KYQ4: Arthur's Pike and Bonscale Pike

Saturday, 6 July 2019

Arthur's Pike and Bonscale Pike

Looking back up Ullswater from Bonscale Pike

Tuesday, 2 July 2019

Ascent: 465 metres
Distance 6 klometres
Time: 1 hour 36 minutes

Arthur's Pike 532m 39 mins
Bonscale Pike 524m 56 mins

The annual pilgrimage to the Lake District usually results in two or three outings onto the fells. We collected Gregor from Penrith station, he had travelled down from Glasgow after work. The day had been dry but overcast and windy so Gregor and I decided to have a quick jaunt over Arthur's Pike and Bonscale Pike to the north-east of Ullswater on our drive back to Langdale.

These hills have no special qualities, they fail to make it into Bob Allen's Fifty Lower Lakeland Fells and Wainwright states that "there is little to excite" about them. We started at Roehead above Pooley Bridge and followed a good path that climbed at a gentle incline to Arthur's Pike. My last visit had been from the campsite at Seat Farm. It was a far steeper route and quite foreboding on a freezing late December day en route to visit my parents to deliver Christmas presents.

Gregor was itching to run but we kept to a steady walking pace instead. The path curved gracefully, with Ullswater opening up as it stretched south to the heart of the lake district. A lone runner passed us just before he reached the summit where we paused briefly before heading east to avoid Swarthbeck Gill and to cross by the sheepfold before making the short climb to Bonscale Pike.

Bonscale Pike gives better views down Ullswater with Hallin Fell prominent beyond Howtown. By heading due south from the summit at the edge of the steep slope to the west a good path is eventually discovered and provides a steep but easy descent to Mellguards where an impressive old slate footbridge leads to the track to Howtown. Aileen was waiting for us after a walk around Hallin Fell.

We drove around Ullswater, whilst Gregor ran the10 kilometres from Howtown along the Ullswater Way to Goldrill bridge, a section described by Wainwright as "the most beautiful and rewarding walk in Lakeland". Gregor was moving too fast to notice and collected a few Strava crowns instead. It gave us a chance to visit the serene hamlet of Rooking that nestles below Plaice Fell, as we waited for Gregor to arrive. Its houses and gardens looked idyllic in the late evening sun, it must be the most impressive hamlet in the Lakes but sadly lacks a pub. We collected Gregor and drove over the Kirkstone Pass and to the Britannia Inn in Langdale for a pie and a pint.