THE COLEDALE ROUND

13th August 2014



Once Upon a Summer Evening - Mad 'n Bad

THE COLEDALE ROUND

It was Day 3 in my brief but excellent visit to the Lake District.
Originally planned as a couple of Wild camps, the weather along with my Southern Softieism, and the fact that Mr Williams (mine host) had a house a couple of miles from Penrith, and it would have been rude NOT to take up the hospitality, it ended up as some day walks.

AND ANYWAY you "WILD CAMP NUT JOBS".

You can do an excellent walk.
Get back to a PUB.
I will repeat that for the hard of hearing and visually impaired

GET BACK TO A PUB

Spend the night with good company in a nice warm house
Sleep in a proper Bed
Have cooked breakfast
etc etc etc

Why the **CK would you sleep in a tent whilst the heavens pissed down on you.

So, I didn't, and after a couple of days gooooood walking.
My excellent host (wot had hoovering and shit to do, and was feeling a tad tired) suggested that the Coledale Round from Braithwaite was a top walk.

Far from I to disagree with a chap who has more knowledge of the Lakes than I have about breathing, I agreed.

And so Mr Williams dropped me off at the start of the walk, and headed back via I believe Keswick, to don his pinny and spruce up his house, and prepare my dinner.

GEEZER or WOT????

The above is an interactive map of the route

You can scroll and zoom in and out

So, I headed up right from the car park area and into the windy track that pulls up into the heather.

Looking out over heather at the start of the climb

Looking back before the long hall

Still heaps of heather to the left as you head up the LONG drag to the top of Grisdale Pike summit

It was a long haul to the top as I dragged the knees up Sleet and then upwards to the cloud covered top of Grisdale Pike.
Having said that I was overtaken by a young lass fell running (UP).
And she was seriously FIT in more than one way.

Looking up to Grisdale Pike

This was going to have a bit of theme to it for the first couple of hours.
Every summit I got to would be in cloud until such time as I left, in which case it would then be glorious.

Looking back before the final haul

From the top I headed round Hobcarton Crag (and it was pretty windy)  with cloud coming up and over the top at a fair old rate

Heading over to Hobcarton Crag

There was rather indistinct visibility over the top and down, so not too many photo's.
The few I have are looking forwards and backwards through the mist

Heading out towards Gasgale Crags

A quick out and back and then over Sand Hill and the walk in mist down the scree and shale and rock and stuff and over to Coledale Hause
On the way, the odd intermittent flicker of visibility before another cloud swept in

A Moment of visibilty

I followed the track by the stream up, and for some insane reason felt it was worth a trip in mist and no path up Eel crag.
It is a tough old climb, but the views were....NON EXISTENT :-) 

The path up and round to Crag hill.
With hindsight I should have just gone straight over the top

I think this is a view from near the top of Crag Hill

About to descend the scrambly bit in Sail

There were quite a few people on this bit of the track going in both directions.
As I dropped down from Sail, the new grotesque windy path/Motorway that Fix the Fells has for some reason constructed zig zagged before me full up people blindly following it in a long convoy.
Apparently it was necessary because of the erosion and dangerous nature of the path??
Seemed a lot more iffy further up.

Anyway, I went straight down through the heather, and thus bypassed the path and about 30 people all in one neat move.

Looking back towards the horrid track.

Now, I could have gone down, but being so close to Scar Crags and Causey Pike it would have been rude not to go up.
So I did.

This is a lovely walk.
The sun was breaking through the mist and the views in both directions as you head along Scar Crags are superb
And they take your mind off that bloody path too.

The next crop of Photo's are taken along this stretch

Looking across towards Barrow

Looking towards Derwent Water from Causey Pike

I could have headed down and then back round, but I expected David had finished the hoovering, and would likely be out and about.
I sent him a text from the top of Causey Pike to get my taxi ride back, and then headed back down to the track right over towards High Moss.
Not sure exactly my route down.

I wandered up and over to Stile End, because the main track was like a stream and then dropped back down and up and over Barrow to Braithwaite.

Barrow is a rather lovely hill, and I wish I had taken a few photo's of it.
The wide grass path down reminds me a bit of some of the tracks up and down from Sugarloaf

Looking down to Braithwaite

Looking back

And then I was down, and with great luck, found the Pub where Mr Williams was waiting with HyperDog.

Moss on day 1.
We'll come back to that

Well, it would have been rude not to have a pint

JOB DONE

Just in time for dinner.......Almost

It was a great suggestion for a walk David...Thanks

He'll make someone a lovely wife you know