Middle Dodd & Red Screes

19th December 2009

Red Screes had been on my mind for the past two weeks or so,& as I’ve already got another walk planned towards the end of December, it was when do I fit it in ..The wife had planned Christmas shopping trip to the the Trafford Centre, me the wife & the kids on the last Saturday before Christmas…yeah my idea of fun too! I had to make it clear it was an early start, we needed to be on  the motorway by 9am even that I think was to late ,9am my teenage daughter screamed what’s that !! (You can see where I’m going with this) Dragging my grumpy carcase shop after shop (they must of buckled under the pressure) Well go during the week she says …..

So disappointedly I now have a free Saturday

Red Screes it was ,I was humming & eying on the ascent route though ,Id already spoken to a good friend on the ascent from Middle Dodd to which I was advised its “bloody steep Paul !!” this coming from a man with great experience I took his advise as it seemed it cant be any steeper than tackling it from the car park at the top of Kirkstone Pass ,also arisen in the conversation was that there’s six Wainwright to be had here Paul why not have ago in Middle Fell,Red Screes,Little Hart Crag,Dove Crag,Hart Crag & finally a decent down Hartsop Above How, Bagging six Wainwrights seemed just the ticket so in preparation that was my plan & my back up it that failed was to just do Middle Dodd & Red Screes ,why would it fail ? a beautiful crisp frost morning with blue skies as far as the eye could see .

 

Wainwright Guidebook

The Eastern Fells

 

 

Overview
Ascent: 776Mtrs 2541Ft
Wainwrights: 2  Middle Dodd, Red Screes
Weather: –4 With Highs of around 2 Degrees , Bright sunny morning AM,Turning to thick blanked cloud PM
Parking: Cow Bridge Car Park
Area: Eastern
Miles:  
Walking With: On my own
Ordnance Survey: OL7
Time Taken:  
Route:  
 

Map and Photo Gallery

 
 

 

Middle Dodd centre seen here from Cow Bridge Car Park with High Hartsop Dodd to the right, flanked by Caudale Moor on the left ,Its good day for walking me thinks .


 

And again from the beach at a semi frozen Brothers Water.


 

Hartsop Hall.


 

The little bridge that will take me through Cauldale Beck Farm.


 
Dovedale

 

High Hartsop Dodd.


 

Following the farm tracks just below High Hartsop Dodd.


 

Now what do you do when you get a look like that ! These might as well be raging rhinos for me..I’m not good with cattle so close,  Oh & as a present on the way back through here all the cowpats had unfroze & I was up to my ankles in it!


 

One of the Old farm buildings at the foot of Middle Dodd.


 

As instructed there’s no clear path on the OS Maps all beit a faint one, so it was just a case of following the wall about half way up & then try & pick the path up which was under a thin layer of snow ,Its pretty odd what you see in the snow, after id left the wall I seemed to follow a dogs paw prints all the way to the summit & beyond (I mean this isn’t CSI Miami) ..it looked like a dog could of been sheep? (On its own though) see.. small things like that get small minds going!!


 

And looking down ,Did someone mention it was steep ?!


 

Great views, with Place fell (top) & the Angle Tarn Pikes to the right & Brothers Water centre ,It seemed like id been walking for a while at this point or could it be that the ascent up Middle Dodd was really taking it out of me ,at this point I knew that most of the hard work was out of the way & maybe just maybe bagging six Wainrights might of been a possibility


 
 

 

Hart Crag,Little Hart Crag & St Sunday Crag in the distance, and what I cant ignore is the ever increasing cloud cover approaching from the west ,Best pick my pace up a little .


 

Middle Dodd Summit, with Red Screes summit in the background


 
 

 

Views down to Scandale and still watching that cloud


 

Red Screes summit & Shelter


 

The frozen Tarn next to the summit ,and it looks like the cloud has caught up with me ,now I don’t mind admitting I cocked up hugely here & for what ever reason it was I don’t mind admitting it ,what I should have done was descend keeping the tarn to my right taking me down to Scandale Pass but for about a good ten minutes or so I followed this path to the left which eventually would of took me down Snarker Pike which for obvious reasons I dint want ,so I had to enlist the help of a good friend which in turn helped get my dumb ass back to the right point back at the tarn .


 
I think it was at this point I realised, & together with being surrounded by an ever increasing white out I made my way back to the tarn . Like I said I don’t mind admitting I was wrong here after all I’m still learning ,but there’s  learning & feeling a little panicked & then there the beating yourself up, after all it could of gone horribly wrong 

 
Back at the tarn (with the help of a quick phone call) & I can just about make a path out to the right in this photo ,Happy days

 
Middle Dodd taken from the exact same spot as the second photo , now hardly visible

 

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