Date: Saturday 3rd February 2024
Company: Myself and Ann-Marie
Distance: 16.3km, Ascent: 760m
Time: 4Hrs 50Mins
We drove to Ambleside this morning to ascend my final three Wainwrights near Ambleside, Low Pike, High Pike and Dove Crag.
For this walk, we parked in the Lake Road car park. The Lake Road car park has an 'early bird' rate. If you arrive and pay before 8am, it costs one pound to park for the whole day. However, if you arrive after 8am, it costs eight pounds eighty to park for 6 to 12 hours! We arrived before 8am to take advantage of the early bird rate
.Route:
From the Lake Road car park, we walked through Ambleside.
Ambleside:
Ambleside:
After a brief stop at Greggs for some early morning sustenance, we were our way.
We ascended Smithy Brow, then a short distance along Kirkstone Road, before taking a left along Sweden Bridge Lane. Beyond Sweden Bridge Lane, we followed the track which leads towards the Scandale Pass.
Smithy Brow:
As we progressed along the track, the way ahead was lit-up by the sunrise.
Having looked at the MWIS forecast the night previous, it suggested 40mph winds. Since the night previous, the MetOffice forecast had changed with a now much improved forecast. I find I have to take the MetOffice App forecast with a pinch of salt, as it tends to change every time you look at it and it is frequently incorrect.
Track towards High Sweden Bridge:
Having endured so much bad weather in recent weeks, it was fantastic to see blue sky this morning, and no wind, not even a breeze!
Looking back to Ambleside:
As we progressed along the track, we could see the ridge leading out to Low Pike and High Pike.
View towards Low Pike:
We continued along the track until reaching High Sweden Bridge which we crossed before commencing our ascent towards Low Pike via Low Brock Crags and High Brock Crags.
High Sweden Bridge:
Ascent towards Low Brock Crags:
For much of our traverse along the ridge, we were following a group of lads a short distance ahead. It didn't take long to reach Low Pike.
Approaching the summit of Low Pike:
At the summit of Low Pike:
The wall leading to Low Pike, High Pike and beyond is really well-constructed. Forget the Great Wall of China, which I have visited previously, this is the Great Wall of Cumbria
. Following the wall out to High Pike:
We followed the wall out to High Pike our second Wainwright of the day.
Ascending High Pike:
Looking back towards Low Pike during ascent of High Pike:
High Pike:
On reaching the summit of High Pike, we stopped for a drink before continuing on out to Dove Crag.
At the summit of High Pike:
The ridge from High Pike out to Dove Crag is much wider and more gentle than the ridge ascending Low Pike and High Pike.
Track from High Pike out towards Dove Crag:
Heading for Dove Crag:
Until a couple of hundred metres before reaching Dove Crag, there was barely a breeze, with the wall providing excellent shelter. On approach to Dove Crag, the wind increased to perhaps 20-25mph but not the 40mph that had been forecast.
Summit of Dove Crag:
At the summit of Dove Crag, I weighed-up two return routes, i) back via the inbound route, or ii) via a descent to the Scandale Pass and then out alongside Scandale Beck. I opted for option ii).
We descended to the Scandale Pass passing very close to Little Hart Crag, a Wainwright I had ascended in December 2023.
Looking back to Low Pike and High Pike during descent from Scandale Pass:
Track following Scandale Beck back to Ambleside:
On reaching Scandale Bottom the track back to Ambleside was fairly good making for fast progress back to the Lake Road car park in Ambleside.
At Scandale Bottom:
An enjoyable day out.