Happy to see the blue sky - Duddon Valley Walks
Duddon Valley Walks - The Lakes at its best
On Friday, spring made an appearance, and wow that was a fantastic experience. To be out in the hills in short sleeves and to feel warm sunshine on the skin. Simply magical.
Our walk involved a little cheat by parking up at a high point on the sinuous Kiln Bank Road. I’ve cycled over this road a few times and can highly recommend it as one of the finest in the Lakes. But some of the hills here have alluded me for some reason, so on Friday that was to be corrected.
Firstly with a quick hit to the rocky summit of Stickle Pike. At 375m it’s just a little one, but the views it affords are spectacular. Despite it being February, I was already in short sleeves and feeling toasty. We then headed back to the roadside and onward to tackle Fox Haw (385m) and explore the slate quarries along its flanks. From the summit we had a splendid view across to Caw and Sofia said something like ‘is that next?’. Well it would be rude not to on such a glorious day.
I have fond memories of Caw from a day in the Duddon with Kate when we climbed Caw, well we may have actually been running up it that day. Not sure I’ll be running up anything that steep anymore.
So we set our sights on Caw, noting that we needed to cross the very wet looking Ling Mire to gain its slopes. I’ve had a lot of wet feet days recently, so wasn’t keen on getting a soaking yet again. When we arrived at Ling Mire it was soaking, so we initially dismissed the idea of going up Caw. Thankfully after walking only a short way towards what would have been our return path, we could see a dry-ish route across the Mire. And the terrain from here to the summit looked enticingly rocky, meaning scrambling was potentially on the cards.
Sure enough, we enjoyed a rocky route all the way to the summit of Caw (529m). From here there are great views towards the Coniston Fells and further on to the Scafell Massif. In fact, just a great 360’ panorama. The Ordnance Survey maps don’t show any paths to Caw. So for our descent route we simply aimed west as this would lead us to our return bridleway - The Park Head Road. This ‘road’ was more like a river, just shows how much rain there has been.
Scrambling up Caw - Duddon Valley Walks
These three splendid summits were done as part of a walking route that was on mostly small paths, occasionally no path, and some sections of avoidable scrambling. I think the total distance was about 7km with 500m of ascent, so easily done in an afternoon.
Looking towards Caw from Stickle Pike - Duddon Valley Walks
We then resisted the temptation to visit The Newfield Inn at Seathwaite, instead enjoying a more leisurely drive back south through the Duddon valley.
For guided walks and many activities here in The Lake District please do get in touch to find out what we can offer you.
Thanks to Sofia for joining me on this little adventure. And to you all for reading.
Mark