The walk starts with a stroll through Rydal park. Our destination ahead was clouded in mist from Great Rigg onwards. It was a warm sultry type of day. Our first planned stop was a the coffee shop in Rydal Hall. We arrived just behind a rambling club so it took an age to get served but was well worth it – the best scones in the Lake district. Stocked up
we marched on, passed Rydal Mount and then left up the path on the south west ridge of Nab Scar. The hillside was covered with beautiful foxgloves amongst the bracken. Views down to Rydal water and Loughrigg beyond opened up as we climbed. Once on Nab Scar the first arm the horseshoe opened out with the next summit Heron Pike seeming high and distant but soon reached on a good path, Great Rigg and Fairfield in the distance were still shrouded in cloud. Off Heron Pike it is a lovely ridge walk down and then up to Great Rigg but the temperature was getting cooler as we gained height. We were walking at about cloud level now , the mist coming and going, the summit of Fairfield visible one minute and covered in black cloud the next. As we reached the top the, it latter conditions that prevailed, cold misty and windy – so we took shelter in one of the stone shelters (very effective) for our lunch. The Rydal scones had done a great job getting us this far.
No one in sight – unusual as there have commonly been several groups up when we have been here before. Just as we were leaving the cloud cleared giving us great views across to the Helvellyn ridge and perhaps, more importantly, good views of the path across to Hart Crag. I have had to use the compass several times on the top of Fairfield to get the correct rout of the summit. Refreshed after lunch it was a great walk along the tops, descending a little before the next climb but still very windy, a marked contrast from the warm sticky weather
when we had set off. Previously we have skirted round the summit of Hart Crag but this time, no short cuts allowed. Quite a rocky descent from Hart Crag then followed the wall up to Dove Crag, getting the views across to Patterdale and the eastern fells bathed in sunlight with fantastic cloud shadows on the fellside, but the western fells remained dark and sinister in cloud. We were just on the border but unfortunately, mainly out of the sun. Because of the strengthening wind we kept on the lee (left)side of the wall from Dove Crag as we started the long treck back to Ambleside over High Pike and Low Pike. The descent can be made on either side of the wall. Again the summits are often bypassed when completing the horseshoe but both had to be climbed today a particularly nice detour up Low Oike which looks as though it may involve a scramble but the path skirts around any difficulties.
We had now moved into the sunny side of the weather system and a, warm sunny evening stroll took us down over low Sweden Bridge, tired and weary back to the car park at Ambleside College.
Time 7hrs 15mns
Memories
· Foxgloves
· Weather changes
· Sunny to the east Dark and cloudy to the west
Grade Excellent
Completed 50 To go 164
No one in sight – unusual as there have commonly been several groups up when we have been here before. Just as we were leaving the cloud cleared giving us great views across to the Helvellyn ridge and perhaps, more importantly, good views of the path across to Hart Crag. I have had to use the compass several times on the top of Fairfield to get the correct rout of the summit. Refreshed after lunch it was a great walk along the tops, descending a little before the next climb but still very windy, a marked contrast from the warm sticky weather
when we had set off. Previously we have skirted round the summit of Hart Crag but this time, no short cuts allowed. Quite a rocky descent from Hart Crag then followed the wall up to Dove Crag, getting the views across to Patterdale and the eastern fells bathed in sunlight with fantastic cloud shadows on the fellside, but the western fells remained dark and sinister in cloud. We were just on the border but unfortunately, mainly out of the sun. Because of the strengthening wind we kept on the lee (left)side of the wall from Dove Crag as we started the long treck back to Ambleside over High Pike and Low Pike. The descent can be made on either side of the wall. Again the summits are often bypassed when completing the horseshoe but both had to be climbed today a particularly nice detour up Low Oike which looks as though it may involve a scramble but the path skirts around any difficulties.We had now moved into the sunny side of the weather system and a, warm sunny evening stroll took us down over low Sweden Bridge, tired and weary back to the car park at Ambleside College.
Time 7hrs 15mns
Memories
· Foxgloves
· Weather changes
· Sunny to the east Dark and cloudy to the west
Grade Excellent
Completed 50 To go 164
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