High Street from Hartsop - including the Wainwright peaks of Brock Crags (562m), Rest Dodd (696m), The Knott (739m), High Street (828m), Thornthwaite Crag (784m), Gray Crag (697m), Stony Cove Pike (763m) and Hartsop Dodd (618m).
Let's say you can only make it to the Lakes for one day. Or you only want to hike on a sunny day and therefore you only get one chance to bag some peaks. This walk is a great way to tick off EIGHT Wainwrights in one day - plus the views are spectacular, the parking reasonable and a number of pubs just a short drive away from the finish. Tempted? I bet.
My walk started from a little car park in Hartsop - a small village near Brother's Water. The carpark (as far as I know) is not marked on the map - but has space for quite a few vehicles and asks for a donation to park for the day*. The nearest post code for the car park is CA11 0NZ. I recommend arriving early and as always, please be respectful and do not try to park here if the car park is already full - there is a good alternative just south of Brother's Water.
From the carpark, I headed through the gate and immediately onto the fell, which is one of the real beauties of this walk. Initially, I followed the bridleway and then track that leads to the Filter House marked on an OS map. Before reaching the filter house, I took a direct route up the side of Brock Crags, following an old fell wall which provides a great linear feature to guide you towards the summit. This route is off path and steep, but it provides a handy alternative to following the marked paths to the ridge and having to turn back on yourself. Though Brock Crags is a relatively small fell, this steep ascent first thing in the walk is bound to wake your legs up. Somewhat aggressively in my experience.
Small in height, but spectacular in position, Brock Crags gives the feeling of being high up in the fells within very little walking time. I didn’t hang around long here as it was a particularly windy day and this summit is somewhat exposed, but if it is a calm day the views across to the Helvellyn Ridge must be worth a few minutes of your time.
From the summit of Brock Crags, I began to traverse the ridge, trying my best to dodge the bogs on the top and failing to keep my trainers dry. Not deterred by the soggy socks, I made my way across to Rest Dodd on the path, and from here followed the fell wall again over to The Knott. In the pass between the two peaks I noticed Alan’s ears prick up and watched his little nose sniff furiously at the air. A few steps later and the smells that had caused this excitement became clear as a herd of red deer ran in front of us, leaping gracefully over the fell wall. Naturally, my progress was halted by the dog, who had to stare longingly after the deer as they disappeared into the distance - but soon enough we were on our way again.
From The Knott, the path takes on the feel of a real mountain trail, hugging the upper slopes of High Street as it skirts high above Hayeswater in the corrie below. Unfortunately for me, the cloud level was low on this day, and though I could see the path heading up towards High Street, much of the summit plateau was in fog and I didn’t get any more views until I was descending the other side and heading towards the hugely impressive summit cairn of Thornthwaite Crag.
Eager to tick off as many Wainwrights as possible, I took a slightly unnecessary but not regrettable detour out and back to Gray Crag. If you were pressed for time, or after a shorter walk, you could descend back to the car park this way - but as I said I was in the mood for ticking off summits, so once I reached the summit cairn (which was somewhat less impressive than its high neighbour’s) I turned back on myself and started ascending once more. Walking this ridge twice is no punishment though, as you are spoiled for views as both left and right offer dramatic, craggy drops down to the deep valleys below.
The trickiest part of my route underfoot was this next section, during which I cut the corner when heading to Threshthwaite Mouth. This was to avoid climbing back to the summit of Thornthwaite Crag and then heading down the scree slope. The route I was taking was mostly grass, but there were a lot of uneven lumps and bumps and the gradient was quite steep - so it could be pretty slippery in places and had to be negotiated with care. Once in the pass of Threshthwaite Mouth I enjoyed the knowledge that I only had one more climb to go - and set to summiting Stony Cove Pike at once. This section has what I would call a bit of easy scrambling and I had to use my hands at times, but the route is very achievable if done in good conditions.
With the summit of Stony Cove Pike under my belt, I knew the final task was simply to get back to the car and so the descent down to Hartsop Dodd was very enjoyable. The views were spectacular as ever, looking across to Red Screes, Fairfield and the bigger fells in the distance, this high ridge providing an excellent place to soak up the satisfaction of a successful big day in the fells.
My final summit of the day, Hartsop Dodd, had a particularly special feel to it. The sun was starting to set and though it had been a wet, cloudy and windy day, there was a calming feel of evening coming and the weather settling. Though I had reached the summit by gradually descending the ridge, this fell has steep edges on three sides and truly feels exposed as it projects into the Hartsop Valley. The path descends the nose of the fell and as I descended I couldn’t help but grin. Though it is a well trodden path, it feels adventurous and fun as it takes the most direct route down to the valley below.
As with the way out, the path took me off the fell and directly into the car park - again something which should not be undervalued as a long walk out after all that climbing (and steep descending) would likely have been tedious. This walk was truly spectacular and opened up a whole new area of fells to me. Though the peaks are relatively lower than their Eastern Fell neighbours, I was surprised by the dramatic scenery and the feeling of remoteness offered by these less busy fells. The herd of deer was an added bonus and just in case I didn’t mention it enough before, the car park is just in the perfect place. This is an area I will return to for walks in the future, particularly during the summer when the higher peaks are likely to be a little on the crowded side.