BB0716  Caudale Moor and Hartsop Dodd

Thursday 24th May 2007

With Philip not golfing, Tony not fishing (or drinking like one), Stan not banging people up and Bryan’s hip working again we had a good turn out.

The pre-walk debate had been all about whether with had ever climbed the Knott or not? Stan thought we might have done on BB0605 but eventually we determined we had done it on BB0603 but it had not been clearly written up.  Sorry folks and amended version now published!

Time was limited so in the end it was decided to tackle Caudale Moor from the top of the Kirkstone Pass.  It was a damp misty day and we took the team picture at the start, outside the Kirkstone Inn, anticipating that there might be no more photo opportunities!

For me this outing had an added interest. This climb had been the first I had done in recent times (see BB04 on the way to Thornthwaite Beacon) and I had found it very hard going.  How much had I improved since then?    

   Team  picture at the Kirkstone Inn

I need not have worried.  The steepish ascent to St Raven’s Edge was relatively painlessly achieved and thereafter it was a middling sort of gradient up to Caudale Moor. In fact, it is the sort of terrain that seems best to suit me- it’s probably because I have little legs.

Anyway I slipped into a rhythm and before long I realised that the others were falling away behind me.  I could hear the babble of two separate conversations but not make out the words.  I found it strangely comforting, reminiscent of when I was a child and from my room I could hear my mother and father chatting and laughing in bed.  I couldn’t tell what they were saying but I liked the sound.

Team  picture at Stoney Cove Pike

Before long however I heard running and turned to see Bryan steaming up the hill. I am not sure if he had taken pity on Billy No-mates or whether he was checking that his hip really was back in top form.

We regrouped at Stoney Cove Pike, which is the high point of the moor where I took another team picture to show the weather had not improved, and then set off for our second objective Hartsop Dodd.  

As we reached the shoulder, the weather started to clear and so we stopped behind the shelter of a wall for a coffee, which turned into an official lunch break. Tony was amazed; it was only 11:45 and he hadn’t even started to complain.  He was however mighty relieved as he needed to eat early to prepare himself for the evening’s challenge- he was going for a personal best:  a solo effort at a kilo of Jersey Royals!  Boiled, not chipped!

First glimpse of Hartsopp Dodd

Brothers Water and Ullswater

Approaching Hartsopp Dodd there were increasingly good views down to the valley with Ullswater coming into view beyond Brothers Water.

However Stan and Philip were still lagging behind  

The descent to the valley, direttisimo of course, was remarkably steep (see route profile below) and as the grass was damp a bit of care was needed.

I did suggest to Bryan that perhaps a glissade was in order (a fancy name for sliding down on your bum) but he warned that the problem was that you would not be able to stop.

 

Hartsopp Dodd summit post

Hartsopp Dodd

We regrouped at the bottom and set off to find the footpath up Kirkstone Pass.  After only a minute, Stan and Philip were again 100 yards behind.  We checked to see if they were holding hands but no.  Were they turning into girlies or what?  We discovered subsequently that they were putting the world to rights with such fervour that it made walking at the same time difficult.

Another wall was found behind which to hide from the stragglers whilst we had afternoon tea but Tony spoiled the fun and called to them as they ambled past.

The route left the road and crossed a field to a bridge that was being guarded by a mean looking bull with several cows and their calves.  Now, I know that if there is one thing more dangerous than a bull in a field, it’s a cow with her calf so faced with this combination, to me, the sensible thing to do was to skip across the stream- the risk of a dousing is far terrifying less than the risk of a goring.  However the others are made of braver stuff and they passed right in front of the noses of the beasts without problem.  But then, I was the one wearing red.

The Kirk Stone

 The climb up Kirkstone Pass was longer and more tedious than I remembered until Stan pointed out that we hadn’t actually done it before and that what I thought I remembered was in fact Dunmail Raise!

We passed the Kirk Stone and reached the Kirkstone Inn at last but opted not to go inside as a busload of Germans had just got there before us. Just what they would have made of the Lake District on such a day I don’t know. Instead, we set off home for an early bath.  

Or in Tony’s case, no doubt, a hour of spud scrubbing.

Don,  24th May 2007

Distance: 7.3 Miles (GPS)

Height climbed: 2,310 feet (Anquet / Harveys)

Wainwrights:  Caudale Moor (Stoney Cove Pike),  Hartsop Dodd

 

  

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Click on the photos for an enlargement or related large picture.

This page describes a 2007 adventure of BOOTboys, a loose group of friends of mature years who enjoy defying the aging process by getting out into the hills as often as possible!

As most live in South Lakeland, it is no surprise that our focus is on the Lakeland fells and the Yorkshire Dales.

As for the name, BOOTboys, it does not primarily derive from an item of footwear but is in memory of Big Josie, the erstwhile landlady of the erstwhile Burnmoor Inn at Boot in Eskdale, who enlivened Saint Patrick's Day 1973 and other odd evenings many years ago!

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