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Fairfield Horseshoe & Stone Arthur

Fairfield Horseshoe & Stone Arthur


Postby Derek T » Sun Apr 17, 2011 11:49 pm

Wainwrights included on this walk: Dove Crag, Fairfield, Great Rigg, Hart Crag, Heron Pike, High Pike (Eastern Fells), Low Pike, Nab Scar, Stone Arthur

Hewitts included on this walk: Dove Crag, Fairfield, Great Rigg, Hart Crag

Date walked: 17/04/2011

Time taken: 7

Distance: 18.4 km

Ascent: 1261m

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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 :wink:

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 :smile:

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...


our_route.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

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Derek T
Munro compleatist
 
Posts: 517
Munros:22   
Sub 2000:8   Hewitts:55
Wainwrights:100   
Joined: May 17, 2010
Location: Chesterfield & Edinburgh

Re: Fairfield Horseshoe & Stone Arthur

Postby Derek T » Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:19 am

Grasmere from Stone Arthur.jpg


Nothing to crow about of Fairfield summit.jpg


Dollywagon Pike.jpg


Cofa Pike and St Sunday Crag.jpg


Hart Crag Summit.jpg


Looking back at Dove Crag.jpg


High Pike Summit.jpg


Low Pike.jpg


Looking back and Low and High Pikes.jpg


The big boys in the distance.jpg
User avatar
Derek T
Munro compleatist
 
Posts: 517
Munros:22   
Sub 2000:8   Hewitts:55
Wainwrights:100   
Joined: May 17, 2010
Location: Chesterfield & Edinburgh

Re: Fairfield Horseshoe & Stone Arthur

Postby Phooooey » Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:29 pm

I thought about doing Stone Arthur myself and reading your report I wish I had done.
Still it gives me an excuse for another outing instead of doing work on the house as I've yet to bag that one.
You must have been there later on in the day than me as it looks like the sun finally broke through ... I'm guessing that the pics of Fairfield were about 14:00 when I was returning through Rydal Park and the sun was at its brightest.
I agree with your comment on Low Pike down to Ambleside .. it just seems to keep going, a bit like Miterdale from my walk last weekend (back of Wasdale Screes / Ill Gill Head).
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Phooooey
 
Posts: 244
Hewitts:111
Wainwrights:214   
Joined: Apr 4, 2010
Location: Dalton -In-Furness

Re: Fairfield Horseshoe & Stone Arthur

Postby Derek T » Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:01 pm

Phooooey wrote:I'm guessing that the pics of Fairfield were about 14:00 when I was returning through Rydal Park and the sun was at its brightest.
That is about the time I was heading down to Stone Arthur. I reached Fairfield around 16:00. It was a cracking day out in the sun 8)
User avatar
Derek T
Munro compleatist
 
Posts: 517
Munros:22   
Sub 2000:8   Hewitts:55
Wainwrights:100   
Joined: May 17, 2010
Location: Chesterfield & Edinburgh

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