Anniversary Waltz

[alwaysinjured]

I'm in again.

Does anyone have a GPX file or advice for "the quick" way off Dale Head. Last year I tried a wide swing out to the Honister side and although the initial descent was good and runnable, I soon ended up picking my way through rocks and boulders and wasted loads of time. I'm sure the path would have been quicker!

It is a very fast run all the way down. Suspect you did not go far enough, or started turning north east too soon if you tangled with rocks.
Don't know if this is "optimum" but it works for me. Much better than the path. Mountain goats can take a more direct line. I was one of the first doing this must be ten years ago...

In simple terms:follow the LHS of the Honister path for around 300m-350m at which point you see the path ahead start turning away to the right.At that point start swinging to the left, until descending roughly due East. Only in the lower part of the descent do you start swinging back north east for Dalehead tarn, and that brings you down onto the trod which comes in over the col from Honister. Follow it. Cross the stream right, before the tarn for the path to High Spy.

Get it right and it is all good running on grass although steep in parts.. A few rocks here and there, but nothing that cannot be dodged.
Take a look from the bottom, and you can see the how far left you need to go to avoid the rough stuff - and also that if you turn down too soon it is nasty (as I suspect you discovered the hard way!!)