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.