I woke up at Ambleside on the last day of my long weekend to a lovely sunny but bitter cold morning and drove the short distance to Hartsop. My route today would see me coming down to the Kirkstone Inn and over the other side so when I drove past it and looked up to the left, it didn't half look steep. There was only a couple of cars in the Cow Bridge car park, but no cows. Plenty of sheep so maybe it should be Ewe Bridge, which is just beside Ewe Bend ;-)
My route would take me beside the main road in the woods and then up through them towards Hartsop Above How and a steep ascent onto Hart Crag summit. Again, the first part of the walk was done in t-shirt as I was sheltered against the wind and the climb wasn't too steep but again my legs were still tired. The fleece and jacket would soon go back on though as I got higher and it got more exposed.
As I got higher, the views behind me got better and it wasn't long before I could see over towards the High Street range of hills and the Thornthwaite Crag beacon that can be seen from miles around. As I approached Hart Crag, the path was going to take me basically straight up the side but it wasn't as bad as it looked from a distance and the path was quite easy to follow, only a few places that you needed to use your hands.
I reached the summit, the same summit that I'd stood at the day before and walked like I had done previously down then up to Dove Crag, stopping between them to have my lunch sheltered from the bitter wind behind a wall and looking across to where Kidsty Pike is and the High Street hills, a lovely view indeed. I could have sat here ages but the wind was getting stronger, I was going to be walking mostly into it and rain was forecast for about 5pm.
After Dove Crag I left the path that I'd walked the day before and cut across to join a path that led towards Little Hart Crag but before that summit I cut off and downwards to High Hartsop Dodd. Although the wind was bitter, the views around were fantastic. The walk back uphill towards Little Hart Crag against the wind was quite sapping and I was glad to get to the side of the last little climb for a rest as it was sheltered. After summiting it, there was no time to hang about or did I wish to in the cold.
The next hill on the list would be Middle Dodd which is basically just a ridge walk from Red Screes, the walk from Little Hart Crag to the ridge ran alongside a wall which gave a welcome bit of shelter at times. Just before the top of the ridge, a path cuts off and leads you down to Middle Dodd.
I was enjoying the views but wasn't enjoying the bitter wind but I knew that once I had descended Red Screes, the final 2 hills were in the opposite direction and I would have the wind behind me. Thankfully when I got to Red Screes, there was a shelter where I finished off the snacks that I had left in my bag.
This was the part of the walk I wasn't looking forward to, the descent to the Kirkstone Inn, and so it proved. If anyone has done this descent, they will know how steep it is, a photo just doesn't do it justice plus the strong wind into my face made this descent not one of my favourites, I was just glad that the path was not wet.
After a bit of scrambling down and many steep steps, I finally reached the pub car park and a big sigh of relief. I looked back and couldn't even see the path I had come down. I pondered a quick pint but the home stretch was in sight.
Climbing up to Stoney Cove Pike felt quite easy but maybe that's because I wasn't walking into the wind anymore and it didn't seem long before I reached the summit and this gave me great views across to the nearby Thornthwaite Crag and the hills on the Kentmere Horseshoe.
I turned left and a welcome break from the wind which was now behind me as I strode downhill towards the last hill of the day Hartsop Dodd. It was quite a steep descent down from the summit that took you to the other car park in Hartsop and along the road then pavement to the car park.
Again, this walk falls into the "I'd like to do this again in better conditions" category but it was still a lovely walk with fantastic views all around.
