High Street by Long Stile
After three months away from mountains I couldn't keep away from them any longer. So boots or no boots and despite the poor weather forecast I set off first thing yesterday and was at the Mardale Head car park at the end of Haweswater Reservoir by ten o'clock. My aim for the day was to walk up the narrow eastern ridge of High Street because I'd never been up High Street that way before and I thought it might be a good route. Unfortunately the weather wasn't very good and treated me to low cloud and drizzle, sometimes heavy, almost all day. However, this failed to dampen my enthusiasm as I was just happy to be out onto the hills again.
I started off walking around the shore of Haweswater towards The Rigg before striking off up the steep hill side. The first picture was taken from the start of the ridge looking out across Haweswater. At this time it looked like the weather might improve; there appeared to be breaks in the clouds where one could glimpse blue sky but this hope was soon shattered as I quickly plunged into the clouds never to emerge from them again. (Or at least until the end of the walk!) Climbing the ridge I passed over the rocky crags continually climbing until I arrived on the top of Rough Crag with its small cairn and 628m spot height. The wind at this point was very strong, you could hardly stand, and yet I wasn't alone.
The Lake District always amazes me; it doesn't matter how bad the weather is there are always loads of people out walking over the hills. Yesterday was no different; there were three other groups of people walking up the ridge at the same time as me. Instead of having the hills to yourself you are continually saying "How do?" to people as you or they pass by. The advantage of having all these people around is when you run into problems someone will be along soon enough to help. Plus the large numbers of people have beat clear paths all over the Lake District making navigation relatively easy. The problem is not finding the path but following the right one! I don't begrudge all these people, they are a part of what makes the Lake District what it is: a relatively safe area to walk. There are far more dangerous areas in the country.
After a short descent from the top of Rough Crag I began the much steeper, more fun, ascent up Long Stile climbing up the rocks with occasionally hands needed on the rocks for support in the slippery, wet conditions.
Eventually I reached the top of the ridge at the marker cairn and followed the path across the summit plateau to the partially collapsed stone wall that passes along High Street. Turning left I followed this wall until I reached the Trig point and two cairns that mark the summit. Sheltering behind the wall I had my lunch and pondered on where everyone else was. I had the summit all to myself. After I had eaten I set off again heading south beside the wall for a short time before I reached a cairn and a path veering off to the left. Following this path I proceeded across the exposed hillside towards Mardale Ill Bell, passing over this hillock and down to Nan Beld Pass.
After a short rest in the solidly contructed shelter I climbed up the rocky face of Harter Fell to the top. The picture, left, shows the summit cairn with its debree, probably left overs from an old boundary fence, the new one visible in the background. After taking my pictures I turned left and followed the fence along the top of Harter Fell passing more cairns with their fence cast offs before plunging down over Little Harter Fell to the Gatescarth Pass. Descending the byway from the pass I returned to Mardale Head where the clouds seemed lower than ever.
The final picture in this report was taken as I headed back to Mardale Head and is of the view up the valley. The becks from Small Water and Blea Water can be seen on either side of the valley, the clouds obscuring the view of anything above 450 m. It was a very enjoyable if brief walk. I'm used to walks taking all day but in December anything more than six hours will be ending in the dark. My old boots performed well after almost a year of disuse, my wet feet failing to dampen my enjoyment of being back in the hills. Let's see if I can get back into the hills before the year is out.
I started off walking around the shore of Haweswater towards The Rigg before striking off up the steep hill side. The first picture was taken from the start of the ridge looking out across Haweswater. At this time it looked like the weather might improve; there appeared to be breaks in the clouds where one could glimpse blue sky but this hope was soon shattered as I quickly plunged into the clouds never to emerge from them again. (Or at least until the end of the walk!) Climbing the ridge I passed over the rocky crags continually climbing until I arrived on the top of Rough Crag with its small cairn and 628m spot height. The wind at this point was very strong, you could hardly stand, and yet I wasn't alone.The Lake District always amazes me; it doesn't matter how bad the weather is there are always loads of people out walking over the hills. Yesterday was no different; there were three other groups of people walking up the ridge at the same time as me. Instead of having the hills to yourself you are continually saying "How do?" to people as you or they pass by. The advantage of having all these people around is when you run into problems someone will be along soon enough to help. Plus the large numbers of people have beat clear paths all over the Lake District making navigation relatively easy. The problem is not finding the path but following the right one! I don't begrudge all these people, they are a part of what makes the Lake District what it is: a relatively safe area to walk. There are far more dangerous areas in the country.
After a short descent from the top of Rough Crag I began the much steeper, more fun, ascent up Long Stile climbing up the rocks with occasionally hands needed on the rocks for support in the slippery, wet conditions.
Eventually I reached the top of the ridge at the marker cairn and followed the path across the summit plateau to the partially collapsed stone wall that passes along High Street. Turning left I followed this wall until I reached the Trig point and two cairns that mark the summit. Sheltering behind the wall I had my lunch and pondered on where everyone else was. I had the summit all to myself. After I had eaten I set off again heading south beside the wall for a short time before I reached a cairn and a path veering off to the left. Following this path I proceeded across the exposed hillside towards Mardale Ill Bell, passing over this hillock and down to Nan Beld Pass.
After a short rest in the solidly contructed shelter I climbed up the rocky face of Harter Fell to the top. The picture, left, shows the summit cairn with its debree, probably left overs from an old boundary fence, the new one visible in the background. After taking my pictures I turned left and followed the fence along the top of Harter Fell passing more cairns with their fence cast offs before plunging down over Little Harter Fell to the Gatescarth Pass. Descending the byway from the pass I returned to Mardale Head where the clouds seemed lower than ever.
The final picture in this report was taken as I headed back to Mardale Head and is of the view up the valley. The becks from Small Water and Blea Water can be seen on either side of the valley, the clouds obscuring the view of anything above 450 m. It was a very enjoyable if brief walk. I'm used to walks taking all day but in December anything more than six hours will be ending in the dark. My old boots performed well after almost a year of disuse, my wet feet failing to dampen my enjoyment of being back in the hills. Let's see if I can get back into the hills before the year is out.
posted by David Keates at 3:52 pm
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