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About High Seat | About High Tove | About Armboth Fell
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Parking just above Derwent water we were directly opposite the path which would take us most of the way up todays fell. We headed onto the rocky path just before Ashness Bridge and for most of the way up it is relatively steep and energy sapping, but never too difficult. At one point some grassy walking helps to take some of the strain off. Eventually, we come to a rather rocky section, we use our hands a couple of times to stay stable before eventually reaching a small river.
Here, the path does a U-Turn and becomes stepped for a short while. At this point, most of the view has been the grassy sides of the fells in front of our feet and only when looking back towards Derwent Water, did we get anything that resembled a decent view. However, the stepped path soon gained enough height, and we welcomed a fantastic view out across Cat Bells and over Derwent Water.
Once past the stepped section, the gradient falls away. It becomes an easy walk. Following the path around rocky sections or boggy bits, we kept our feet dry the whole time (in harsh weather I could imagine this being much worse however). We got into the wandering mindset here because it was so easy. We just talked the day away at a steady pace and before we knew it, we were heading up to High Seat. The peak is a large rocky section that is amazingly easy to get onto, however the wind was strong here, so we did have to take care.
Once off the top, the wind died down a little. The route to High Tove is easily spotted. It is a relatively straight line in the grassy hills with one section of clear boardwalk. As we neared this section, we could see why the boardwalk existed! It was extremely boggy off the path. Luckily, the well-built boardwalk ensured we kept our feet dry and the bog free from erosion. It was then just a small upwards wander to reach High Tove. There are plenty of mountains to spot either side of the ridge on High Tove, and once we had picked out the peaks we had previously walked, we headed off to the small peak of Armboth Fell which lay between us and Thirlmere.
The path here is much less obvious, even with the warm weather we experienced the past few days, there was a fair few boggy sections. Once we had made it over the small river crossing, the route to the peak of Armboth Fell was easy. It is a rocky top with some particularly nice views and a peak that is surprisingly fun to explore.
From here, we headed back up the path we had just come down to get back to High Tove and took the route which leads directly off the fell. It is a leisurely walk for about half the way. Once it gets steeper, a clear, stepped path emerges. We made our way down with Watendlath Tarn in view the whole way down. Once at the bottom, we entered the small village of Watendlath. It would have been rude to not stop at the coffee shop for some homely brews and cake. After our little pit stop, we took the path through the valley for the return leg of the journey, following the river for most of the walk. We found ourselves stopping every few minutes to enjoy the wildlife, from fish to birds there were lots to see, and it was good walking. Eventually, we took a bridge over the river and headed back up through woodland. This gets to where we had parked the car, but there was one more place to stop on the way.
After a bit more walking, we reached Surprise View. This is very accessible by both cars and walkers, but stumbling upon it towards the end of a walk was great. It offers great views out through the woodland and shows some of the best Derwent Water has to offer. Once we had done here, we followed a path through the woods (eventually it disappeared and we had to find a way back to the road – If I was you, just follow the road from surprise view here!) Once on the road it was a short jaunt back to the car. Walk this route in summer, or a period without a lot of rain, and it will be fantastic. However, I could imagine it being very boggy at other times.
