Weekend in Honister - Photo Gallery
I had a long-standing arrangement to meet a group of Scottish friends at Honister Youth Hostel but because of work commitments I couldn't greet them on Friday evening. There was a huge amount of rain on Friday night and we all had our own difficult journeys; was the weekend going to be a washout too? I got to the hostel on Saturday morning and it had stopped raining but there was a lot of water everywhere and there was plenty of low cloud on the hills.
It was fresh and breezy when we started walking up the good track towards the present Honister Quarry; this was opened in 2001 according to the slate plaque. The view of the workings across the road on Dale Head really makes you wonder how men used to work on those steep slopes without a safety net. We walked up to the entrance to the quarry; as I was pondering which route to take to avoid the workings the others had ignored the No Entry signs. I had to run to catch up with them because they started to climb the steep, rough slope around the locked mine shaft.
After the initial steepness we were walking over a wild moorland slope with no sign of any path; Donald, on his first visit to the Lake District, had heard how busy it was but we were not likely to see anybody here. I hadn't climbed Fleetwith Pike from this direction before and I enjoyed the feeling of remoteness. The mist was clearing from the hills; Great Gable still had a cloudy top but its shape was unmistakable. In their eagerness to reach the summit my friends took me to Fleetwith Pike's subsidiary summit; it could be regarded as an unnecessary extra effort which is why it was my first visit.
It wasn't too far and not too much more effort before we reached the real summit; the mist had cleared and we had good views of the hills and the lakes. My plan was to descend to Buttermere before climbing again; there was some resistance when we could see how much height we had to lose but I knew we were making the best of the Buttermere fells. The descent of Fleetwith Edge is as interesting a route as any without any real problems; there is no exposure but there is a good feeling of steepness and of course, the occasional greasy rock step to get down.
Some of the first time visitors to Buttermere had to get a close-up look of the memorial to Fanny Mercer; a nineteenth century wooden cross that would have taken a good deal of effort to erect. We eventually got down to Gatescarth and made the walk around Buttermere's lake shore path; including a pleasant elevenses stop amongst the pine trees. When we got to the village we turned left at the bridge to go past the Fish Hotel; we followed the main path towards the bottom of the strikingly visible Sour Milk Gill. The gill was absolutely full of water; it is quite exhilarating to stand on the footbridge just a few feet from the torrent hurtling steeply downhill.
The start of the path to Red Pike is just a few feet away; not one of the better reconstructed paths, it can get very greasy as it makes its steep way up through the trees. As you emerge from the trees you reach a fence with a gate that gives access the the open fellside. Not that the open fellside is a good place to walk; it is rough, steep and bouldery so there is no temptation to stray from the path. The zigzag path ends when you rejoin Sour Milk Gill not far below Bleaberry Tarn.
It had become windier as expected; by the time we got to Bleaberry Tarn the showers of driving rain were threatening to become more persistent. By the side of a wall in the semi-shelter from the blustery wind it was time to put on the waterproofs before setting off for the top part of the climb to Red Pike. Most of the this path has now been reconstructed, with red stones of course to match the underlying rock; there were a couple of occasions when the wind brought me to a halt.
Looking up to the ridge we could see the mist and rain being driven by the strong wind; I was beginning to be concerned about the amount of daylight we had left. If it was going to be a struggle walking along the ridge would we have enough time to get down before it went dark? As you reach the col between Red Pike and Dodd the reconstructed path reverts to erosion, although much of the loose material that is a problem on a steep slope has now been worn away. That isn't to say it is an easy climb, especially close to the top where you are funnelled up through a steep, narrow gully.
Once through the gully it isn't much further to the summit. The wind was measured at nearly 40mph; the consensus was that it will be at its worst as it rushed through the gap between Red Pike and High Stile, it wouldn't stop us from walking along the ridge. The visibility wasn't too bad, we were able to see the line of fence posts and follow them to High Stile, although you have to pay attention in order to find the summit cairn. The others set off from the summit cairn before I was ready, “follow the fence posts” I said.
I set off following the fence posts knowing that there is a place where it is difficult to see where they lead; I could see in the distance that the others had been fooled into following the cairns instead. By the time I caught up with them they had reached the last cairn before a descent to Buttermere; I have done it myself before so I knew the course correction that had to be made. It isn't that far before you rejoin the path that follows the fence posts to High Crag; one of my favourite places is the craggy col between High Stile and High Crag but I made sure I kept well away from the edge with it being so windy.
Once you have worked hard to climb Red Pike, the rest of the ridge is relatively easy and as long as you follow the line of the old fence it is a good walk all the way to the summit of High Crag. We had decide that we were not going to attempt to climb Haystacks because it was starting to go dark. We met another group of walkers at the summit of High Crag coming in the opposite direction; I asked how far they were going seeing as it would be dark in 20 minutes. One of them said they might not carry on but we didn't see them coming down, they would have had quite a walk in the dark.
It was getting quite gloomy as we made the steep descent of Gamlin End on another walker-unfriendly reconstructed path; the wet grass wasn't any less slippery. It was getting quite dark as we traversed the intermediate peak of Seat and descended the steep, partially reconstructed but still eroded, rocky descent to Scarth Gap. From there we headed back down towards Buttermere, it is an eroded, awkward path at the best of times but even harder as it got dark. After a while you get past the eroded section onto a nice, easy gravel path which unfortunately doesn't last for long.
The final part of the path is reconstructed and definitely not for descent in the dark when the stones are wet; there is a fence on the lowest section but the top strand is barbed wire so you can't even use that for support. Eventually we got down to Peggy's Bridge and walked across to the road; just a hard hour's slog back to the hostel. The road walk was easy enough at first and I got into a marching stride and decided I could get back to the hostel then drive back to pick up the stragglers. It was really hard work once I started going uphill but I kept going and finally got back to the hostel.
When I got inside the others had already arrived, they had got a lift and only passed me when I was nearly back at the hostel anyway.
On Sunday morning it was pouring with rain with no prospect of it getting any better; I had to quickly think of a short route for those that wanted to walk again. We drove up to the little car park at Rannerdale bridge, walked up Rannerdale and then walked the little ridge to the summit of Rannerdale Knotts. As we started to descend the steep end the sun came out and we got some good views of Crummock Water and its surrounding fells; a mix of sunshine and clouds, brightness and shadows.
The sun shone as we drove home.
Andy Wallace 25th & 26th November 2006