The Eastern Fells – Day 2
Arnison Crag & Birks
Tuesday 13 October
A cool day, clear in the valley but drizzle and mist on the heights.
Arnison Crag
Once you crack the problem of finding where to start in Patterdale the ascent of Arnison Crag is straightforward and fairly quick, even if like me you’re not as fast as you used to be on steep ground. Start by walking round the front of the hotel away from the lake and find the path starting from the yard where the bins are kept. I missed this at the start, taking instead a path a short way along the road which soon joins the shorter path from the hotel.
Birks
Consulting Wainwright I had expected to do some serious navigation in the mist to get from Arnison Crag to Birks but nowadays there is a clear path to Trough Head and then up alongside the old broken wall to the ridge top. I was in drizzly mist by the time I reached the ridge. A short walk takes you to the unremarkable summit of Birks, from where I returned to the valley down the main ridge. My ViewRanger track might make this clearer.