You might say that heading to the Lakes on a bank holiday weekend is asking for trouble - and Ambleside itself was rammed - but the "less popular" fells are still sparsely populated, and this delightful walk from near Hartsop to a bunch of fells near Angle Tarn was an excellent choice. There were various other walkers out and about, but we still managed to enjoy some of the peacefulness and serenity that the Lake District has in abundance.
We started our ascent of Angletarn Pikes along the busy footpath to Boredale Hause, but here many of walkers then head north to Place Fell leaving us in relative peace and quiet. This was actually a fairly steep pull up the side of the fell, with wonderful views of Ullswater opening up in front of us. This was most appreciated, as often on an ascent you have to stop and turn around to appreciate the vista but not today.
I quite like a steep ascent to get things started. That hard work is soon rewarded as it means you reach the higher ground fairly swiftly. This certainly was the case today, once we had reached Boredale Hause, the walk across to the summit of Angletarn Pikes was an easy, enjoyable walk.
I had looked at plenty of photos of Angle Tarn on the internet earlier and was keen to see this beauty spot and we were certainly not disappointed today.
A glorious blue sky brought out the depth of colour in the tarn that was just stunning. It was also interesting to see that there was still the odd patch of snow, especially around the top of Helvellyn.
After a rest at Angle Tarn, we progressed along the main High Street path, headed towards Rest Dodd. We made a note of the route off to the right which would take us to Brock Crags, our final fell for the day, before heading onwards.
This section of the walk started off fairly interesting, with rocky outcrops and ancient drystone walls, as well as extensive views.
Once we started the ascent of Rest Dodd, it got somewhat less exciting as the final stretch was a long pull up a grassy flank of the fell which had no real features of interest other than views down to the infamously boggy route along The Nab. To be honest, today would have been a good day to do that fell, as the ground was pretty dry underfoot.
The top of Rest Dodd was easily reached, but the summit too offered little reason to linger, other than views over to the High Street range, and so we headed back down via the same route as our ascent.
We were soon back on the path to Angle Tarn, and followed a path on the map which took us over to Brock Crags. With this fell's close proximity over easy ground, I don't know why Wainwright didn't include any ridge route to Brock Crags as it seemed ideally suited to be paired up with Angletarn Pikes?!
After Rest Dodd this was far more interesting walking territory, with rocks, tarns, walls and great views to keep us amused. This was a very short walk from the main path and after maybe fifteen minutes we were at the fell summit, and more than ready for our packed lunch.
Our path back down towards the path to Boredale Hause was made slightly more tricky by the fact that there was no real discernible path other than a few ruts and sheep trails that looked like they were headed in the right direction. Having consulted the map and GPS however we were definitely on track, and with no obvious dangers ahead we continued along our steep descent. Soon enough the path was more obvious, and before long we were back at the car. All in all another highly enjoyable exploration of the Far Eastern Fells.
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