walkhighlands

This board helps you to share your walking route experiences in England and Wales... or overseas.
Warning Please note that hillwalking when there is snow lying requires an ice-axe, crampons and the knowledge, experience and skill to use them correctly. Summer routes may not be viable or appropriate in winter. See winter information on our skills and safety pages for more information.

"Catch ups" caught up with around Buttermere.

"Catch ups" caught up with around Buttermere.


Postby martin.h » Wed Jul 10, 2019 5:01 pm

Wainwrights included on this walk: High Crag, High Stile, Red Pike (Buttermere)

Hewitts included on this walk: High Crag, High Stile, Red Pike (Buttermere)

Date walked: 06/07/2019

Time taken: 6

Distance: 14 km

Ascent: 1010m

Register or Login
free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).

Well, here we are at last, Denise and I are now on the same number of Wainwrights and our ambition to complete them on the same mountain on the same day is now becoming a reality.

We had the Travelodge near Cockermouth booked for the weekend hoping to do Red Pike, High Stile and High Crag above Buttermere on Saturday and possibly The Nab on our way home on Sunday

I had saved Red Pike and friends until last hoping we'd be able to take advantage of some nice summer conditions to fully appreciate such a classic ridge walk, one of the finest in the Lakes and give Denise a good day out on her last three "catch ups". As it turned out things were just about perfect.

As usual we were keeping an eye on the weather forecast during the week before our visit and, as usual, it changed from good to not so good as it got closer to the weekend, on Friday it had changed again to "looking pretty good" for Saturday AND Sunday, this was excellent news for our plans, this is how we got on :D

We were up nice and early Saturday, the sun was making a good effort to come out of hiding, there were some low lying clouds on the fell tops but they looked the sort that would burn off once it got warmer. We had breakfast and then set off for Buttermere.
Driving down the B5289 we saw our intended fells just about cloud free, only a thin wisp on High Stile, we parked in the N.T carpark in Buttermere, got ourselves sorted and were off on our way by 08:10, pretty good for us and the sun was shining :D

Image

Image

The footbridge over Buttermere outflow was down so we were diverted to Scale Bridge,

Image

this added a wee bit to our route but that was no big deal especially with the decent weather and, with it being fairly early, there wasn't a soul about.

Image

Image

Our route was the climb through Burtness Wood, this is a good path, pitched all the way, its steep but the pitching is well spaced so it didn't feel tiring on the legs, in what seemed no time at all we were clear of the trees and we could see the mountains around us.

Image

Image

Image

By now the clouds were breaking up nicely and we arrived at Bleaberry Tarn Red Pike was just about clear, Chapel Crags were holding on to their bit of cloud but that was getting less and less by the minute.

Image

Image

There were a couple of groups of young wild campers packing up their tents and another group was heading up Red Pike, they looked well organised and had the same gear, probably on their Duke of Edinburgh award scheme.

We had a few minutes rest by the tarn and came to the conclusion that it was probably a nice little spot to wild camp, especially on the long summer evenings, sat outside the tent with a couple of beers, very appealing :D :lol:

We set off for Red Pike, the initial climb from the tarn is on another pitched path at an easy angle, above the saddle it becomes a little more awkward, steep loose scree for about 50m, the views are superb so they take your mind off the effort.

Image

Image

Image

Image

On the summit there's a cairn and a small shelter, by now all the mountains around us were clear of cloud, and the views were superb, it was developing into a nice morning. So, here we were, Denise's last but two catch ups in the bag, we had a snack and headed off for the penultimate one, the weather was perfect now, what a great day to be up here.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

The walk over to High Stile is typical Lakeland ridge walking, a bit of everything, steady grass for most of the way, it gets steeper and rougher under foot as you get closer to the summit. The views were fantastic especially looking down to Bleaberry Tarn, there's some pretty impressive gully's on this side of the hill.

Image

Image

Image

There are three large cairns around the summit area, the first one you come to looks like the summit but isn't,
its the next one, N.E ish, that's the summit cairn,

Image

there's another one further over still so we visited that one too.

Image

We had some stunning views, it was a mountain identifiers dream spot, so many fells to see and so many fells we could say we'd been to the top of, this was the sort of day I wanted to have for Denise, just one more catch up now and that's it over there :D

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

We had some nibbles and I took a load of photo's, I had a play around with the panorama function on the camera, something I've never used before, I've always taken a series of photo's and stitched them together on the computer, Sony seem to do a good job on their cameras so I'll be using this function a lot more in the future :D

Image

Image

Image

Image

We set off for High Crag.

Image

From High Stile it looks a fair way away, about a mile or so as the crow flies, the walk over is on really easy terrain so the time taken is not much at all.

We had some nice views on the way,

Image

Image

Image

and saw some climbers on the crags below High Stile, you can just make them out if you look hard enough :lol:

Image

We walked to the summit together, Denise's last catch up, it felt good to get to this point, now we're on the same count, just two to go :D

Image

We met our first person to speak to on the summit and he kindly took a photo of the two of us on our special little summit, the next time we have a "Together Photo" will be on our last Wainwright :D

Image

High Stile

Image

Image

Image

Image



We set off down Gamlin End planning to have an extended lunch stop near the little tarn at the bottom.

Image

This is a steep descent on a pitched path for a lot of the way, as we were descending we thought that it was a tough old climb from this direction, I was glad we did the route the way we'd come :lol:

We had our long lunch break and relaxed in the sunshine, it was great to be out, the weather was just right, there was no need to hurry along.

Image

Image

We set off for the little climb over Seat and then the walk down from Scarth Gap Pass to Buttermere.

Image

Image

Image

Image

When we arrived on the path alongside Buttermere there were a few people out, enjoying the weather, we'd been out for a few hours and had hardly seen anybody on the tops, but, there again, it was a nice afternoon :D

Image

A lovely place to be :D

Image


So, that's it, all the catch ups done, just two more Wainwrights to complete, Excellent :D
User avatar
martin.h
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 657
Munros:223   Corbetts:25
Fionas:15   Donalds:15+2
Sub 2000:4   Hewitts:151
Wainwrights:214   Islands:29
Joined: Jul 31, 2011
Location: Halifax, West Yorkshire
Walk wish-list

Re: "Catch ups" caught up with around Buttermere.

Postby Chris Mac » Thu Jul 11, 2019 1:42 pm

Well done Martin, almost there now and that was an enjoyable report with some great photos! :clap:

It's nice to see Buttermere on a sunny day like that, it was my intro to the Lake District a good few years ago but it was a tad cloudy unfortunately, a cracking area, looking forward to returning even more now.

I see you now just have Catstyecam left to do, looks like a quality choice for the last one, I hope you and Denise enjoy it loads when you finish the Wainwrights, looking forward to reading about it! :D
User avatar
Chris Mac
 
Posts: 821
Munros:60   Corbetts:36
Fionas:25   Donalds:28+13
Sub 2000:74   Hewitts:6
Wainwrights:21   
Joined: Sep 11, 2014

Re: "Catch ups" caught up with around Buttermere.

Postby trailmasher » Thu Jul 11, 2019 8:05 pm

Good report and photos Martin and Denise looks especially pleased with her latest conquests, and rightly so :clap: It is a great ridge walk for sure especially on a day as you both had 8) The bit of rough walking up on to Red Pike makes it all worthwhile when the top is reached and the ridge is laid out before you.

Hope that you get as good a day when you tick off Catstycam :)
User avatar
trailmasher
Mountaineer
 
Posts: 1302
Munros:13   
Hewitts:179
Wainwrights:214   
Joined: Nov 26, 2014
Location: Near Appleby - Cumbria

Re: "Catch ups" caught up with around Buttermere.

Postby martin.h » Fri Jul 12, 2019 8:05 pm

Chris Mac wrote:Well done Martin, almost there now and that was an enjoyable report with some great photos! :clap:

It's nice to see Buttermere on a sunny day like that, it was my intro to the Lake District a good few years ago but it was a tad cloudy unfortunately, a cracking area, looking forward to returning even more now.

I see you now just have Catstyecam left to do, looks like a quality choice for the last one, I hope you and Denise enjoy it loads when you finish the Wainwrights, looking forward to reading about it! :D


Hi Chris,
Yes, one more visit will get us there, I must admit tho' once we've finished the Wainwrights it'll be nice to pick and choose where we go without the need to keep ticking, one round is enough for us :lol:

Buttermere is a cracking little place especially when the sun shines, I hope you time it right on your next visit.

Cheers.


trailmasher wrote:Good report and photos Martin and Denise looks especially pleased with her latest conquests, and rightly so :clap: It is a great ridge walk for sure especially on a day as you both had 8) The bit of rough walking up on to Red Pike makes it all worthwhile when the top is reached and the ridge is laid out before you.

Hope that you get as good a day when you tick off Catstycam :)


Hi trailmasher

Next time we're around Buttermere we may repeat this route and then go on to do Haystacks and Fleetwith Pike, that looks a decent day out :D

Catstycam is planned for August sometime, in theory we should get decent weather, oops! have I just put the mockers on it :shock: :lol:
We're looking forward to it, should be good fun, Birkhouse Moor, Helvellyn, Catstycam via the edges whatever the weather :D

Cheers.
User avatar
martin.h
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 657
Munros:223   Corbetts:25
Fionas:15   Donalds:15+2
Sub 2000:4   Hewitts:151
Wainwrights:214   Islands:29
Joined: Jul 31, 2011
Location: Halifax, West Yorkshire
Walk wish-list

Re: "Catch ups" caught up with around Buttermere.

Postby Gordie12 » Sat Jul 13, 2019 6:25 am

Hi Martin

I did the 6 hills from Great Borne to Haystacks last month on what looked like a similar day to yours and it was a brilliant walk so your report and photos bring back good memories and also one bad one - the descent off High Crag!! First time in a while I've stopped at the end of a descent for a rest :lol: :lol: :lol:
User avatar
Gordie12
Wanderer
 
Posts: 2152
Munros:114   Corbetts:65
Fionas:30   Donalds:38+0
Sub 2000:35   Hewitts:37
Wainwrights:32   
Joined: Sep 6, 2012
Location: Nr Forfar

Re: "Catch ups" caught up with around Buttermere.

Postby martin.h » Thu Jul 18, 2019 9:09 am

Hi Gordie,

Your route looks a good one, which side did you start from, we might have a go at that one day

Yes, coming off High Crag was a bit of a knee cruncher, the weather made it so much better for us to take our time then have a nice long sit down to allow them to recover :lol: its not the going up that takes its toll nowadays,
it's the coming down :shock: :lol:

Cheers.
User avatar
martin.h
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 657
Munros:223   Corbetts:25
Fionas:15   Donalds:15+2
Sub 2000:4   Hewitts:151
Wainwrights:214   Islands:29
Joined: Jul 31, 2011
Location: Halifax, West Yorkshire
Walk wish-list

Re: "Catch ups" caught up with around Buttermere.

Postby Gordie12 » Thu Jul 18, 2019 12:48 pm

Hi Martin

I was doing the Coast to Coast (again) and so was walking from Ennerdale Bridge to Rosthwaite.

It was a steep climb away from the road near Bowness Knott and up on to Great Borne followed by an easy walk over to Starling Dodd. Only after Starling Dodd did I start to see some other walkers then by the time I got to Haystacks.............
As one person said to me "where have all these bloomin people come from?"

I missed out Fleetwith Pike at the end, perfect excuse to go back and maybe take in some of the hills on the other side of the road at Honister.
User avatar
Gordie12
Wanderer
 
Posts: 2152
Munros:114   Corbetts:65
Fionas:30   Donalds:38+0
Sub 2000:35   Hewitts:37
Wainwrights:32   
Joined: Sep 6, 2012
Location: Nr Forfar

Register or Login
free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).




Can you help support Walkhighlands?


Our forum is free from adverts - your generosity keeps it running.
Can you help support Walkhighlands and this community by donating by direct debit?



Return to Walk reports - Outside Scotland

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 18 guests