There’s no doubt that our visit to the Lake District in October last year was a damp one, but the weather didn’t dampen our mood. I was pleased that we managed to get three good walks in while we were there, which added to the wonderful stay at Latrigg View and the pleasure which returning to the region gives me.
The third walk—after an outing directly from the holiday house and a spectacularly wet walk around Buttermere—was on a shorter but more challenging quest to add another of Wainwright’s Fells to my list. We haven’t spent a lot of time around Ullswater in the times we’ve visited the area, so I chose a hill which offered good views of Patterdale village and of the lake beyond.
Arnison Crag (433m) was deemed to be “a low hill with a summit worthy of a mountain” by Wainwright, and the mountainous experience was capped by the heavy, dark clouds which brooded over us, sending the occasional rain shower our way. After parking up at the all-but-deserted King George V Playing Field near Patterdale village, we crossed over the soggy land amongst old oaks to the lower part of the hill. At this point, the path splits and sends walkers up our intended route or to the larger, more challenging neighbouring summit of Birks (622m).
Immediately after passing the path junction, the hard work began, and we slogged our way slowly up the increasingly-steep path. If, indeed, it could be called a path. The route is mainly formed of a combination of stony and grassy tracks through the bracken, and the familiar smell of dying, browned undergrowth dragged us on to the first stopping point. On such an ascent, which demands all of the lung capacity the walker has, the easiest way to deal with the challenge is to do it one bit at a time. Set the next goal, at which point a short break can be enjoyed, drippy noses can be dealt-with, and photos can be taken. The ascent over this route to Arnison Crag is incessantly steep, so the first rocky outcrop of Oxford Crag, about half-way up the hill, was our first proper stopping-point and was suitably decorated with little piles of sheep droppings.
Further up the fell, the path continues to follow the wiggly contours of a fenced stone wall: a technological development which presumably retains the classic look of the Lake District landscapes whilst providing a more stable and less-penetrable barrier for animals. It’s interesting to note that the landscape on both sides of the wall is equally wild, with stony ground covered in varying stages of decaying bracken at this time of year.
We arrived at the col below the main fell top and found a sheltered spot in which to keep out of the wind and enjoy our packed lunch. Whilst sitting there, and given the grotty weather, we decided that the route was more important than the specific goal of standing on the uppermost summit and so we continued around the secondary hillock to the west of the main crag, deciding spontaneously to continue walking.
After around quarter-of-an-hour heading towards the higher goal of Birks, we quickly revised our plan when we realised that gaining this higher summit would involve a fair distance of walking, another sharply-steep ascent and an even steeper descent back to the car. Without any real likelihood of an improvement in the weather, and therefore little chance of a real photographic masterpiece, we retraced our steps and headed back to the car with the panoramic view of Ullswater in front of us.
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