Fleetwith to Red - Photo Gallery
It was bright and breezy again when I got to Buttermere, there was plenty of mist and it didn't look good on the High Stile ridge, it wasn't warm enough to even think about wearing shorts. I left the car in the National Trust car park at Long How and walked back through the village; I walked past the ice-cream shop to get to the lake shore path around Buttermere. It's an easy walk around the edge of the lake with a good view, across the water, of the Buttermere fells, until you reach Hassness Point. There is an interesting tunnel dug into the the rock at the Point that you have to walk through; the flash on my camera revealed some steel girders in the roof, even more reason to mind my head.
The path has a few interesting moments but generally takes you easily around the lake; it meets the road again near to the entrance to Gatescarth Farm. After walking past the farm you will see Fleetwith Pike rising steeply upwards in front of you; the path you need goes up towards a white cross, the memorial to Fanny Mercer. You can get close up to the cross but the rocks can be greasy when they are damp; it's interesting to see how well it is secured to the rock after being there for so long. Before you reach the cross, you will reach a reconstructed path that zigzags upwards, around the small rocky cove containing the memorial, and up to on the grassy ledge above it.
The position of a cairn on the ledge above the cross gives you an idea of what might have happened to Fanny, it's a steep drop into the cove. The ascent from there is as intimidating as any climb, the ridge seems to go on forever; it starts off reasonably steeply and gets steeper as you get higher, with some pleasantly exposed scrambling. It is a teasing climb with three false summits before you reach the real one; it isn't a slog like some hill climbs, it is rugged and exposed with some interesting, but not too awkward, scrambling. The final rugged, eroded climb takes you right up to the summit cairn; it is an excellent viewpoint but the mist was starting to form around me as I stood at the top of Fleetwith Pike.
I carried on walking along the ridge and descended to a shallow col; around that depression you have to judge when to make your way down towards Dubs. There are occasional paths but you really need good visibility or know how to use your map and compass. I passed through some live quarry workings, although the equipment was idle, in order to reach the old tramway to Dubs Hut. I walked along the obvious path to the hut which these days has been refurbished enough to qualify as a bothy.
From the hut you can find a small muddy path going down towards a stream crossing; following the substantial quarry track will take you away from where you want to be. Crossing the stream was straightforward enough although occasionally I have had trouble there when it is in spate; once you get across there is an obvious rising path that takes you to Black Beck. You end up above a short rocky descent to the crossing of the Beck, not far downstream from Blackbeck Tarn.
After you cross the stream, a rugged eroded path takes you upwards; the huge crag ahead is part of Haystacks, it's quite a lot of mountain for not too much hill. This is the gentle side of Haystacks; it gets quite wet as you pass Innominate Tarn but you get to clamber over rock soon enough in order to reach the summit of Haystacks. When I reached the top rocks the neat little ridge was packed with people; one group of walkers sitting around the cairn meant it was standing room only for the rest of us.
The descent to Scarth Gap is the non-gentle side of Haystacks, a delicious little scramble; it is easy to see why this small hill is a favourite mountain for many people. I then climbed the rugged path over Sail, all of those people seemed to have disappeared; after a simpler descent you are then treated to the ascent of Gamlin End. The steep reconstructed path is hard enough but you then have to negotiate the eroded and awkward, but less direct, final climb of the ascent; I got into the mist well before I reached the summit of High Crag. I didn't actually see the summit, I was so concerned about finding the right way across the ridge that I walked past it.
It was cold, windy and misty as I carefully navigated the ridge towards High Stile, it is a challenge being alone on such a featureless and inhospitable ridge; there is an old fence to follow but you have to keep concentrating to keep it in view. You must keep watching and navigating while your natural instinct is to wrap up against the cold wind and walk with your head down. I almost got caught out, following an apparent footpath around some boulders I moved so far away from the fence posts that I couldn't see them any more. I had to follow a compass bearing across the broad featureless ridge in thick mist before I found the fence again and shortly afterwards the summit of High Stile.
I continued to follow the fence towards Red Pike, but as the cairns and fence posts were left behind I headed towards the higher ground; it's a place I know well and wouldn't recommend anybody else walking around there without taking a bearing. I moved on to the summit of Red Pike but descended as quickly as possible to get out of the cold wind. I paid a quick visit to Dodd which was just below the cloud base, I had a good view of Crummock Water and Buttermere lake before walking back down to the col.
From the col, an obvious red path leads downwards towards Bleaberry Fell but I prefer the alternative quiet descent into Ling Comb. There is a reasonably obvious path through the Ling that traverses around the cove until you reach a small cairn at which point you turn right to start going downhill. The path is steep and swampy in places but I like it; after you cross over a dilapidated wall it all changes. You have to walk down through the woods, the path is steep and eroded in places with tree routes, always slippery, waiting to trip you up.
The final descent to Buttermere Dubs is very swampy and you have to pick your route carefully in order to avoid going into the mud up to and above your ankles. Once you reach the path, you turn right and walk along a rough path to reach Scales Bridge, you cross it and walk across the fields back to Buttermere.
© Andy Wallace 28th Jun 2008