Get Lost Mountaineering

Little Hart Crag & High Hartsop Dodd via Stangs Ridge

from Cow Bridge Car Park by Brothers Water

Start/Finish

Cow Bridge car park which is at the NW corner of Brothers Water which is between Hartsop and Patterdale at the foot of Kirkstone Pass on the A592 road from Windermere to Penrith. The Kirkstone Pass road can be closed in Winter conditions so the start may have to be reached from the Penrith side. In summer, this car park can fill up quite early.

Distance/Time

10 km      About 4 hours

Peaks

Little Hart Crag, 637 m, NY 387 100.

High Hartsop Dodd, 519 m, NY 393 107.

OS 1: 50 000, Sheet 90.      OS 1: 25 000 Outdoor Leisure 5, English Lake District NE Area.

Introduction

This is a lovely little horseshoe which goes deep into Dovedale then picks its way up Stangs Ridge to Stand Crags, crosses the deep and spectacular Hogger Gill before ascending to Bakestones Moss before reaching Little Hart Crag then descending its N ridge over High Hartsop Dodd. There are some steep slopes on Stangs Ridge which will pose problems for the inexperienced in winter conditions. However, Stangs Ridge is hardly walked with some sections having no obvious footpath so this has much to commend it. There will be no crowds here – even in Summer! The descent of High Hartsop Dodd looks steep from Brothers Water but the path twists and turns down its nose, easing the gradient considerably. This is an excellent walk for views on a clear day with the High Street range (across the Kirkstone road), Place Fell, Hartsop Above How, Dove Crag and Red Screes all prominent.

Route

(1) From the car park, walk along the track behind Brothers Water. Continue beyond the end of the lake and go past Hartsop Hall. Stay on the lower track in the bottom of Dovedale to reach the footbridge across Dovedale Beck. Stangs Ridge is directly ahead above a “triangular” wood. Cross over and follow the beck up. Either follow the path to the foot of Stangs Ridge just above some waterfalls then start walking (left) up the ridge or go more directly up, almost on the right hand side of the wood to join the main ridge higher up. Walls which seem to block progress have several broken down sections allowing them to be crossed easily. Continue up Stangs Ridge trying to stay on the crest. There are considerable craggy drops on the left overlooking Hogger Gill. Eventually, Hogger Gill has to be crossed and this will entail a short detour upstream. An old fence on the right is a useful guide. The gill is very deep and some might call it a gorge. Once across the gill, continue up the ridge on the left, still steep, to reach the crest at Bakestones Moss where the main path from the Dove Crag ridge to Scandale Pass is joined. Follow this roughly SE towards Little Hart Crag but note that the path soon splits, not very obviously, with the left fork going across then up to Little Hart Crag and the right fork, the more obvious path, dropping noticeably towards Scandale Pass. The left path ascends easily to the medium cairn which marks the summit of Little Hart Crag, 637 m.

(2) Go E, following the path, to a lower summit (no cairn) then continue more NE down a gentle grassy ridge over several “bumps” until a very small cairn is reached which seems to mark the summit of High Hartsop Dodd, 519 m.

(3) Continue down the ridge on an obvious path which eases the gradient by twisting and turning down the nose. The path leads past an old stone barn. From here, follow the track to Hartsop Hall then follow the good track right to Sykeside Camp Site. Walk through the site but take the left fork (tarmac road) just before the Brothers Water Inn. Just before this track reache sthe road, go through a gate on the left and follow the path which leads down the E side of the lake before joining the road just before the first house then walk along the pavement back to Cow Bridge.

Notes

(a) This walk took place on 21^st January, 2014.