All the Angles Covered: A Winter Walk in the Lakes. . .

We had a very green Christmas in Liverpool this year so it was lovely to get up to the Lake District yesterday for a winter walk.  The weather conditions could not have been better - clear and sunny, with the temperature hovering around the zero mark.

After carefully driving along the Kirkstone Pass (fortunately it's been gritted), we parked at Hartsop and did an eight mile circular, first heading towards Ullswater which you can just see peeking out in this photo, taken as we were climbing up towards the crossroads of Boredale Hause.

We then turned east but I couldn't resist looking backwards at Place Fell, looking rather majestic with its snow covered top.  We last did a walk there three years ago.

I don't think I've ever seen the mountains looking more beautiful.

I had asked the Liverpud to devise a route that would specifically go past Angle Tarn, one of my favourite places in the Lakes.  It was part of one of the very first walks we ever did together in this region and we also took part of this route on our memorable Coast to Coast holiday.  So this was our main destination, but we decided to climb both of the nearby Angle Tarn peaks because neither of us had done it before.  Here is the view from the first one, looking west.

And here is the view from the top of peak number two, where you can clearly see the first one.  While I was initially a bit trepidatious about winter walking (we didn't have crampons with us), the snow was really powdery and easy on the feet. It helped that the ground was frozen beneath (no mud!) and though you did need to be careful to watch out for icy patches, the paths were quite easy to walk on with just our hiking boots.  I was definitely thankful I'd brought my poles though.

And from the second Angle Tarn peak, our first glimpse of Angle Tarn proper.

It was a good day to wear my new hat too - this is Elska, designed by Ysolda Teague, knit in Jamieson and Smith's Heritage yarn and it definitely kept me warm and cozy.

The following are some shots down by Angle Tarn itself, and as we were leaving after a lunch break. The wind had died down and it was so quiet and peaceful; all you could hear was the lapping of the water against the shore.  Bliss.

We then continued towards The Knott.  There were plenty of clear pools of water along the route which were just stunning.

 

The Knott, which was our next and final ascent, is that little bump, lying just to the left of Hayeswater Reservoir.

Here's the view from the top.

And then we descended, walking down to Hayeswater and then down the valley back to Hartsop.

Back in the village we looked behind us and saw the moon had appeared above The Knott.

As the late afternoon sunshine was settling on the fells around Brotherswater.

It was a fantastic walk - a great way to end a year of more spectacular walking.