Sun 4 Jan 2015
The first fell walk in the new year of 2015! Off to the Lakes with Andrew. It was very frosty but the sun shone brightly on the fells. We parked on the Dockray road car park near Aira Force and took the path through Glencoin Park opposite. It is quite a twisty path, and at first appears to be contouring the hillside instead of climbing. The last section, a zig-zag beyond a gate in a wall, is very steep. Reaching the terrace path just beyond Swineside Knott we paused for photographs of the excellent view along both reaches of Ullswater.
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| Ullswater from the terrace below Swineside Knott |
Continuing on, we found the ruined sheepfold shown by AW but the distance to it on the ground is a lot further than it appears from his diagram. After the hole in the wall further on, the path leaving the main route is very vague. Eventually it becomes more definite nearing the wall. We turned to follow it up the steep lower slopes of Hart Side to Birkett Fell. The wind had started up and it was icy. We met a guy with a sheep dog at the cairn. He said he had come over Great Dodd and Stybarrow Dodd without seeing a soul, adding that it was incredibly inhospitable there. After a chat we continued to Hart Side summit along a distinct but wet track.
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| The summit plateau. There are several cairns. |
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| Captain Scott? By gum, it wer cowd! |
It was extremely cold in the relentless strong wind, and it was impossible to stay there for long. We gave but a summary glance at the ditch which intrigued AW, and visited two or three of the cairns on the plateau to ensure we had got to the summit. I don't think Andrew gave his Banzai cry - at least I didn't hear it because of the wind!
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| The trench on the summit |
We returned to the wall and in its shelter began our lunch. As had happened once before on neighbouring Sheffield Pike I drank some coffee but as we were talking I forgot to eat anything! I don't always feel hungry when really I ought to eat.
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| Sheffield Pike from the slopes of Hart Side |
We descended to the the main path we had used earlier. From there we could see Green Side which I had climbed in the mist and snow on 27 February 1999 on my ascent of Stybarrow Dodd. It was in the shelter there that I 'lost' my Wainwright guide, not a good thing to do with visibility down to five or six yards.
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| Nick Head and Green Side |
We had earlier intended to follow AW’s suggestion and contour along to Swineside Knott, and Andrew set off with great gusto. I took a sheep trod which petered out at a boulder and decided I’d had enough so slid gently down to the path on my backside!
We carelessly went wrong later at the wall corner and had some extra tiring yards to cover before reaching the road at Dockray. Then followed an easy downhill plod to the car park.
A good day but an exhausting one for me on the steep slopes. And was it really cold on Hart Side!
