Dodd Fell
Walk Date – 1st January 2016
Distance – 4.3 miles
Weather – cold, damp and overcast, very windy on the top
Route
The Old Sawmill Tea Rooms, closed for the winter.
Information board for Mirehouse, also closed for the winter.
Well then, seeing as there’s no chance of a cuppa or a look round a house, we’ve no choice but to go for a walk. Only joking though, we did know the that tea rooms and Mirehouse would be closed and we had already decided to have a walk up Dodd today. Staying up to see in the New Year had its down side in the form of a late start, so its only a short outing today. This is the bridge over Skill Beck where we start the walk.
Crossing the bridge and we can see that there is still plenty of water pouring down Skill Beck.
Storm damage alongside the beck.
Looking down the beck flowing behind the tea rooms.
Logs salvaged from the fallen trees.
There on the left are the roots of the tree which fell across the beck during the recent storm.
The path we’re taking up alongside Skill Beck, its quite a steep pull up here.
Water pouring off the fell alongside the path. There was a pile of stones and gravel alongside the hole so it looked as though that had been dug out to allow the water to drain away under the path and down into Skill Beck.
Another casualty of the storms. That explains why we saw a ‘Trail Closed’ sign a little lower down the path.
A look back down from the path junction as we approach Long Doors.
Looking over to Derwentwater, the sun trying to make a breakthrough and failing.
A close up of Helvellyn, the highest peak on the right, with what looks to be a decent covering of snow.
Derwentwater and its surroundings fells, although its a bit difficult to see them clearly today.
We’re still making our way up Dodd, across the middle is the path we’ll use to return to the tea rooms car park.
A long distance view of the snow covered Dodds and Helvellyn.
The flood plain, between Bass Lake and Derwentwater, doing what its meant to do.
By heck, it was blowing a hooley up here. We’re on Dodd summit now and looking across to Derwentwater,
One end of Bass Lake, looking very brown and sludgy at the moment as all the recent wet weather will have deposited lots of silt into it.
Looking across to Ullock Pike from Dodd summit. Now let’s get down before we’re blown over, it wasn’t supposed to be this windy today.
From our descent via the forest track I took this shot of some of the snow topped north western fells.
Looking across the flooded fields over to Derwentwater.
At least the level has dropped enough to give access across High Stock Bridge.
It all looks a bit surreal down there.
Looking across the flood plain to the north western fells.
Another view across the flood plain.
No, its not an optical illusion, or a flying saucer, its just an alien force called ‘The Sun’ and I took a photo of it just in case we don’t see it again until June.
Making our way down beside Skill Beck, although we’re now on the opposite side to the one we walked up on.
Quite a force of water coming down Skill Beck today.
Almost back at the tea rooms and a chance to look at the damage on this side of the beck.
The culprit’s roots are over on the opposite bank, together with a heap of gravel which got dumped there too.
Before we leave a final look at the ‘woodyard’, I suppose the silver lining is that those logs will get put to good use in one way or another. If the Old Sawmill hadn’t been turned into a tea room it would have come in handy at this time.