High Raise (Martindale) and Rest Dodd

Last walk out we did High Raise in the central fells but there are two fells called High Raise, the second and higher of the two is in Martindale.  So High Raise version 2 was on our list today.  Looking at the maps another one of the eleven tops left to do (Rest Dodd), was not too far away, so we were hoping to potentially get two in today.

It was my turn to drive, with thunder and lightning forecast for the afternoon, I got to Peters early, 6.00 am so we could maximise the good weather.  We arrived at the car park at Hartsop about 7.45 and we were booted and ready to walk at exactly 8.00 am.  It was already very warm, shorts and tee-shirt day.  There was a very good path at the start of the walk towards Hayeswater, passing a sheep shearing hut early on.

Sheep shearing hut at the start of the walk

The first point of interest on the walk was the Hayeswater Treatment hut which we reached within the first half hour.

Hayeswater Treatment Hut

A great wall, someone worked hard on this one.

After the treatment hut there was a short, steep climb to a really good path which took us to Hayeswater.

Looking back down the valley

 We passed a couple of waterfalls coming from Hayeswater on the way up to the man made lake.

Waterfall from Hayeswater

Hayeswater

Once we got to Hayeswater we crossed the stream and began to climb a little steeper and a long slog towards The Knott.  The path was fairly clear for most of the walk and as we began to climb it was getting very warm and sunny.  We stopped for a drink part way up this climb.  As it began to level out a little we could see the potential second top of the day, Rest Dodd to our left.  From this point in the walk it looked easily achievable although we would have to drop quite a bit to climb again after High Raise! 

Passing Rest Dodd, we will be back later!

We continued to walk along The Knott and towards Rampsgill Head still steadily climbing all the way.  Eventually we were looking down on Rest Dodd.  As we got onto Rampsgill Head we could see our first summit of the day ahead.  We just had a short dip and another climb ahead of us to reach the top.

Not far now to first summit of the day

We reached the first top of the day at 10.50, our highest point today. Great views of the surrounding fells but also we could see some clouds gathering in the distance.  We retraced our path back to Rampsgill Head and began to drop down to where the path turned for Rest Dodd.

High Raise summit

Looking back to High Raise

At this point we were 1km from the summit of Rest Dodd and for the first time it began to rain lightly.  We put on our waterproof jackets for the descent.  When we got to the bottom, the rain had stopped and it was going to be too warm climbing with the jackets on so we took them off.  At the bottom we could have called it a day and headed back to the car.  The next top was so close though and we had to go for it.

We had to go down to go back up!

The climb was tough, with one top weighing heavy in our legs and a steep climb by the wall, it was hard work, especially in warm sunshine.  But at 12 noon we reached the second summit of the day.  Very satisfying that we could get two done and we had managed to avoid the forecasted thunder storms.

View from the summit

Rest Dodd summit

We now just had to descend to Hayeswater and then it was a fairly steady drop back to the car.  Surprisingly my knee was holding out quite well today, not too much trouble on the descent at all.  We got back to the car at 1.50 pm, got changed and just as we set off it started to rain!  We stopped at the Brackenrigg Inn for a pint and some jockeys whips and as we were sat there we could see the storm coming along the valley towards us.  Within minutes we had torrential rain, thunder and lightning!

Route plan and stats for the walk.

A great walk, great weather and great company as always, most important only 9 left to do!

See you on the next walk.

High Raise - Central Fells

So we only have the dirty dozen left to do, 12 more tops to complete the challenge of 71 tops over 2000 feet.  Peter picked me up at 6.30 am and we had already decided to do one of the two High Raise mountains left to do.  This one is the smaller of the two in the Central Ridge, very close to Ullscarf which we had done back in June this year.

We arrived in the village of Stonethwaite just after 8.30, got the boots on as well as the warm layers and started walking about 8.45am, tucking into scotch eggs from Angus the butcher as we walked.  We crossed over Stonethwaite Beck and turned right and began walking along a clear path following the stream slowly up hill.

Looking back to Stonethwaite

As the main stream turned right we continued straight ahead following the path up Greenup Gill towards Eagle Crag and on to Lining Crag. We passed through two or three gates and crossed streams a number of times.  As we got through one gate, we saw lots of sheep up on the hillside waiting for their breakfast.

Sheep covering the hillside

A little further up the Gill was this waterfall with what would be a very inviting plunge pool in the summer but not today as it was very wet and cold.  It was around this point the snow started to fall as the temperature dropped.  We both thought this would be a very nice walk in the summer with plenty to see and some good bait stops.

Waterfall on Greenup Gill

We were heading towards Lining Crag although as were climbed we could not see the full scale of the crag in the poor weather conditions (see below for a photo on the way back down).  This was probably the hardest part of the walk, negotiating the path around to the left of the crag, scrambling over wet rocks.  Again as we got to the top of the crag we commented what a good rest point this would be in the summer.  Onwards and upwards today however as the snow was falling and we wanted to make sure we could find the path on the way back down.  This part of the walk was particularly boggy although partially frozen in places today.

Visibility was very poor as we approached the summit but a  handy app I had downloaded kept us on the right track.

Skyline on the Viewranger App showing the nearby mountains by distance

We reached the summit at exactly noon, just time for a quick photo, even taking our gloves off for a minute froze our hands so we wanted to get back down as quickly as possible.

A cold, wet and windy summit

We tried to get back down below the snow line as quickly as possible although with slippery, icy rocks under foot it was a tricky task.

Lining Crag

A closer look at the path around Lining Crag

As we got back down to Lining Crag, the descent was strangely slightly easier than the ascent as the path was a little clearer.  It still took up a little time however, slowing us down as we headed for Greenup Gill.

I had downloaded a new app to my iPhone called Viewranger which was fantastic.  You can track your walk as you go and using Skyline built into the App you can see what other Mountains are nearby.  As you can see from the track below, I forgot to start the app right at the beginning of the walk, missing the first 15 minutes but it is extremely accurate and especially in poor weather very useful.

The exact route we took thanks to Viewranger

We got back to the car about 3.45 so about 3 hours to ascend and just under 4 to descend.  Another long walk with Fitbit counting just over 30,000 steps and the accurate Viewranger app recording 6.5 miles.  Edging ever closer to the target of 71, this was my 60th top.  We are hoping to try to squeeze one more in this year, weather permitting.

See you on the next walk.