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Bank Holiday Monday in the Lake District is not a phrase that fills lovers of space and solitude with hope if I'm honest. Certainly, any of the honey pot fells and locations are best avoided, in fact some would say avoid the national park entirely. Even on what was, given a decent forecast, sure to be one of the busiest weekends of the year there are still corners to be explored which may not be overwhelmed.
One such place is the Far Eastern valley of Swindale, a place so removed from the general hustle and bustle of every day life the sat nav has little idea of how to get you there.
According to google maps you simply can't get here without travelling on private roads which I'm sure has caused issues in the past but fortunately using the old fashioned method of looking at a map gets you trundling along the narrow road to Swindale without risking any landowners wrath.
Once on the road you eventually have to leave your wheels around a mile and a half before Swindale Head as no parking is possible beyond this point. Arriving here at just before eight I was the first car of the day with the only other people being a van next to a tent where somebody had spent the night.
It was a blissful morning with a little mist still drifting around and Hughie and I were soon heading off along the road to Swindale Head. Having never visited this valley before it was nice to be able to walk along taking in new sights without worrying about your footing but soon the gentle perambulations had to come to an end and the climbing begin at Swindale Head.
End of the road, for the car at least
Swindale mists
On the road to Swindale Head
Approaching the dam in Swindale Beck
Through the Gate to Swindale Head
Back lit tree
Wonderful Swindale morning
Over the wall to Swindale HeadThe property at Swindale Head has apparently been uninhabited for a while but there a signs of renovation work being done so some lucky individual with deep pockets will once again call it home. As I set of up the Old Corpse Road I noticed mist starting to spill from Moasdale into Swindale Head, this provided a fine sight as I made my way up the initial reaches of the path before I struck off on a narrow trod in the general direction of Selside. The views along the valley and of the constantly moving mists were quite mesmerising and I had many pauses to take photos or simply admire the spectacle as it unfolded.
It wasn't until I saw similar cloud starting to engulf the High Street fells that a sense of dejavou started to envelop me. A few years back I'd set off on a glorious morning to do the Kentmere horseshoe only to end up in clag from Kentmere Pike onward. Still, it was gloriously sunny for the time being so we stopped for breakfast in the shelter on Selside summit knowing there was nothing to be done anyway, the day would bring what it will.
First sight of the clag as I start to climb
On the Old Corpse Road
Flowing mists
Beneath the veil
Sky fall
Swindale Panorama
Clag incoming on the High Street range as well
Looking back on the way up Selside
Mist poring in from Mosedale
Shelter on Selside
Hughie in the shelterBreakfast over i headed for the next target of the rather unglamorous Birkett of Branstree North top, one I'd missed previously. As we made the gentle climb the clag took us up in its wake leaving us with nothing to see. A visit to Artle Crag on the way to Branstree did yield a glimpse of Haweswater, but optimism was waning badly as we visited Lakeland's highest dog drinking bowl (AKA Branstree) before the long descent down Selside Brow.
High Street
Haweswater Panorama
Clag starting to come in
Branstree North Top
Trig Pillar on Branstree
Glimpse of Haweswater from Artle Crag
Hughie on Artle Crag Pike
Lakelands highest dog drinking bowlBy the time we arrived at the head of Moasdale it was very gloomy but with occasional flashes of sunshine way down the valley. The ground underfoot also takes a turn here, becoming distinctly wetter as we squelched up to Tarn Crag and then across a surprisingly amenable Greycrag Tarn (it's not a tarn at all but a bog) and on to Grey Crag itself. Very little had been seen for quite some time at this point and that included people, I had neither crossed paths with, or seen anybody at a distance since setting off, visibility being poor no doubt helped but still it was a little surprising even here on the outer fringes of the National Park.
Dreary at Mosedale Head
A shred on optimism along Moasdale
Not much optimism on Tarn Crag
Lifting a bit on the way to Sleddale Fell
Dank and dirty on Grey CragI decide to have lunch on Harrop Pike which at least provided a few distant views of sunshine and contemplated the long walk back to the car.
A sighting of sun from Harrop Pike
Harrop PikeThere wasn't really any real signs of a path continuing from Harrop Pike and this proved to be the case as we made our way down open fellside to Little Moasdale beck which contained some nice waterfalls. At this point, as luck would have it, the skies looked to be clearing over the fells I'd just visited,
oh well, I certainly wasn't going to go back and have a look
By the time we reached Moasdale Beck I realised I was on the wrong side of the beck but crossing wasn't to much bother and onward we squelched in improving conditions to Swindale Head.
Fence without a path, a lakeland rarity 
Clag breaking but to late for me
Sunshine on Little Mosedale Beck
Little Mosedale Beck
Waterfall in Little Mosedale Beck
Mosedale Beck
Bridge over Mosedale BeckBy the time we got to the end of Moasdale the sun was shining brightly once again and the views down the valley I'd left several hours earlier were superb. It was while taking the well graded but vague in places path down to Swindale that I noticed my first other people of the day, several hundred meters away exploring Forces Falls. I had considered visiting these falls on the way back but I was quite tired by this point so left them for another day.
Swindale
Nabs Crag
First people of the day at Forces Falls
Swindale BeckI first crossed paths with other walkers/cyclists etc when back on the road, some going for bank holiday Monday in the Lakes.
and certainly a first for me. In spite of the forecast not quite living up to it's billing for much of the walk, it had still been a good day out with plenty of ground covered with much of it new to myself. Swindale is a beautiful place and I can imagine it gives a little sense of what neighbouring Mardale may have been like prior to the reservoir. The fact that the accessible fells around these parts are more Pennine in character, lacking in crags and excitement means that it will remain lonely and largely ignored for the most part, but one thing it won't be, is unloved.
Gouther Crag
Road back to the car