditions – mist and rain. It’s five miles of featureless moorland, NE then NNE, with not just the one track shown by OS but many, so keep your wits about you. I quite like this sort of thing, and there was a mega bonus in the end in the unexpected shape of one of Britain’s best chippies waiting for me in Shap.

This had the merit of giving me time to get up to the Lake District, in a similar way to the Far Far Eastern Fells described above. Indeed, the same cabbie took me to Kentmere church, an ideal jumping off point.

From here there’s a brief mile or so in the valley to Hallow Bank, the jumping off point for the steady ascent of Kentmere Pike (2400ft). It’s unusual for a popular Lakeland ascent in not being a right-of-way, but has clearly been in use as long as fellwalking has been a popular pastime in these parts.

From here it was a simple matter to drop down the NW ridge of Harter Fell, and then the Nan Bield pass, to reach Small Water, and an excellent pitch in this classic corrie.

The ‘awkward bit’ of this excursion followed in the morning. How to get to Blea Water, and hence Rough Crag, without dropping down to Mardale Beck? I had a rough plan, but was prepared to follow the ground, and just past the stone shelters that are a feature of Small Water spotted a thin path heading in roughly the right direction.

Absolutely the right choice it was. I knew there was a route from Blea Water to Mardale Ill Bell over Piot Crag, and it seems this was an adjunct to it. Just by taking a bit of care at a couple of path junctions, I was soon at Blea Water without touching virgin ground. Rough Crag (2060ft) loomed ahead, the high point of the excellent east ridge of High Street, but a simple enough climb from here.

And next of course was the ridge itself, my first time on it, and an excellent way onto the plateau-summit of High Street – a revisit for me, of course.

Turning south, the three western peaks of the horseshoe were clearly in view, closely grouped. First came Froswick (2360ft), then the major peak of Ill Bell (2484ft), and then the least exciting, Yoke (2316ft). There are a few bits of steepness on the first two, but the main issue today was the wind, especially on the two cols either side of Ill Bell. Very much ‘stand your ground’ time.

Typically, the horseshoe is completed a mile south of Yoke, turning east to Kentmere by the Garburn Pass. That was no use to me, as I wanted trains, and it’s quite practical to walk to Windermere station by the Garburn Road and the Longmire Road (in reality, they are tracks not roads). I deliberately added in a little diversion to Orrest Head, where Wainwright had first fallen in love with the Lake District, and determined to make it his life’s work: it’s a great panorama, from the Old Man to Ill Bell.