Route: Ard Crags and Knott Rigg
Area: North Western Lake District
Date of walk: 3rd August 2013
Walkers: Andrew
Distance: 6.0 miles
Ascent: 1,700 feet
I parked at Rigg Beck in the lovely valley of Newlands. I walked alongside the beck for a short distance along an easy path, then crossed the beck by means of an ungainly leap, in order to gain the Aikin Knott ridge
Having reached the top of Aikin Knott, it was an easy uphill walk to Ard Crags, and then a down and up to the next summit, Knott Rigg. The views back to Newlands were superb
I descended to Keskadale Farm, and from there through fields along Keskadale Beck. My route via the fields was a zig zag affair, as there were cows with calves, and Bonnie seemed to be attracting their attention, so a bit of ducking and diving was called for
This didn’t spoil what had been a great walk in beautiful surroundings
For other walks here, visit my Find Walks page and enter the name in the ‘Search site’ box
Click on the icon below for the route map (subscribers to OS Maps can view detailed maps of the route, visualise it in aerial 3D, and download the GPX file. Non-subscribers will see a base map)
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At the start of the path, looking up to Causey Pike
Ard Crags is up there on the left, I’ll shortly be leaving the path to cross the beck and gain the ridge to it
Having crossed the beck, it’s not far to go before the ridge leading to Ard Crags
It looks like the top but it’s not - it’s Aikin Knott - the summit of Ard Crags is beyond out of sight
Looking across to Causey Pike
A view back down into Newlands Valley, with a glimpse of Derwent Water
Heather is starting to bloom
Nearing the top of Ard Crags, it was very windy
Looking down to Keskadale Farm - I’ll be down there later
A view down the other side of the ridge
The next summit is Knott Rigg, just ahead
The Buttermere valley comes into view
Whiteless Pike
On the descent ridge now, back towards Newlands and Keskadale Farm
Newlands
And again, from lower down
Keskadale Farm is reached, and I’ll be taking the track leading right from the road
Maiden Moor
Nearly back to the start point
