Kirkstone Pass, Red Screes, Dove Crag, Cumbria. Wed 26 Apr 2006

I left the Brothers Water car park and followed the lane south to Hartsop Hall. I wanted to walk up the old track to the west side of the beck up Kirkstone Pass. The path is marked on the Ordnance Survey map but not as a right of way. But a footbridge crossed Caiston Beck so I followed it on to the path. It was an easy gradient and looks very much like it predated the main road on the other side of the beck and probably was the first Kirkstone Pass. My objective wasn’t the summit but a high hanging valley to the west. All you can see from the road is a series of waterfalls cascading down and a substantial stone wall adjacent. I arrived at the wall and set off straight up the steep fell side. There was no sign of a path anywhere so it was a case of finding the best route possible.

Substantial stone wall above Kirkstone Pass.

On the steep climb out of Kirkstone Cove.

The road and cars were soon way below and I eventually emerged into a huge amphitheatre. None of my maps has a name for it but a check on the old Ordnance Survey map of 1862 (available on-line) calls it Kirkstone Cove. This is a very good description and I can’t understand why they’ve dropped the name from modern maps. The overcast conditions continued but at least the tops were still below the cloud. There was no visible path out of the valley so I had to judge the best way on to the tops. I took a direct line up to Red Screes which became rather steep in places. With the benefit of hindsight I would have taken a more diagonal route up to the Middle Dodd ridge.

It was cold and windy on the summit so I continued on and down to Scandale Pass. I followed the good path up to the stone beacon on Scandale Head and then took a direct line towards Dove Crag. As I looked back the cloud was starting to swirl around Red Screes summit. I started the steep descent towards Dovedale Beck.and met a walker coming up. We stopped and we chatted for a while. He said he was from Australia and his name was Dave Williams. We wished one another the best for the rest of our day’s walk.

The magnificent view from Priest's Hole cave on Dove Crag

I made the short detour up to Priest’s Hole cave where I stopped for lunch. It is quite surreal sitting inside, out of the wind and having the ultimate ‘picture window’ view across the fells. My last two attempts to reach it were unsuccessful due to steep and hard snow. I retraced my steps down to the river and crossed over to Hartsop above Howe ridge.

Cave view as I ate my sandwiches.

Looking back towards Dove Crag.

Occasional patches of sun broke through as I ambled along. This must be one of the most picturesque descents around. Before I reached the end of the ridge I noticed a branch path which took me steeply down to the car park at Brother’s Water.