Date: 04-Mar-2010
Map: Landranger 90, Explorer 005
Weather: Afternoon sun, but chilly late
on.
From the road near Patterdale Hotel, around to the base of Arnison Crag and up the flank of the hill, returning via Noran Bank:
a stiff little 1 1/2 miles
Arnison
Crag is one of those annoying little Wainwrights out there
on it's own. But on the upside it's a fairly steady walk to the top and like all Wainwrights the views are worth it. I never set out with the attention of ticking off Wainwrights, but as I walked more and more in The Lake District and the numbers clocked up - I thought why not. It certainly takes you away from all the usual peaks that everyone walks. I have plotted out all my remaining peaks on the computer and have started to plan a little more - I have plenty of lone Wainwrights to walk and try and fit them in with other walks if I can.
Arnison
Crag glowing in the sunshine
Place
Fell across the valley
Rough ground up
through the woods
Take today for instance, this morning I had walked up Hartsop Dodd, Stoney Cove Pike and Grey Crag, only a short distance away, and I squeezed this one in at the end of the afternoon. I've also concluded that this is not the way to do it as it takes some of the enjoyment away from the hill and I don't want it to become a chore. The same thing happened
on my Wasdale weekend, but that's another story. Anyway, on with Arnison Crag - after a great walk in bright sunshine on Hartsop Dodd et al, it was a quick jump into the car and a leisurely drive around to Patterdale. I managed to park the car on the edge of the road near the school without blocking anyone in, saving me £3.50 to park in the hotel car park. The route today took me around the back of the hotel on the right hand side.
Looking
along Ullswater
The view
across to Hartsop Dodd and others - Gray Crag, Caudale Moor,
High Street
The path starts to wind around the lower slopes of Noran Bank while up ahead lay the broad flank of Black Crag below Birks leading up to St Sunday Crag. I had good views over Glenridding and Ulswater behind me, and even Catsty Cam was peering over the top of the horizon. When I descended off Arnison Crag I was on the correct path, but on the way up I missed the turn off to the left. This is just before the first gate on the path, and it's marked by a big overhanging tree to the left. So I wandered on the wrong way, consulting the Satmap and deciding to take a beeline for the summit. One of the advantages to me of doing a small fell was that I discarded my daysack and just took the essentials of a drink, camera, phone and enough clothes. I started to cut up the hill initially following a quad bike track, then steeply up over rougher ground of tussocky grass.
The view
over to Noran Bank, Place Fell in the background
Looking
across to Sheffield Pike and Glenridding Dodd
I was in the shade of the hill, but could see the top glinting in the sunshine. Another consequence of missing the path was that I was on the wrong side of it, and it's a big one. I slowly made my way up the untrodden way, but by the looks of things there have been plenty of cattle on the hillside. Thankfully the ground was still frozen, so the boggy bits were ok - it's definitely not the way to go when it's been wet. The plus side of missing the path was some good photographs through the trees of Glenamara Park to Place Fell. High in the sky were some altostratus refracting the late afternoon sunlight into a superb rainbow - unfortunately this one eluded me and I couldn't capture it with the lens I was using. Higher up the slopes above the treeline the views over Ulswater opened up - I was warm, but it was cold with bright blue skies.
High
cloud above Birks
Almost
back down and a peaceful view along Ullswater
Once I got up to the wall it was just a simple case of up and over at a suitable spot - obviously avoiding any damage to the wall or fence. There was a sheep creep covered by a large slab, but I'm not that limber to get through anyway. I hopped over and from there it was a short stretch to the top of Arnison Crag. The views as always were worth the effort and I could look over to the route I had walked earlier and reflect on the great views to the north over Ulswater. It was very peaceful late in the day and there was nobody around to say 'Hello' to. I took the correct path around the edge of
Noran Bank and skirted around the contours to the east and then followed the 'real' path back down to Patterdale,
with splendid views over Ulswater. The real path follows the
big wall on the left, so you can't really get lost like I
did when I started - I popped into the local store for some
sustenance and roared off up the pass for Windermere and
home - a great day out.
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