Kidsty Pike

Look west from Haweswater and the sharp point on the skyline is Kidsty Pike. Strictly it is the east end of Rampsgill Head, with only about 15 metres of drop between them, but its shape put it on both the Wainwright and Nuttall lists.

The direct way up starts at the small car park at Mardale Head, at the end of the Haweswater road. It fills early, even midweek. Follow the lakeshore path round to the ruins of Riggindale Farm and climb the old path up Kidsty Howes to the top. The path on Kidsty Howes is steep, eroded and loose, so take it slowly, especially coming down. There is no scrambling. A good round goes out by Small Water and Nan Bield to Mardale Ill Bell and High Street, then over Rampsgill Head and down Kidsty Pike.

From the west, Coast to Coast walkers come over from Patterdale by Angle Tarn and the Straits of Riggindale. At 780 metres this is the highest point on the whole Coast to Coast route. You can also reach it from Hartsop by Hayeswater and The Knott.

The top is a small cairn on grass right above the Riggindale face, where crag and scree drop some 450 metres to the valley. The northern side falls away gently on grass towards Randale. Higher fells block much of the view, but part of Lakeland shows across the Straits of Riggindale, and you look straight down Riggindale to Haweswater.

When Haweswater was raised in the 1940s, the village of Mardale Green went under the water. Its farm buildings were blown up by the Army as demolition practice.