I parked by the Methodist Chapel in Braithwaite and headed up Newlands Hause, a steep road that soon becomes a path which leads fairly directly and with very little fuss to the top of Stile End. Actually the main path bypasses Stile End but a smaller one heads straight up the front. Outerside also has a bypass but I climbed that too. After that I planned to head up Sail and back down by Causey Pike, But as I was descending Outerside back towards the main path, Causey Pike suddenly looked alluringly near so I thought, why not do that first and get onto the ridge quicker.
That would make a circular walk into a loopy figure of eight but not make it any longer. So that is what I did and a lovely walk it turned out to be. I was soon on Causey Pike with its five nodules of which the outermost and easternmost is, according to the Nuttalls, the highest. Easy then to Scar Crags along a pleasant ridge with great views over Ard Crags to Robinson. And on to Sail, a bit more of a pull up an emphatically zigzagging path that zigzag-enamoured Wainwright (“A good walker’s special joy” – Great Gable 16) would have appreciated. From here it was an easy walk back down an excellent path, this time taking full advantage of the Outerside and Stile End by-passes.
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