Hartsop Dodd (615m) - 15/12/2020
Distance: 6.6km; Ascent: 561m; Time: 2h15m
We parked at Cow Bridge by Brothers Water. There is another car park at Hartsop - you have to keep going to find it - we didn't - and we also didn't find the bridge over Pasture Beck until we had retraced our steps and crossed on the lower bridge. Hartsop Dodd dominates the foreground from Hartsop. The ascent up the northern ridge is relentlessly steep. The summit is marked by a cairn, but the cairn is not quite at the summit - it is actually at the highest point on the nearby stone wall. On a clear day we would have continued up the flatter ridge to reach Stony Cove Pike before descending to Caudale Bridge - but we were in the clouds again at the top. The shorter descent route is without a path from the top and isn't all that clear when you're on it - and it is relentlessly steep. Once out of the clouds the view of Ullswater, Brothers Water and the visible bits of the surrounding mountains all contributed to the scenic splendour. We actually stayed dry and there was even some blue sky on the drive back towards Pooley Bridge.