Fairfield horseshoe; a sunny frosty walk

The day began very early with a long but uneventfully drive and we arrived in Ambleside just after 8.30 and parked. The parking was free today but I hadn’t noticed the sign and had already paid, so with boots on, rucksacks shouldered and a little annoyed we set off.

Today’s route was going to be the Fairfield horseshoe. We crossed the road from the car park and started up the opposite road, taking the first turning on the left and heading towards Low Sweden bridge. It was very frosty and the air was clear, it promised to be a good day.

On reaching Low Pike the view of the route stretched out in front of us. High Pike was the next top along the ridge and we were soon passing through the wall to the little cairn on top. It was our first stop and whilst standing by the cairn getting food out of my rucksack, I noticed the cold wind and got my hat and gloves out, the views were again good in all directions.

Returning through the wall, we followed it, avoiding snow patches up the now broadening and gentle ridge up towards Dove crag. After a short break for photos, we descended the slope to the col, avoiding icy patches and talking about the priest hole cave and how recently people have had to be rescued whilst trying to find it.

The ascent up to Hart crag is short and steep and in poor visibility can be a little tricky, but the only hazards today were hard patches of snow and ice. We soon arrived and for the first time today met some other walkers.

The next section of the walk was down the slope to Link Hause and then up to the relatively flat top of Fairfield. The first part of this section was mostly on frozen snow, so we proceeded carefully and were soon walking on the gentle slope towards the high point for the day.

The summit of Fairfield is a bit bland; no peak, no big cairn, just two small shelters, but what it lacks in summit furniture it makes up in some really good views all round, particularly towards the Hellvelyn massif. We stayed a short while, had a bite to eat and then set off towards Great Rigg with the sun in our eyes.

The descent of Fairfield down to the col before Great Rigg is not overly steep but takes some time, but the surroundings where good and we talked a little about features left after the last ice age, and then moved on to other subjects and before long we were over Great Rigg and down the other side. The ridge then undulates towards Heron Pike, but the going underfoot was still frozen, so care was still needed when crossing boggy sections as to avoid slipping on icy pools.

On reaching Heron Pike, the rest off the way was now descent, gentle at first but the way became stepper as we moved towards Nab Scar. There were a few zig zags to take the sting out of the descent, or ascent if going the other way, which a number of people were doing.

We made it down to the stile before the concrete road, which leads down to the main road, where somebody had left vegetarian mince pies to take and an honesty box for charity. We made our way down the road and then turned into Rydal Hall, past a good looking tea shop and through the attractive grounds of the hall, exiting onto a track that took us back to Ambleside. A short walk along the road led back to the carpark and then onto tea and cake. A great day out.