A Taste of Winter

Having missed the Arete Patterdale Meet and reflecting on my lack of fitness I decide to have a weekend at the FRCC hut in Patterdale and do some hill walking in the area. On hearing my plans Colin and Bev decided to come up on Saturday night to join me on Sundays walk.
I set out on Saturday for Place Fell by the Bordale Hause route, the clouds clearing ocasionally to give sunlit views over Patterdale.

The ascent was straightforward following good paths up to the summit which was shrouded in mist. I carried on to High Dodd which appeared to be little visited although only a few yards from the main descent path. I doubled back to Place Fell this time by Mortar Crag and continued back to Boredale Hause.
The mists cleared sufficient to make sense of the proliferation of paths at the hause and I headed for Beda Head. Beda Head lies at the end of the long ridge of Beda Fell between Boredale and Bannerdale and the ascent was notable only because of sighting a couple of red deer on the way.
On Sunday the air was decidedly colder and a sprinkling of fresh snow covered the high tops as once again I set out for Boredale Hause, this time with Colin and Bev for company.

Our first objective was Angletarn Pikes which was again shrouded in mist. This hill has twin summits, knobbly mounds separated by boggy ground. We visited both and using the GPS ascertained that the larger cairn is on the lower of the two summits.
We descended to Angle Tarn in light snowfall and had a quick coffee then headed for Brock Crags.

Checking the route from Brock Crags summit

The rest of the route entailed navigating through mist and snow over Rest Dodd to The Knott. With modern day GPS you are never really lost but we still took some satisfaction from finding our way with the map and compass.

Knott Summit

As we descended to Hartsop via Hayeswater the snow turned to rain but we were well satisfied with a good days walking.