Brock Crags and Angletarn Pikes circular walk from Hartsop

Continue through the car park, go through the gateway and onto the track past the sheep pens. Stay on the metalled track as it climbs to the cattle grid. Cross and immediately bear right to drop down on a rough track to the bridge over Hayeswater Gill.

To the right are the remains of stone pillar supports for the water wheel and launder (water chute) of the Myers Head lead mine.

Over the bridge and swing left to climb steeply around the nose of Gray Crag. Continue on the track above the fell gate. When the dam was removed a footbridge was placed beside the ford about 200m (220 yards) before reaching the tarn. You can cross Hayswater Gill on the footbridge and follow the path climbing the fell side, recommended. Or if you don't mind wet feet and really want to see the tarn up close, continue on.

The fellside is generally wet whether you cross at the footbridge, or at the outflow of the tarn. The bridleway path starts gravelled but soon ends. Ascend directly up as best you can, keep left. Below the Knott as the slope steepens find the path heading left to a gap in the wall to your left. In mist beware of going too far right and climbing The Knott.

Finding the gap just above a distinctive meeting of walls, go through and continue on the now gravelled path heading NNW below the slopes of Rest Dodd above you to the right. Traverse around the head of Prison Gill keeping to the path beside the fence.

Meeting a wall the far side of Satura Crag go through the gap.

Turn left off the main path to a narrow meandering path through the grass and boggy patches. Brock Crags are ahead with the summit cairn over the immediate skyline.

Cross the broken down wall, staying on the path, head for the cairn now visible. Just below the knoll with the cairn skirt a boggy patch on the left hand side. Trying to directly cross the peaty morass ahead will not end well!

The summit cairn of Brock Crags is soon reached. Angle Tarn will be in view to your right.

Return back to the main path and turn left to pass below the knoll marked on the OS 25K map with the 510m spot height.

Angle Tarn will reappear in view shortly. Ahead are the Angletarn Pikes.

As the path starts to swing left below the Pikes and before climbing again a beck to the right tumbles down the fellside. To its left a narrow grassy path, not on any map - like most paths hereabouts, winds steeply upwards into the crags. Take this path, follow it skirting small crags and knolls, and using the odd grassy ramp. It gets a little faint at times but is distinct enough. There is little difficulty in heading for the highest point.

The top is made up of two rocky pikes, the southern is marginally shorter and has a small cairn. The summit is the northern top across the peaty cleft.

Below the Pikes on the west side are two paths traversing the fellside. Drop down from the summit through the minor crags, a couple of faint meandering paths may help, to pick up the higher path. Reaching it bear right, it then joins with the lower path to descend to Boredale Hause.

The last bit of the path seems to follow the bed of the river with an occasional cairn confirming the way.

Boredale Hause has a couple of oddly conspicuous manhole covers which are for the Hayeswater reservoir pipeline.

At Boredale Hause turn left then bear left to descend steeply on a well maintained track - part of the pipeline track. Away to your right is Patterdale and Glenridding.

Follow the track as the descent gradient eases and continues left around the fellside on the way back towards Hartsop. The track levels just above the fields of the valley, and eventually reaches the cascades of Angletarn Beck - the outfall of the tarn high above. An option is to take the high level path back to Hartsop by climbing a path on the left to cross the footbridge over the beck, to the gate in the wall. However, there is quite a bit more climbing to do. Our route takes the low-level path. Bear right to cross the footbridge at the bottom of the cascades and go through the gate into the lane.

Follow the lane as it becomes tarmac, past Hartsop Fold, and back to the minor road into the village. Turn left and wander back through to the car park.