KYQ4: Far Eastern Fells

Knott summit

Tuesday, 2 July 202

Ascent: 1201 metres
Distance: 17 kilometres
Time: 4 hours 56 minutes

Rampsgill Head 792m 1hr 16mins
Kidsty Pike 780m 1hr 23mins
Knott 739m 1hr 49mins
Rest Dodd 696m 2hrs 17mins
The Nab 576m 2hrs 51mins
Angletarn Pikes 567m 3hrs 57mins
Brock Crags 561m 4hrs 56mins

Tuesday was to be a good day until it wasn't, the Met Office was struggling to keep up with the pressure systems. I had planned to go to Wasdale and pay homage to Joss Naylor by climbing the fells in his backyard. It was low clouds and heavy showers there, so after a search for more clement conditions we headed to the far eastern fells. We started from Hartsop to tidy up some fells that I had missed a few years ago - Kidsty Pike and Rest Dodd. The day improved and after Rest Dodd, I decided to take in the Nab, one of the least inspiring hills which is a long and boggy trek out from Rest Dodd.

The National Trust car park at the end of the road had some parking places and gave me the first payback of my National Trust membership since last year. There is a good track towards Hayeswater, where I had once camped during a Mountain Marathon and woken up to several inches of snow with another 30 kilometres to complete on day 2. I had to get across the raging beck at the outfall of the tarn so I grabbed my walking pole from the rucksack to help with the crossing and lost my drink bottle that was in the same pocket, it cascaded down the beck. The consolation was I kept my feet dry.

It is a steep climb up to Knott, I passed a large party of French walkers who were on the Coast to Coast walk. I bypassed Knott and continued over Rampsgill Head to Kidsty Pike which overlooks Haweswater where the Lake District's only pair of eagles had hung out before the demise of golden eagles in England. There were a few other walkers there and I waited for Gregor who had been out to High Street and back.

He headed off to High Raise whilst I climbed Knott and then began the slog over to Rest Dodd. It seemed daft not to head out to the Nab, a hill that requires fortitude but is better done this way than leaving it for some uninspiring and unspecified date in the future. Following a steep descent from Rest Dodd, there was a long wade over to the Nab at the end of a ridge through what Wainwright described as "a most unpleasant morass of peat hags', he was not wrong". Unlike Wainwright who trespassed on what was the Martindale Deer Forest which was guarded by barbed wire, it is now open to hillwalkers and one of Wainwright's punishments for obdurate hillwalkers.

Gregor had decided to run and passed me on his way back from the Nab. I returned the same way and veered westwards along a wall up to Satura Cragand. I reached the well-used path that circumnavigates Angle Tarn and cuts under Angltarn Pikes. They are a delight to climb with excellent views of Ullswater and across to the Helvellyn skyline. The sun had arrived along with a strong northerly wind as I began the return to Hartsop by cutting across to Brock Cragsl by a largely trackless route to the west of Angle Tarn that gave excellent views down to Brothers Water. Brock Crags was only a kilometre above Hartsop and I assumed it would be a doddle to get down.

The normal way down from Brock Fell to Hartop involves a long dog leg so I decided to take a more direct route. I found a sheep path that took me below the crags near the summit and then headed directly down the steep fellside through long grass interspersed with nettles. I eventually reached the track that headed down to a maze of walled sheep enclosures above Hartsop. They required quite a bit of wall climbing before reaching the trail to Hayeswater. It might have been quicker to take the path. It was just before 4pm. Gregor had arrived back having extended his run to Plaice Fell and we were in time to be back for the football.