The Start
Car Park: High Row,Just up from Dockray
Being dropped off at the car park at the entrance to the Old Coach road I cut off a mile of walking as Wainwright's suggested starting point was Dockray.
A number of Bikers set off down the Old Coach road and thus polluted the would be tranquil and quiet walking environment. However after walking through the gate I instantly veered off left towards low how and latterly High Brow following at a distance a wall to my left. This way I think in some ways is better than the Groove Beck route suggested by Wainwright due to some interesting curving walls ,Crags and nice views. If you stick between the hillocks and the wall there is sufficient shelter from the wind AND the noise pollution of motorbikes, Land drovers and whatnot that pass through the Old Coach Road. The downsides to this route being a distinct lack of a path.
Next I continue up past Dowthwaite Crag and up High Brow where there were some interesting little pools which made a great foreground to my picture of Deepdale which provides and interesting view whilst simultaneously creating a feeling of isolation and loneliness along the 'path' to Randerside. It doesn't take long to feel like your in the middle of Nowhere if you follow this route.
Anyway I spent the next half an hour making little progress through essentially a massive drawn out bog, before getting fed up and joining a more well established path at the bottom of Randerside.
Do not stick to the left of High Brow when walking to Randerside as you will find you are walking through uneven and boggy land most of the way! Instead go straight down the spine of High Brow towards Randerside; Just as Wainwright has dotted out on his little sketch of ascent from Dockray.
Randerside Is the beginning of a fairly long but relatively rewarding climb. As this is my FIRST climb of a mountain over 2000 ft I had to rest about 4 times along the way.
Once I was at the top of Randerside ,Great Dodd seemed to lear over me ,however as it turned out I had actually done most of the hard work; the final ascent up Great Dodd is quite steep yet mercifully short. I didn't have to rest on this section.
The views from the top are tremendous however I didn't take any scenic pictures as there were rather intimidating dark clouds looming large and the light was rather dull... so much for lugging a great Heavy tripod with me the whole way!
The panorama is split, in order to get the views of Keswick and the Solway you need to find the highest bit of ground a few yards north of the large shelter cairn. From the cairn the views of Helvellyn and 'satellites' are fairly descent. And slightly further west you can also see Thirlmere!
I have to say I did feel rather exposed up here because there was not another soul in sight;; the only company being that of a Single Crow which I think is supposed to be the mark of bad luck!
I descended on the same path on which I had ascended 'however cutting out the boggy nightmare of the West side of High Brow. It seemed to take AGES to get back, especially when descending Randerside. A mixture of Black clouds, hail, wind chill seemed to bring out a malevolent and unkind character in my surroundings especially within the barren Vale of Deepdale and the irrepressible presence of Blencathra to my left. Looking back it was almost as if I had angered Great Dodd and his friends and he had issued a billow of dark and hostile clouds to chase me away from the hills by dropping a mixture of hail and freezing rain onto my already frozen head! I didn't have a hat, yeh I'm stupid.
After battling through bog and small hill after small hill I eventually landed on the now quite welcoming gravel path that marked the end of the Old Coach road , and my gate to home along with my means of getting there.
So to sum up: The walk up to GD is actually quite nice, but when coming back down it becomes incredibly monotonous so if I was to walk this way again I would descend down into St Johns in the Vale where some nice person would (probably not but hopefully be waiting with the car.
Also I would bring someone with me next time as it gets rather lonely up there!
The End
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Great Dodd-A somewhat foreboding walk
Great Dodd-A somewhat foreboding walk
by The Lakeland Hobbler » Sun Apr 24, 2016 3:35 pm
Wainwrights included on this walk: Great Dodd
Hewitts included on this walk: Great Dodd
Date walked: 24/04/2016
Time taken: 2
Distance: 5 km
Ascent: 1507m
5 people think this report is great. Register or Login free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).Last edited by The Lakeland Hobbler on Fri Apr 29, 2016 10:25 am, edited 4 times in total.
- The Lakeland Hobbler
- Ambler
- Posts: 6
- Hewitts:1
- Wainwrights:5
- Joined: Apr 24, 2016
- Location: Tirril, Cumbria
Re: Great Dodd-A somewhat foreboding walk
by thefallwalker » Sun Apr 24, 2016 5:11 pm
nice report bud! dont "beat" yourself up over stopping a couple of times, we all do along the way but not everyone wants to admit it
i'd definietely reccommend some company on future walks as it really does keep you going when things get tough or the weather decides to get ya!! & of course to share the amazing views up the hills, good luck with your future missions. 


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thefallwalker - Mountaineer
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Re: Great Dodd-A somewhat foreboding walk
by The Lakeland Hobbler » Sun Apr 24, 2016 5:28 pm
Thank you very much for reading my report!thefallwalker wrote:nice report bud! dont "beat" yourself up over stopping a couple of times, we all do along the way but not everyone wants to admit iti'd definietely reccommend some company on future walks as it really does keep you going when things get tough or the weather decides to get ya!! & of course to share the amazing views up the hills, good luck with your future missions.
- The Lakeland Hobbler
- Ambler
- Posts: 6
- Hewitts:1
- Wainwrights:5
- Joined: Apr 24, 2016
- Location: Tirril, Cumbria
Re: Great Dodd-A somewhat foreboding walk
by trailmasher » Mon Apr 25, 2016 1:39 pm
Good report and pics TLH
Pleased to see that you had good weather for the views
I can also endorse your sentiments of the route that you took
and following the spine off High Brow is the better option
Well done and look forward to reading more of your reports 





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trailmasher - Mountaineer
- Posts: 1241
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- Joined: Nov 26, 2014
- Location: Near Appleby - Cumbria
Re: Great Dodd-A somewhat foreboding walk
by The Lakeland Hobbler » Mon Apr 25, 2016 7:10 pm
Thanks a lottrailmasher wrote:Good report and pics TLHPleased to see that you had good weather for the views
I can also endorse your sentiments of the route that you took
and following the spine off High Brow is the better option
Well done and look forward to reading more of your reports


- The Lakeland Hobbler
- Ambler
- Posts: 6
- Hewitts:1
- Wainwrights:5
- Joined: Apr 24, 2016
- Location: Tirril, Cumbria
Re: Great Dodd-A somewhat foreboding walk
by ChrisW » Thu Apr 28, 2016 4:07 am
Well done TLH, congrats on your first 2000+, may it be the first of many. As thefallwalker said earlier, don't worry about stopping .... I stop as much as I go
Nice pics of a dark and mysterious wandering. If you ever feel a bit concerned on the trail, start singing out loud...you can guarantee someone will turn up and catch your out of tune warbling almost immediately




Nice pics of a dark and mysterious wandering. If you ever feel a bit concerned on the trail, start singing out loud...you can guarantee someone will turn up and catch your out of tune warbling almost immediately


Re: Great Dodd-A somewhat foreboding walk
by The Lakeland Hobbler » Fri Apr 29, 2016 10:37 am
Thank You ChrisChrisW wrote:Well done TLH, congrats on your first 2000+, may it be the first of many. As thefallwalker said earlier, don't worry about stopping .... I stop as much as I go![]()
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Nice pics of a dark and mysterious wandering. If you ever feel a bit concerned on the trail, start singing out loud...you can guarantee someone will turn up and catch your out of tune warbling almost immediately![]()


- The Lakeland Hobbler
- Ambler
- Posts: 6
- Hewitts:1
- Wainwrights:5
- Joined: Apr 24, 2016
- Location: Tirril, Cumbria
5 people think this report is great. Register or Login free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
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