Hills: Hartsop Dodd, Stony Cove Pike, Thornthwaite Crag and Gray Crag
Date: Saturday 29th April 2023
Company: Myself and Ann-Marie
Distance: 11.8km, Ascent: 825m
Time: 4Hrs 25Mins
I drove this morning to the Kirkstone Pass with a
view to ascending fells from the Kirkstone Pass. It was not until driving
along the road that I decided on an ascent of Hartsop Dodd, Stony Cove Pike,
Thornthwaite Crag and Gray Crag which would give me three new Wainwrights as
I had previously ascended Thornthwaite Crag on undertaking the Kentmere
round.
As I hadn't done any research for these hills I parked in the
Cow Bridge car park. Had I done some research, I would probably have saved
ourselves 2km by parking in the Hartsop car park
.
Route:
From
the Cow Bridge car park we walked a short distance along the road before
taking a left into Hartsop. As we walked towards Hartsop we could see we
were in for both a steep ascent and descent!
Hartsop Dodd from
Hartsop:
To
ascend Hartsop Dodd, we followed the path next to a wall to get onto the NNW
ridge.
Heading for Hartsop Dodd:
The
initial views were good. I could see along the road towards Patterdale. The
last time I was in this valley I ascended Helvellyn via Striding Edge and
Swirral Edge.
Hartsop:
Looking down to Brothers Water:
The
ascent to the NNW ridge was steep and the ascent of the NNW ridge was steep.
If I had to use a single word to describe the ascent, it would be, "steep"
.
Ascending Hartsop Dodd:
View
during ascent of Hartsop Dodd:
The
final section leading to the summit was thankfully less steep.
Ascending Hartsop Dodd:
At the
summit of Hartsop Dodd:
View
from the summit of Hartsop Dodd:
The
walk from the summit of Hartsop Dodd to Stony Cove Pike was pleasant.
Heading from Hartsop Dodd towards Stony Cove Pike:
It was
somewhat disappointing to head into the cloud during the ascent of Stony
Cove Pike. We would be walking in cloud for the next couple of hours
. Having
ascended Stony Cove Pike, I now have only two remaining Marilyns to ascend
in the Lake District.
At the summit of Stony Cove Pike:
To get
from Stony Cove Pike to Thornthwaite Crag involved a steep descent to the
col and out of the col.
Descent to col between Stony Cove Pike and
Thornthwaite Crag:
Looking back at steep descent from Stony Cove Pike:
Steep
ascent of Thornthwaite Crag:
It was
great to reach the summit of Thornthwaite Crag which has an enormous
well-constructed cairn at its summit.
Ann-Marie at the summit of
Thornthwaite Crag:
From
Thornthwaite Crag it was easy walking out to our fourth and final Wainwright
of the day, Gray Crag.
Heading from Thornthwaite Crag towards Gray
Crag:
The
summit of Gray Crag is a rock, not the cairn.
At the cairn on Gray
Crag:
We
were both pleasantly surprised to find a good path winding its way down
towards Hartsop. This made the descent much easier than expected.
Descent from Gray Crag to Hartsop:
Looking back at descent from Gray Crag:
Once
on the good track it was easy walking back out to the starting point.
Onto the track leading out to Hartsop:
View
during descent to Hartsop:
Hartsop Dodd:
150 Wainwrights now complete and 1150 Marilyns now complete. I hope to
revisit the Lakes a number of times in the near future to hopefully complete
the remaining 64 Wainwrights.