5 Days in the lakes - Day 2 - Newlands

[stevesey]

Day two -- one member down (walking with a different group today) we headed for Robinson from Little Town via Ard Crags, Knott Rigg and High Snockrigg. The plan being to check timings and take in Hindscarth and Dale head etc if we had time.

track (1).gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

A cloudy start, with a forecast for it to clear later proved reasonably accurate, and resulted in Oh's and Ah's as we got tantalising glimpses of Causey Pike, Scar Crags, Crag Hill and Wandope as we wandered along the Ard Crags, Knott Rigg ridge in the cloud. Views opened up again as we descended below the cloud to Newlands Hause and up onto High Snockrigg for lunch.

A "lost" German couple wandered over during lunch asking about the path down to the farm on the side of Buttermere - turned out, having come up from Buttermere village, they thought they were on Robinson (which was visible now) already. Had a quick chat and they wandered off (as is quite often the case if things don;t looks right it's often because you haven't gone as far as you think).

A quick paddle across Buttermere Moss and were were soon back in the cloud on the way up Robinson. At the top we were just breaking through the cloud and were rewarded with the tops of the High Stile range poking though the cloud across the valley. Checking our average speed so far (on the GPS) and with a quick mental calculation I worked out we could make Dale Head and get back along the Valley in time for tea (but Madien Moor would add too much additional ascent and distance). So off to Hindscarth as the views started really opening up, couple of our group hadn't bagged the summit before so they jogged off to the summit while I waited with Andy whose knees were beginning to give some jip (yes we lost another member of the group on Day 2). Next Dale Head and views to Scafell through Windy Gap on the way. A double check of timings and a drop down into the Newlands Valley for the walk back to Little Town.

Timing worked out spot on - we were officially 5mins late for tea, so arrived at the table just as soup was served!

Photos: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/106459429880001195754/albums/5929912569420310289

Route: http://my.viewranger.com/track/details/NTM2MTQx