A Redeye View: Hartsop to Aria Force 17-3-2018

We had booked a weekend tucked away in the small hamlet of HARTSOP, near to ULLSWATER in the Lake District, hoping for a bit of good early Spring weather as we said goodbye to the so called "Beast from the East" that rolled in over the early part of the month. A few days before, I ventured in to Wales to do Snowdon in what was a good still warm day so was really looking forward to the improving weather continuing into the weekend. This however is the UK and mid March can be as brutal as mid December/January as the weather can turn in an instant!!. Roll on "Beast from the East" part 2!! Cold winds and snow showers were the order of the weekend but fortunately no big snow dumps or blocked roads that can happen in this neck of the woods quite often. In fact, over the course of the winter, the KIRKSTONE PASS has been closed on a few occasions and as our base was at the bottom of the pass, we were grateful for that. The one real walk that we did was a case of resorting to plan B, as plan A was to catch the Ullswater steamer from Glenriding across to Howtown and walking back to base via the ULLSWATER WAY. However, because of the strong winds the Steamers were cancelled for the day, in fact the whole weekend, so we decided to walk to ARIA FORCE for a look at the waterfalls before back tracking the same way, all along the Ullswater Way.
The walk was around 16 miles in just under 6 hours in all sorts of weather. Hail, snow, strong cold winds and sun making for a good adventurous day straight from the front door. A very easy to follow path with only a very small section that goes on the road so a bit more care as there is no footpath on this section but the rest is all off road on easy paths along the shore line, though fields and wooded areas.

View from the lane with Arnison Crag as the backdrop

Angletarn Beck Waterfall

Past farm dwellings

Sort sharp snow shower

No Steamers this weekend

Good sunny views across Ullswater

Snow shower on the way

Blue skies again

The wind making waves on Ullswater

And yet another snow shower

And back to blue skies

Ullswater

Ullswater from Aria Force

Aria Force Bridge

Aria Force

After a walk round the woods and a hot drink from the cafe, we back tracked going back the same way, encountering more or less the same weather conditions and at one point taking shelter behind a wall as we were in direct fire of the wind and sleet blowing straight down Ullswater.

Snow shower blowing straight down Ullswater

Taking shleter from the elements

Tree icicles

Sun coming out again

On the way back along the track under Dubrow How & Fall Crag, near to our base, we spotted a herd of Red Deer that roam the area. Apart from when we stayed at Haweswater a few years back, this is the first time we have seen any deer in the Lakes, although they are quite common. There was around 20 and they hung about all weekend on the same slopes. Good to see :-)

Sun snow & green fields

Back through the woods

And the farm

Red Deer on Fall Crag

Angletarn Beck Waterfalls

A really good day in changeable but not difficult weather. It would be good to go back and walk the whole of the Ullswater way one day as it is quite straight forward and quite popular with great scenery and views.
On the Sunday, we woke up to a covering of snow that had us thinking we may get snowed in, but luckily by midafternoon it had all but melted. We had a drive up to Pooley Bridge where we had a short walk along the Ullswater way and it looked like this area had had a lot more snow than back in Hartsop. I also had a look round the village of Hartsop and the disused Myers Head Mine. It was earlier this year, in January, that I first visited this area, taking in the high fells of Hartsop Dodd, Stone Covey Pike and The Knott (CLICK HERE ) and saw the lodges that gave me the idea of a long weekend in the area. A nice quiet place with plenty of varied walks from the front door