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A Riggindale Round |
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16th September 2024 |
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Overview |
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| Ascent: |
2,539 Feet - 775 Metres |
| Wainwrights: |
4, High Street - The Knott - Rampsgill Head - Kidsty Pike |
| Visiting: |
Rough Crag |
| Weather: |
Bright & Sunny. Highs of 17°C Lows of 5°C Feels Like 4°C |
| Parking: |
Car Park, Mardale Head |
| Area: |
Far Eastern |
| Miles: |
7.3 |
| Walking With: |
On My Own |
| Ordnance Survey: |
OL5 |
| Time Taken: |
4 Hours 40 Minutes |
| Route: |
Mardale Head - Rough Crag - Caspel Gate Tarn - Long Stile - High Street - Straights of Riggindale - The Knott - Rampsgill Head - Kidsty Pike - Kidsty Howes - Riggindale Beck - The Rigg - Mardale Head |
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Parking Details and Map |
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| Nearest Post Code: |
CA10 2QT |
| Grid Reference: |
NY 469 310 |
| Notes: |
Probably one of the most scenic car parks in Lakeland found at the head of the Mardale Valley offering easy access onto the High Street fells plus many more. The car park during Summer can fill up quickly but with most car parks in Lakeland if you time your arrival early enough your always guaranteed a parking place. Parking is free. |
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Map and Photo Gallery |
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| Looking back towards Rosgill on route to Haweswater. |
| Since leaving home I'd driven all the way to Shap with my fog lights on catching glimpes of blue sky above knowing the cloud layer was just a couple of hundred feet above my head which I'd broken through as the Motorway gained height at Shap. The low sunlight burned through the cloud leaving a pink hue in doing so...if Carlsberg did sunrises... |
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| The view over Haweswater towards Lady's Seat (foreground) and Castle Crag. |
| With Whelter Bottom seen right rising up towards Low Raise. |
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| Harter Fell (Mardale) Mardale Head, High Street and Riggindale from the Reservoir Road. |
| It looks like I'm in for a cracker of a day. |
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| Harter Fell (Mardale) Mardale Head, The Rigg and High Street. |
| Last one before I head down the car park at Mardale Head. |
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| Looking back on Harter Fell (Mardale) 08:10am 3°C |
Despite my later than usual arrival I parked with ease on one side of the car park spinning my car around so it was facing the right way for later as this car park can get very busy. The majority of the cars looked like they'd been there all night including a VW Caddy whose owner I would bump into later into the walk. It was a calm slightly chilled morning and to take the edge off I slipped a soft shell jacket knowing once I was in the sunshine I'd be panting like a Labrador on a hot day.
Just as I did on for the Coniston walk I'm wearing a pair of long walking trousers due to the mountain forecast which had predicted a feel like temperature of 3°C at height but in hindsight I could have easily got away with shorts. With the car locked I strode over to the Deer gate, unlatched it and treated my ears to the cascades of Gatescarth Beck just a stones throw away, adding to the chorus was Small Water Beck and Mardale Beck which I'll be crossing within minutes. |
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| Looking into the Riggindale Valley. |
| With Short Stile seen centre, Kidsty Pike to the right and Kidsty Howes, far right. |
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| Harter Fell (Eskdale) seen with Swine Crag to the right. |
| With Mardale Beck behind me I joined the path towards The Rigg passing the short cut where the wall forms an 'L' shape. This narrow but very steep path will save the walker about ten minutes but you will miss out on the views back over Haweswater with a guaranteed shortness of breath once the top of the short cut is reached. |
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| Looking back on Haweswater, Speaking Crag and a distant Four Stones Hill. |
| Despite this mornings sunshine the path from The Rigg onto Swine Crag was the muddiest I've known it in a while due to two days of rainfall. |
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| Looking back on Haweswater and The Rigg from the step in the wall. |
| With Brown Howe seen in the distance. |
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| Harter Fell (Eskdale) and Mardale Head from Swine Crag. |
| Look how Branstree shadow engulfs Mardale Head; much the same as Red Pike (Wasdale) does in the Mosedale Valley during the early Winter months. |
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| Here looking towards the Top of Nan Bield Pass, Mardale III Bell and a glimpse of Blea Water to the right. |
| The sunlight is so strong even my big camera is struggling...what a nice problem to have for a change! |
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| Blea Water, Long Stile and High Street from Rough Crag. |
| Amazingly I hadn't seen anyone until I reached the lower crags of Rough Crag where I bumped into a chap in descent who I later learned was Richard from Carlisle. Richard had rough-camped on High Street and was heading back to Mardale Head and we really hit it off sparking up conversation on our mutual love for the fells, the affects on Lakeland before and after Covid and mountains we'd climbed in Scotland and Wales, later grilling Richard for every bit of info on the CMD Arete on Ben Nevis which Richard had traversed. He even shared a couple of sunrise photos from the summit which you can find at the bottom of this walk report. |
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| Mardale III Bell and Blea Water from Rough Crag. |
| With Blea Water Crag seen directly above. |
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| Long Stile and High Street. |
| With the descent of Rough Crag behind me I broke away from the path and followed a faint trod towards Caspel Gate Tarn. |
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| Long Stile and High Street from Caspel Gate Tarn. |
| The tarn is actually nameless on the map but it's commonly known as Caspel Gate Tarn. |
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| Looking back on Branstree, Tarn Crag (Longsleddale) Harter Fell (Mardale) and the Top of Nan Bield Pass from Caspel Gate Tarn. |
| Looking like a millpond this morning. |
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| The view across the head of Riggindale. |
| Towards Short Stile, Two Penny Crag and Kidsty Pike. |
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| A deserted High Street summit. |
| From Caspel Gate Tarn I began the enjoyable ascent on Long Stile pausing to take in the views or to get my breath back. I still couldn't believe I'd only seen one person all morning and was equally surprised to find I had the summit to myself too. |
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| Ridges of high ground. |
| It's very rare to have such bright sunshine without a hint of haze leaving this mornings clarity almost perfect. Here I take in the view towards Dove Crag, Hartsop above How, Hart Crag, Fairfield, St Sunday Crag, Dollywagon Pike, Nethermost Pike, Helvellyn, Catstye Cam, Birkhouse Moor and Stybarrow Dodd while in the foreground we have Gray Crag and Hartsop Dodd. |
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| Looking towards The Knott, Rampsgill Head and High Raise (Martindale) over the Straights of Riggindale. |
| If like me you complain how busy the fells are getting at the weekend try just one walk during the week, even with the perfect forecast today feels like how Wainwright amongst others would often refer to the Far Eastern fells as deserted. |
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| Peering down on Hayeswater from The Straights of Riggindale. |
| If there's one stone wall in Lakeland which impresses me the most it's the one that starts in Hayeswater and ascends almost vertically all the way onto Gray Crag summit then back down the other side. |
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| A close up view of Two Penny Crag and Kidsty Pike from The Straights of Riggindale. |
| I'll be over there soon. |
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| Looking back on Short Stile and High Street from The Straights of Riggindale. |
| It's now time for the short excursion to The Knott. |
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| High Raise (Martindale) and Rampsgill Head from The Knott summit. |
| I must have spoken too soon sighting three walking shouldering Rampsgill Head via the path seen to the right of the summit cairn. |
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| Impressive views towards Rest Dodd, Brock Crags, Angletarn Pikes and Place Fell. |
| With distant views beyond the eastern fells towards Skiddaw, Blencathra and the Caldbeck Fells. |
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| Beyond Gray Crag and Hartsop Dodd the Hartsop above How Ridge. |
| I descend slightly to take in the view over Brothers Water towards Dove Crag, Hartsop above How, Hart Crag, Fairfield, St Sunday Crag and the Helvellyn range further towards the right. |
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| Looking back on The Knott. |
| From the ascent on Rampsgill Head. |
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| Here looking over the head of Ramps Gill towards Rest Dodd and The Nab. |
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| Eastern back drop from Rampsgill Head. |
| Not the actual summit cairn which lies a hundred feet or so towards the north but It's this view I prefer most times I'm here. |
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| Kidsty Pike next. |
| The three walkers I'd seen heading up onto Rampsgill were by now standing on the summit of Kidsty Pike. I do hope the walker seen to the right realises there's a sudden drop a couple of feet away. |
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| Sadly High Raise (Martindale) was a fell too far today. |
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| Looking back on Kidsty Pike summit. |
| The three walkers left before I arrived but I could still see them spread about thirty feet apart just as they were while ascending Rampsgill Head. I thought it best I give them a good head start so they could get over the awkward rock steps on Kidsty Howes. |
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| Decending towards Kidsty Howes. |
| The trio stopped just prior to reaching Kidsty Howes for what I thought was a lunch stop but began moving again as we all arrived at the boggy section east of the crag. As it turned out the trio were Americans one of whom wasn't too happy with the bog more so as I gave it a wide berth as she said in her mid west accent "you're certainly in a better place than me!" |
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| Riggindale and Kidsty Pike. |
The sun was beaming down and once again I was wiping the goo that had formed across my lips, this despite emptying a 2.5ltr bladder showed just how unseasonably hot it had been today. The first of the trio followed me down step for step from about fifty yards but waited for her companions to catch up at the top of the steep grassy slope below Kidsty Howes. No summit breeze now it was a hot descent feeling more like mid July than September, I pondered were we getting a few last days of heat before Autumn kicks in around the corner.
Down the slope I waded the bogs keeping to the high grass to stop me from sinking, it worked and soon I was looking down on Bowderthwaite Bridge with Riggindale Beck glistening in the sunlight below. I thought about swilling my boots out in the beck and perhaps I'd clean the tips of my walking poles whilst I was at it but the beck was swollen and I'd like dry feet to finish the walk. I strode on passing the Riggindale standing stones nestled beneath the familiar canopy of pines. I passed through the gate and back into bright sunshine. The ground was half baked in places as I climbed back towards The Rigg then down the other side with Haweswater looking like a mirror reflecting the sunlight as were the dozens of car windscreens parked at Mardale Head. |
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| Sunrise looking east towards the layer of cloud I'd driven under before arriving at Mardale Head |
| Courtesey of Richard Park. |
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| Sunsrise taken from the cairn at the top of Long Stile on High Street. |
| Courtesey of Richard Park. |
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