Starting point is Gatesgarth Farm, located on the North East corner of Buttermere.
Having travelled south from Keswick to Honister Pass and the famous slate quarry the road B5289 takes you West out of Honister Pass, where you come to a farm Gatesgarth Farm. Here there is a pay and display carpark on the opposite side of the road adjacent to a small beck
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With one space left we park the car and the three of us set out for our goal, Haystacks summit.
Now the three of us being my wife Suzanne myself and our German Shepherd Blue (
Nearly five years old)
Our route takes us out of the car park and turning left up the road from which we had just come, only a short distance and then on the opposite side of the road was the path skirting the foot of Fleetwith Pike.
As you look up the summit of Haystacks looks a distant goal, looming large in the opposite side of Buttermere Valley.
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| Haystcks in the distance |
Looking up as you approach Fleetwith Pike there is an ornate white cross high on the fell. This white cross is there to mark the place where "Fanny Mercer" sadly struck her head in a fall in 1887 and subsequently died of her injuries, I believe there is a collection box for donations, and the cross is maintained to preserve it, today though for us it is only a distant sighting, one day we will take closer look, pictured below is the view of the cross on the fell as we see it.
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| Memorial Cross for "Fanny Mercer" |
Our walk along the path into the valley runs parallel with Warnscale Bottom, and is a fairly flat and even track that is easy to follow, eventually after about 30 minutes the track begins to rise a little more and there you come across a fork, today our chosen route will be the path that goes to the left, though all the fellow travellers in the distance appear to have crossed the beck on the right path.
From here the terrain changes, the track is now a metalled path primarily made up of larger rocks and stones, and the gradient is more steeper.
Now as previously mentioned our German Shepherd called "Blue" is no novice to fells and mountains, he has already successfully summated Skiddaw and Helvellyn to name but two, but he weighs in at 47kg and has a very strong willpower. Great for ascending, he almost pulls you up the mountain, but sense of direction is another matter, he has no fear of heights, meaning being close to the edge is not a worry for him, for us it is a different matter.
So the gradient is steeper the drop down into the beck is growing with each and every step, and before too long we round a corner and lose sight of Buttermere. Those people we passed on the way through were given a courteous hello in return, this is a hard climb, not a scramble but it does get the blood flowing, the noise of the water thundering down the beck fills the air.
We come across another fork in the path and elect to take the lower one, which brings us to the crossing point, stepping stones. Unfortunately Sue has a fear of slipping and falling in, so we seek an alternative place to cross, but to no avail, the surrounding ground is very wet and marshy, it is here or not at all.
Blue was getting impatient, so taking the proverbial lead, Blue and I made the crossing, with the promise that Sue would follow, but her nerves could not be overcome. Blue all the time encouraging from the opposite bank, as Sue pondered and debated a group of four people arrived, two couples and their dog; They also were sceptical about crossing, but the two lads and the dog crossed, and returned each time to help their partners across.
Chivalry is not dead, one of the guys also returned to help Sue make the crossing, safe and dry, our hero; Now we could continue on to our goal, Haystacks summit.
The track continued to be easy to follow and was a good surface to walk along, soon there was an opening to our right, and a chance for a snapshot down the valley into Buttermere.
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| Buttermere |
Inspired and invigorated by the view before us, on we went towards Haystacks.
Passing Little Round How and Green Grag, we descended into a small area home of Blackbeck Tarn, the crossing here would be much less of a challenge for Sue, the path did take on a more sinister route, feeling more exposed and vulnerable the path was going to be less forgiving, a slip by us or Blue would have serious consequences, ahead a fellow dog walker allowed us to ascend fully before embarking on his own descent, pleasantries exchanged by both humans and canines the path ahead still rising.
At NY198129 we arrived at Innominate Tarn, the final resting place of Alfred Wainwrights ashes, on first sighting it was so easy to see why this would be his chosen spot, no memorial just recorded in folklore legend and the millions of books bearing his story.
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| Innominate Tarn |
The weather was closing in a bit now, and we were still not in sight of the summit, so only stopping a short while we moved on, descending and climbing across the rugged mountain.
The location of the summit was reached, where there is an unnamed tarn, and fortunately for us the cloud had broken to afford views of the surrounding valleys and mountains.
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| Un-named Tarn Haystacks summit |
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| View across to Ennerdale Water |
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Summit Cairn
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Sue and Blue explore the summit of Haystacks
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This was a tremendous achievement for all three of us, last year we were beaten back trying to ascend Haystacks from the South side, and the view made it worth all the effort, now before the weather closed in we made our descent back the way we came.
As is tradition on these walks Sue does a "Bungee" some how always managing to fall over, today would be no exception, as we were descending the summit a flash of black flew past me, it was Sue out of control flying forward, this time it was in a safe location and no harm done, that girl should think about having wings fitted.
Arriving back at the stepping stones the knight in shining armour was no where to be seen, so Sue made a solo crossing without incident.
Funny the things you see on the way back that you missed on the outward journey, above the stones on the hill was a building, Dubs quarry, with masses of slate surrounding it, apparently you can book out the cottage through Honister Slate Mine, not sure it would be my choice for vacation base though.
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Dubs Quarry cottage
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Dubs quarry cottage with Haystacks in the background
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Our return journey gave us the opportunity to appreciate the wonderful views and scenery, with the occasional sheep grazing undisturbed on the hillside. Reaching the road knowing a great walk had just been had Sue and Blue look back for the straggler, camera in hand, I wanted one more picture to end the day
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| Come on "Rodders" keep up |
Hope you enjoy reading this account as much as we enjoyed our memorable day out
See link below for stats recoded on my Suunto watch
