The low morning sun is glistening off the still waters of Haweswater and the bright green evergreens, standing tall like soldiers on a parade ground are reflecting on the water and forming a green sandwich filling between the dark blue of the lake below and the light blue of the cloudless skies above. All was peaceful in my little camper spot last night, I had it to myself, drinking cold beer as I watched the sun go down over Kidsty Pike, which happens to be the first objective of today’s walk. It’s going to be a long one, a circular walk taking in Kidsty Pike, High Raise, Rampsgill Head, The Knott, High Street and finally Mardale Ill Bell. Six tops on what is forecast to be a hot day, so I pack plenty of liquid.
It’s a short walk along the road to the main car park at the head of Hawswater and I take the lakeside path that leads around the lakeshore to Riggindale. Looking back, Harter Fell looks impressive, its steep north face plunging down from its summit to the fields below. A footbridge crosses Riggindale Beck and looking up the smooth sided valley of Riggindale I can see Kidsty Pike jutting out on the skyline.
The ascending starts here but height is quickly gained on a good grassy footpath. Looking back to the shores of Haweswater (the lake is low after a dry summer) I can see some of the old intake walls leading down to what was the little hamlet of Mardale Green. This small village was drowned when Manchester Corporation dammed the lake in the late 1930’s turning it into a reservoir where it has been providing water to the good citizens of Manchester ever since.
The path becomes a little rocky climbing up Kidsty Howes but then the gradient eases and a broad gravel path is followed up to the summit of Kidsty Pike. It’s a busy summit and it’s good to meet some Coast to Coasters on the Patterdale to Shap section. I was here in 1987 when I did the C to C for the first time but I skipped it in 2013 because of gale force winds and we went the long way round (you can read about that here if you like).
The day is turning out to be mighty fine. The sun is shining, the temperature is rising and the views across the summits of Lakeland are very satisfying to the soul. Having done a bit of hard work to summit Kidsty Pike I can now enjoy a relatively easy traverse over the next three Wainwrights which are all situated in a triangle of high ground between the valleys of Mardale and Martindale. There is something very enjoyable about strolling along, hands in pockets over easy grassy paths on a plateau of high ground surrounded by mountain vistas all around.
It is in this mode of walking that the summits of High Raise, Rampsgill Head and The Knott are all reached, staying above the 2000ft contour all the time, with easy walking and little effort between them.
All three tops provide good views of the surrounding hills but The Knott, standing on a little mound of high ground, like a Bronze Age burial site, affords the best views as it is not limited by long stretches of foreground as is the case with the previous two.
From the Knott I can see my fifth summit of the day, the highest point of a long gradually inclining ridge that is called the Straits of Riggindale. Not long after leaving the Knott the head of Riggindale is reached and I pause to look down this glaciated valley. Far below in the distance is Haweswater and I get to see Kidsty Pike from the other side, having looked at it from the Haweswater side for two days.
The Straits of Riggindale lead gradually up to what is the highest summit of the Far Eastern Fells, High Street. The trig point stands proud in a gap in the wall that follows the ridge line. The wall itself is broken down at the summit, it’s dislodged stones trodden into the ground by the boots of countless walkers.
It’s silent and still on the summit with no wind and nobody else around. It’s so still that I can almost hear the ghosts of Roman Legionnaires marching along the Roman Road that crossed this high ground two thousand years ago. Apparently Roman Legionnaires had to be able to march twenty miles in five hours carrying twenty Kilos and presumably be able to fight a battle after that. I think I prefer my much more leisurely pace and the only battle I have to fight is how many snicker bars is an acceptable number to eat on one walk.
From the summit I look over with fondness and familiarity to the Eastern fells, hills that I had spent the last year walking over and I take some time to pick them out, from High Pike to Great Dodd, each one with a special memory attached. Having reminisced about the past it’s time to return the present and I set off towards my final summit of the day, Mardale Ill Bell. It’s an easy walk along nice crunchy grass for most of the way until the Kentmere horseshoe path is reached when the path becomes a highway once more.
Mardale Ill Bell is a tidy little summit. Perched on the ridge between the Kentmere valley and the steep Blea Water Crags it gives one of the best views of the day. To the North/West the length of Haweswater stretches out and most of the days summits can be seen. To the South/East the Kentmere valley and the hills of its famous horseshoe can be seen, Harter Fell looks imposing across the Nan Bield Pass.
What goes up must come down and having enjoyed the high ground for most of the day there is now the small matter of dropping 1,500ft back down to the car park at the head of Haweswater. On the way down there is a picture postcard view of the rounded Small Water, set in a mountain hollow in the foreground contrasting with the long ribbon of Haweswater in the background, stretching out in its dog leg towards the low country beyond.
At the Nan Bield pass there is a rather grand stone shelter that looks like a giant’s chair. The path to Mardale is taken which turns out to be a bit of a knee cruncher and when I arrive at Small Water, I feel like jumping straight into its clear inviting waters.
The temperature has been in the late 20°s maybe touching 30° all day and after walking over six wainwright’s I am pretty hot and sweaty. Not having my speedos with me, I settle for dunking my head into the cold and refreshing tarn. I am a little bit envious though of the two wild swimmers I passed who were enjoying the cold waters on a very hot day.
After sitting by the tarn a while, reflecting on what has been a good days walking in the hills I finally amble my way down the path next to Small Water Beck, across the fields and back to the car park and the van which is parked a short distance away.
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