A short ascent on a damp-feeling Saturday morning.Route: from the cottage taking the Boonbeck road to Scales and then west before turning south on an improving track. At High Swinside Farm briefly joining the road to diverge onto a path to ford Hope Beck and then continuing pathless through bracken to find the marked (on the map!) path, initially through wet bracken, heading upwards and leftwards to gain altitude. Before the saddle, T heading off to the right to pause (knackered, mapped) while L continued to the summit of Dodd (unmapped) taking a short cut down steeply through the heather on sheep tracks from the westerly cairn to meet T and then carrying on, pathless, to join a path slightly different from the outward ascent. After re-crossing Hope Beck, taking the road down to Hopebeck Farm and then the footpath across fields to Low Swinside and back to Boonbeck and home.
Conditions: cloudy and humid.
Pub: for T, later, meeting John Tilson and Matthew at the Dog and Gun, Keswick for Allendale Brewery Golden Plover and Theakstons Old Peculier (and, for them, the (meat and veggie) Hungarian goulash made to a 59-year-old recipe); for L, later, meeting Maddie at The Washington Hotel cafe for lattes, cake and birthday presents.
