Wednesday 11 July - Dalehead Tarn, High Spy and Maiden Moor

First, well done to Alan Rayner for correctly identifying Eel Crags. [Sorry Andrew W and Conrad]

After a wet Tuesday in the Grisedale Tarn area, today was a proper summer's day

The walk to Dalehead Tarn was all pleasure with Dale Head filling the view ahead, the lovely waterfalls of Newlands Beck and the long line of Eel Crags rising above us. Despite all the rain we've had this week, their rocks looked dry and in good climbing condition but, unless and until I get my finger fixed, this fact was, I reflected with some regret, of no immediate importance.

Lunch was taken at the tarn, or at least in the sheep-fold close by, to escape the wind. Herdwicks grazed high on Dale Head and two others wandered into our enclosure, looked straight at us then paid us no heed. Without them the landscape wouldn't be what it is, the Lakes simply not the Lakes.

From High Spy's large cairn, Esk Pike, Great End, the Scafells and Great Gable looked inviting but sadly won't be visited on this trip. It's been many years since we stood on their summits but maybe later this year we will be once again on "the roof of England". I hope so.

A windy walk to Maiden Moor followed by a leisurely descent to Little Town, a lovely walk along lanes lined with holly, hazel, birch, oak, hawthorn, and much else, brought us back to the 'van and the end of a memorable day.




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