Hindscarth, Dale Head & Robinson

Saturday 4th May

A weekends camping in the Lakes would give us 2 days walking without that long drive home at the end of day 1 so on the Saturday morning we opted for a wander over to Hindscarth, Dale Head and Robinson starting off from Little Town.

Little Town had a little car park which was empty and as we headed up the path the sky was dullish and grey.  I wondered at that point whether I'd need my sunglasses today and decided not to take the 2 min walk back to the car to get them as I'd probably not need them.  The forecast for the weekend was bright but the sky wasnt showing any signs of that as yet.

The walk up Hindscarth was really pleasant.  A few rocky scrambly areas to contend with but all in all a nice path that lead you up the hill.  There were a few false summits but that is only to be expected and the further we got the more the cloud seemed to lift from the summits giving us a little bit of hope that the conditions would clear and we'd get the views we wanted.

The views back down the valley were stunning.  Every now and again the clouds would open up and a ray of light would illuminate one part of the valley or surrounding hills.

The shelter at the summit of Hindscarth was a good place to stop for first lunch.  The teeniest tiniest sandwiches ever but they were delicious, m & m's and some nuts finished off with some water.  Exactly what was needed to set us up for the next part of our journey.

The clouds were really opening up now and we could see our path over to Dale Head clearly now.  a narrow snakey path winding its way up and over the hill to the left after which it would be back down and then up and over the hill to the right, Robinson but first Dale Head.

We started to see more people on this route.  A couple we'd met on the way over Hindscarth were now on their way up Dale Head and there seemed to be loads of people on Dale Head making their way down.  A popular route by all accounts.

On the summit of Dale Head there was a tower like cairn.  Probably one of the nicest most well put together cairns I have ever seen on a walk and luckily for us the clouds have really started to shift now offering views right left and centre with the best of the views coming down the valley with Blencathra and the Skiddaw Range at the bottom, now fully visible.  I had to wait to get my picture of the cairn because there was a couple there having their picture taken by some other walkers.  Imagine that, having your picture taken together at the summit !!!! (lol)

Down off Dale Head it was time to take the path up Robinson for the final peak of the day and second lunch.  Robinson is a big lump of a hill and has no hidden surprises.  What you see is what you get and what you get is a fairly steep walk up its flanks and a nice plateau top.  The shelter at the top was a small circle of stones and only really room for 2.  It was vacant when we arrived so we sat and had our sandwiches and chuckled at the other walkers who turned up being buffetted by the wind only to realise that there was no shelter on the summit apart from where we were sitting.  One group did tuck down behind a wall until we got up to move then darted into the shelter themselves.  

Time to get down off the mountain.  Thoughts were turning to the pub dinner and a nice big glass of red wine that was waiting back at the campsite.  We'd seen the route down earlier in the day and knew that we had a bit of scrambling before a nice gentle plateau descent.  This was probably my favorite descent off a hill and had a mixture of dangerous rocky bits with a nice descent that was kind to my knees.  Lovely stuff!

Late afternoon and the sky was almost fully blue.  There was a bit of warmth in the sun and the walk off the hill was beautiful.  Soon we were back at ground level and following the road back round to where the car was parked.  As we walked along a path that followed the river there was a horse penned between 2 gates about half a mile apart.  As we approached the horse it came to us but not knowing it or its temprement we chose to walk up on the embankment to avoid it.  It sort of fancied Chris's banana as it came up onto the embankment with us and started gathering speed to catch up with us.  Dont make eye contact and keep moving we finally outwalked it and it seemed to give up.  It seemed a poor lonely horse and I'm wishing now I'd given it my spare apple.

Just before where the car was parked we passed a Church that was previous a school and served now as a place for quiet and meditation and was a lovely little building and soon enough we were back at the car reminiscing over a great days walking.  The best bit is that we didn't have to drive home, back to the tent for a few cheeses and wine then a wander to the pub was all on the cards and then tomorrow, another adventure up a hill..........Happy Days !