Fairfield Horseshoe & Stone Arthur
Posted: Sun Apr 17, 2011 11:49 pm
After two days of setting out in thick fog it was great to be able to see my first target, Nab Scar, as I set off from the Ambleside Cricket Club car park. This car park is open to the public (except Saturday afternoons in summer) and is free. A donation box is bolted to the wall of the club house - you know it makes sense
Parking at the Cricket Club gives you a nice flat half mile start to warm up the muscles before striking up the road between Rydal Church and Rydal Hall. From that point the ascent is quite steep. The height gain and stone steps reminded me of the first quarter of the tourist path on Ben Nevis. Nab Scar is dwarfed by the other hills on the horseshoe but is a nice little hill in its own right with fantastic views of Windermere.
Next is Heron Pike, which is the first of two summit cairns on the way to Great Rigg. As I ascended Great Rigg I noticed a steady flow of people heading up and down a path to my left. A quick check of the map made me realise they were n the path from Great Rigg down to Stone Arthur - a drop of around 1,000ft. It was sunny, I was up here anyway, so turned left and headed down to bag Stone Arthur just because it was there. It turned out to be a good detour as the summit gives a great view of Grasmere.
After lunch on the summit I turned around and trudged back up through the rock path and grassy ridge to Great Rigg. From there it is a straightforward walk along and up the ridge to Fairfield. This was the most surprising summit of the day. From the approach it looks really boring, a bit like High Street on the Kentmere round yesterday. But, when you get to the top you are rewarded with a fantastic view of Dollywagon PIke and the fells running from it as well as the fabulous north face of Fairfield itself. I dodged around the summit from one cairn to the next taking lots of pictures. What a great place
I then headed for Hart Crag and Dove Crag, probably the two most aesthetically interesting fells of the round. Lots of rock and crags and a nice little up and down in between the two summits.
From Dove Crag it is more or less downhill all the way over High and Low Pikes. The first part of this walk seems to go quite quickly but from Low Pike onwards it just never seems to end. The good part about the descent is that you get to follow what is the best example of a dry stone wall that I have ever seen. A remarkable feat of human achievement!
Here is the route...
Parking at the Cricket Club gives you a nice flat half mile start to warm up the muscles before striking up the road between Rydal Church and Rydal Hall. From that point the ascent is quite steep. The height gain and stone steps reminded me of the first quarter of the tourist path on Ben Nevis. Nab Scar is dwarfed by the other hills on the horseshoe but is a nice little hill in its own right with fantastic views of Windermere.
Next is Heron Pike, which is the first of two summit cairns on the way to Great Rigg. As I ascended Great Rigg I noticed a steady flow of people heading up and down a path to my left. A quick check of the map made me realise they were n the path from Great Rigg down to Stone Arthur - a drop of around 1,000ft. It was sunny, I was up here anyway, so turned left and headed down to bag Stone Arthur just because it was there. It turned out to be a good detour as the summit gives a great view of Grasmere.
After lunch on the summit I turned around and trudged back up through the rock path and grassy ridge to Great Rigg. From there it is a straightforward walk along and up the ridge to Fairfield. This was the most surprising summit of the day. From the approach it looks really boring, a bit like High Street on the Kentmere round yesterday. But, when you get to the top you are rewarded with a fantastic view of Dollywagon PIke and the fells running from it as well as the fabulous north face of Fairfield itself. I dodged around the summit from one cairn to the next taking lots of pictures. What a great place
I then headed for Hart Crag and Dove Crag, probably the two most aesthetically interesting fells of the round. Lots of rock and crags and a nice little up and down in between the two summits.
From Dove Crag it is more or less downhill all the way over High and Low Pikes. The first part of this walk seems to go quite quickly but from Low Pike onwards it just never seems to end. The good part about the descent is that you get to follow what is the best example of a dry stone wall that I have ever seen. A remarkable feat of human achievement!
Here is the route...