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" Dale Head and the Tarn "

Date & start time: 19th July 2011, 11.45 am start.

Location of Start : Honister Car Park, Honister, Cumbria, Uk ( NY 225 136 )

Places visited : Honister, Dale Head, Dale Head Tarn, Launchy Tarn, Yew Crags and back.

Walk details : 3.5 mls, 1550 ft of ascent, 3 hrs 30 mins.

Highest point : Dale Head, 2473 ft - 753 m.

Walked with : Jo, John, Ann and the dogs, Amber, Polly, Harry and Bethan.

Weather : Cloud covering the summits , a touch of rain to start, warm and humid all the way.

 

" Dale Head and the Tarn " at EveryTrail


 

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A thespian visit is planned for tonight so a shorter walk is required during the day.

Jo said she missed out on visiting Dale Head Tarn on our High Spy walk recently

so this was a chance to visit it properly as part of a shorter round including Dale Head itself.

The dogs are eager for a walk today . . . so eager that they didn't even wait for their photo.

They just had to go and meet their friends who have just arrived in the other car.

We set off up the fell on the direct path to Dale Head.

Guess who requested quickest to my call to " smile for the camera ".

Mmm . . . odd spots of rain and by the look of the cloud base it may get worse . . . but fortunately it didn't.

However, as we climbed we did get into the cloud and the air was naturally slightly damp as you would expect.

Higher and thicker as we pass the pool on the way up.

Still, navigation on this path is easy.

The path is well worn, there are cairns and of course the old fence posts which mark the way to the top.

They've even placed a big cairn on the summit to tell you to stop walking any further.

Time to see if the weather would favour us with a view.

Newlands valley as the cloud came and went.

A patch of brightness on Hindscarth opposite

and Far Tongue Gill, the deep ravine beyond the green zig-zags.

We'll take the excellent pitched path east from the summit of Dale Head towards the tarn below.

Last time we were on High Spy, a few weeks ago, Jo had half-hoped to re-visit the tarn.

Our path on that occasion took us down Rigghead Quarries into Borrowdale (top left).

Today it was on the agenda from the start.

The sheep fold sheltered by the rock was our intended lunch spot . . . that was planned into the walk too !

The dramatic grey slopes of High Spy, with Newlands Valley and distant, cloud-covered Skiddaw.

Ann walks the path as it rounds the end of the tarn.

There's quite a bit of vegetation growing in the tarn nowadays . . . but still plenty of open water to allow a few reflections.

A bunch of rushes in reflective mood.
Bethan surprising us all with a long swim in the tarn

Lunch at the sheepfold with a fine view of Dale Head opposite.

Leaving a short while later, we look back at the tarn one more time.

The outflow leaves the tarn at this end and joins the stream that drains the moss behind us.

Recent rains have filled the beck.
A view across towards Causey Pike.

We climb up through the rough grass and damp ground, aiming for our next objective.

Often seen on the map but seldom visited . . . the unusually named Launchy Tarn.

Damp cotton grass at the water's edge.

Water lilies ?

Hi Ann and Roger.

Enjoyed your pictures of Dale Head, though mostly overcast sky.

A big "to still go" for me - this part of the Lakes.

B.t.w. your water lilies are bog beans (Menyanthes trifoliata)

Helmut, Austria.

Thanks Helmut . . . help with identification much appreciated . . . Rmh

Water Baby.

Time to follow the fence and leave the tarn and distant High Spy behind.

The route goes straight across the moorland grass . . .
. . . making sure to avoid the wet bits.

The route is marked on the map as a boundary and it you look carefully, there are a few fence posts and a line of stones marking the way.

It takes us back over to the Dale Head path we climbed earlier.

The familiar sights of Honister start to appear again.

Turn left at the fence and make our way back down.

We have managed to stay remarkably dry given the weather.

In fact we probably got wetter due to perspiration

in the humid and warm conditions.

 

- - - o o o - - -

 

On the way back down I spotted a Kestrel

hovering in the strong breeze

that was blowing up and over the Yew Crags to our left.

 

It was a nice sight but a little too far away.

. . . until I got home and zoomed in on the computer !

I just love the fence on this view too.

Time and tide . . . and a pot of tea could be waiting.

I just love the odd photo of the mine equipment as you may know.

What amazed me about this one is that, once it picked up the slate slabs,

it proceeded to do a three point turn in the small space between the wall and the fence.

The cafe provided the desired cups of tea and we took the opportunity to visit the mine shop too.

In the back, slate garden there is a new memorial stone to Mark Weir

Sadly lost in a recent air crash . . . gone but not forgotten Mark . . . your memory will live on . . . definitely.

- - - o o o - - -

 

Technical note: Pictures taken with either Ann's Canon 75 or my Canon G10 digital camera.

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

This site best viewed with . . . memories to cherish.

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Previous walk - 16th July 2011 A dramatic Loweswater Sunset

A previous time up here - Wed 12th August 2009 A direct ascent of Dale Head

Next walk - 21st July 2011 Tarn Crag and Blea Rigg, Easedale