Captain's Log

Cow Bridge

It was just getting light as the Kapitan, Cabin Boy, Ted and myself started getting kitted up at Cow Bridge carpark near Hartsop. A Robin skitted about under the car and around us as we moved our gear around. Given the low light conditions I was afraid that one of us might unintentionally squash it. Fortunately it escaped any damage and remained near the car as we headed off for the path alongside the west side of Brothers Water.        

Today’s walk would be a horseshoe formed by High Hartsop Dodd, Little Hart Crag, Red Screes and Middle Dodd; a prospective 4 Wainwright tally for young Ted. It was icy and very cold. I changed my powerstretch gloves for my thicker winter gloves.  We exchanged ‘hellos’ with a photographer who had setup his camera on a tripod at the northern end of Brothers Water. Photography can be a cold business when you are waiting around for those golden minutes when the rising sun paints the landscape and clouds. I did wonder whether his efforts might be fruitless since there weren’t that many clouds in the sky. It was so cold though, a thin layer of mist hung above the water at the southern end of the lake. That might provide him with a good effect once the sun made an appearance. 

High Hartsop Dodd

Much to the relief of the Cabin Boy, the cows were secured in their barn at the farm at Hartsop Hall. We crossed the fields towards High Hartsop Dodd. There are some large boulders in one of the fields. They are roughly arranged in a circular shape and it did cross my mind whether they might be part of an ancient stone circle. I can’t find any evidence of this though and so they have probably just fallen from the crags or been left as erratics from a retreating glacier. They do make nice foregrounds for photos along the Dovedale valley though. I still felt cold as we started the steep ascent to High Hartsop Dodd. The effort of the climb soon warmed me up. I’d only climbed this route once before and I remembered it as quite a challenge. It had been misty on that occasion and so there was no reason to rest and take in the views. It was different today though and we made sure to occasionally stop and look back down the valley at the tremendous view over Brothers Water to Place Fell. We met the sun rising over Stoney Cove Pike as we neared the summit of High Hartsop Dodd. An icy wind also greeted us and so we didn’t hang about at the top and started heading southwards along the ridge towards Little Hart Crag. 

Little Hart Crag

Looking eastwards we could see the massive bulk of Red Screes and the smaller Middle Dodd sitting below it. It looked white and chilly on the top of Red Screes. It was a flattish track and easy walk to Little Hart Crag. After summiting both of its ‘peaks’ we dropped down a little on the southern side for a break. There was a magnificent view down the Scandale valley as we sipped our coffee. Morning mist still hung over Lake Windermere. As we were packing up, we were joined by a large reddish/brown dog that pranced about us. There were two elderly walkers on the summit and it became apparent that the dog didn’t belong to them. They told us their route for the day and this turned out to be identical to ours. The owner of the dog then made an appearance and joined us. They say dog owners tend to look like their pets, and this chap was a case in point. His cheeks were so red that they almost matched the colour of his dog. He turned out to be also doing the same route as us too; it is obviously a popular route.
‘This is my 114th Wainwright’ he informed us with some pride. I could have Tommy Topped him and told him that we’d all (well, except Ted) had completed them quite a while ago, but instead I asked him to clarify whether he meant his dog or himself had bagged that many peaks. He replied that it was both.
‘My wife will have him put down once he completes the Wainwrights’ he told us. It was said with such a straight face, that I half wondered whether he was telling the truth. Given how the dog was bounding about, I think he had quite a few years left in the bag yet. He followed us down from Little Hart Crag and passed us before we reached the top of Scandale Pass. 

Red Screes

There was a steady stream of people following the broken stone wall on Red Scree’s western slope. It was a pedantic plod up the path, made more difficult by some of the rocks being coated in ice. We diverted to an ascent on grass about 20 metres away from the wall for most of the time. The promise of all-day sunshine hadn’t materialised and the day was greyer as we approached Red Screes summit trig. The small tarn at the top was completely frozen. There were some spectacular God’s rays over towards Windermere. At least it wasn’t misty. Standing on the edge of the vertical northern cliff we had an excellent view of our return route over Middle Dodd and then down to Brothers Water. We were all getting cold in the icy wind and so we started making our way along the edge to Middle Dodd. We crossed paths with the two elderly walkers that we’d previously met on Little Hart Crag.
‘ I’ve left you a flask of coffee with rum at the summit. There’s some chocolate too’ I told them. 
‘Oh, thank you so much!’ one of them replied with such apparent genuine appreciation, that I wondered whether I might have overstepped the mark somewhat. 

Middle Dodd

We passed quite a few walkers making their way from Middle Dodd to the summit of Red Screes. I wondered whether they were doing the same route as us, but in the reverse direction. Looking towards the summit of Middle Dodd we could see our red faced friend and his dog. The dog was sitting down and looked as though he was waiting for a treat. The pair were gone by the time we arrived. Despite the reduction of height there was still a strong wind and so we dropped down a short distance on the Kirkstone side to avoid the worst. We were also out of sight of the summit cairn and so if the two elderly walkers caught us up, there would be no chance of them seeing us. I didn’t want to answer any awkward questions about the lack of a flask of rummy coffee and chocolate. In fact, we didn’t see the pair again; I just hoped the lack of refreshment wasn’t a disappointment to them.   

The descent from Middle Dodd was steep and required care. The grass was coated with frost and was quite slippery. It was better to keep to the worn track. The frost had actually bound the small stones together forming the track, and so it had actually improved the traction. Even so, it was easy to slip now and again due to the sheer steepness. Is the ascent/descent of Middle Dodd easier/harder than that of High Hartsop Dodd? Personally, I don’t think there’s much difference between them. Your quadriceps are going to get a workout whether you complete this route anti-clockwise or clockwise. Flip a coin if you are still unsure. 

Return

We could relax a bit once we reached Middle Dodd’s baby slopes. At least we could until the Cabin Boy started to worry about ‘cows being in the fields’ as we field-hopped our way back to Brothers Water. The beasts were still in their sheds though as we approached the farm. They were contentedly munching on hay. 

We shared the path alongside Brothers Water with a large family of Italians. They seemed to do more chatting than cycling. When we’d set off this morning we’d seen a small bird on the lake making prolonged dives. Given its size and behaviour I thought it might be a Little Grebe. It had been too dark to get a proper look this morning though and I thought I might get a better chance this afternoon. It was still hard to distinguish the bird. It definitely wasn’t a Little Grebe and looked more like a small Teal.    

This morning’s Robin joined us again as we  removed our walking gear at the carpark. It was very persistent and by the time we were due to leave I wasn’t 100% sure whether the bird had flown into the car and was hitching a lift.   

It had been a cold, but enjoyable New Year’s Eve walk. The sun had been intermittent at best, but at least we’d been able to get some stunning views. With the passing of my dad earlier in the year, 2025 hadn’t been a good one. He would have definitely wanted me to enjoy my walks though and so I will look forward to whatever 2026 has to offer.