Brothers Water and Dovedale

I can't get my head around this place at times. Two days earlier I was getting soaked a few miles away on the shores of Ullswater, the day before I was getting a drenching down Borrowdale and then today I was having a fabulous sunrise followed by weather like this!

Considering that Glenridding and Patterdale are only a couple of miles down the road, and that there is a large campsite behind Hartsop Hall Farm, Dovedale is a very quiet valley. Today was no different even though the weather was perfect for a walk. The only people I saw were about half a dozen ramblers returning from their walk by Brother's Water and just one couple in Dovedale. Maybe it is because the valley isn't a through valley: if you want to escape from it, you have to climb Dove Crag which is over 2500 feet high and from there the only feasible place to head for would be Ambleside which is miles from your starting point.

Some people climb up that way to spend the night at The Priest's Hole which is a small cave hidden high up in the crags. The Mountain Rescue are often called out by people who get lost in the swirly mists and a person died two years ago after slipping on the ledge in front of the cave and plunging 500ft down the rock face. I watched a couple of YouTube clips to see whereabouts it actually was and there looks to be a very awkward bit of scrambling to negotiate just before you reach it.

Lower down there are some really nice cascades plus one particularly impressive waterfall which I have visited in my time but, with the water levels being so low, I can't see the climb up being worth the effort at this particular moment in time.

I only walked as far as the footbridge crossing the back as I had been up since six AM and was feeling a bit weary. I sat by the beck for a while, then took some photos and headed back towards Brother's Water.

The highlight of my return was seeing a deer on the side of Hartsop Above How. I stopped to look at it and it stopped to look at me. I considered getting my camera and zoom lens out of my rucksack but I knew I would have disturbed it so I just contented myself by enjoying the moment. It mustn't have felt threatened by me because it was in no rush to move on. It's moments like that plus the Derwentwater sunrise which makes days like this a day to remember.

Brother's Water was a bit choppier on my return, plus the sun had dropped below the fells so this meant that there was no chance of any more photos, consequently I just carried on back to the car. This walk, combined with my sunrise on Derwentwater, had made my day one of the best this year. I returned to the caravan for relaxation and a well deserved beer or two.