- A visit to Dock Tarn -

Date & Time: Wednesday 15th September 2007. 3 pm start.

Location of Start : The village car park, Rosthwaite, Cumbria, Uk. ( NY 143 211 )

Places visited : Rosthwaite, Hazel Bank, Stonethwaite Bridge, Dock Tarn, Great Crag, Pudding Stone Bank and back down to Rosthwaite.

Walk details : 4 mls, 1350 ft of ascent , 3 hrs 55 mins.

Highest point : Great Crag 1500 ft (456 m)

Walked with : Jill, Nigel and Matthew Bachelor, Jo, John, Ann and the five dogs.

Weather : A really nice sunny afternoon - could this be the re-start of summer ?

Our starting point today was down there in Rosthwaite, Borrowdale.

 

Jo is fast approaching the completion of her round of 214 Wainwright Fells and so today requested a walk to climb Great Crag. We combined it up with a stroll up Stonethwaite Valley, a visit to Dock Tarn, and a return on the Watendlath path.

Jill, Nigel and Matthew were still on holiday up here so it was another mini OFC meet as seven of us set off from Rosthwaite car park mid afternoon.

Nigel hiding Matthew behind him, John with Polly, Jo with Jodie, and Jill with camera.

National Trust membership allows free parking at Rosthwaite, otherwise it's pay and display.

Now that's what I call a summer's day - sunshine over the bridge at Stonethwaite Beck.

The fell behind is High Spy, with Dale Head just showing as a dark silhouette behind.

Rather than take the road to Stonethwaite, we took the footpath on the opposite side of the river.

Why is a tree growing in the middle of the river, and more intriguing, who went out to prune it ?

   
The bridge to Stonethwaite Village.
A delightful sheepfold with Eagle Crag behind.
   
   
Soon we branch off left to start the climb.
It's a steep pitched path that climbs up through the woods.

The heather is nearly in full bloom as we climb up above the valley.

This is Stonethwaite Fell, a jumbled craggy landscape of volcanic rock.

The view up the valley now extends up to Greenup Edge, High Raise behind Eagle Crag,

to Sergeants Crag and up the Langstrath Valley to Great End.

Ahead of us is the river that drains Dock Tarn.

 

It cascades past us in a long sustained series of falls

down towards the Stonethwaite Valley.

 

It goes by the delightful name of . . . Willygrass Gill.

 

 

Suddenly we come across the delightful panorama of Dock Tarn

the blue sky reflecting beautifully in the water.

John and Matthew take the narrow path alongside the tarn, though Polly preferred the water at this point

Passing shadows and bright sunshine highlight the small rock island.

A weather beaten Juniper hangs over the rocky edge of the water.

Sunshine now past, the island returns to quiet obscurity.

A female Mallard duck disturbs the water briefly as she paddles through the Water Lily leaves.

To reach Jo's target of Great Crag we branch off left and cross a slightly damp moorland section between the lower crags.

Matthew climbs the northern summit first, but we decide the higher top is the southern one.

Sorry but you'll have to come over here for the proper photo !

John points at Jo and highlights her 202nd summit success,

or is he just bragging about the Dilitheum crystals in his fine hat !

A temporary high level grey cloud adds drama

to this view of Base Brown, Green Gable and Great Gable, carefully lined up behind each other.

In the distance Crinkle Crags and Bowfell (with the pointed top).

   
Walking back to the main path, under a cloudy sky . . .
. . . but summer returns quickly to restore the colour.

We walked north to meet the Watendlath to Rosthwaite path.

Here we look across at Kings How, Grange Fell, Brund Fell and the delightfully named Jopplety How.

Watendlath nestling below High Seat and High Tove.

It's getting too late now to go down for an afternoon cup of tea so we turn for Rosthwaite.

Is Jill trying to pull something out of the grass - or is she just getting down for a closer look ?

A fine group of Spotted Orchids had caught her attention, and that of everyone else by the look of it . . .

except Polly . . . who couldn't see what all the fuss was about.

It's downhill all the way now as we reach the main path at Pudding Stone Bank.

A short walk back up the main valley took us back to the village.

The old path here is raised above the level of the water so the dogs don't have to get their feet wet.

 

- - - o o o - - -

Technical note: Pictures taken with a Canon Ixus Digital camera.

Resized in Photoshop, and built up on a Dreamweaver web builder.

This site best viewed with . . . a change of geology, and so a very different type of vegetation than on recent walks.

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Previous walk - 12th August 2007 Webmasters on Gavel

A previous time up here - 4th March 2006 Eagle Crag, Sergeants Crag and High Raise in the snow

Next walk - 16th August 2007 Longsleddale and Grey Crag