Haystacks, High Stile & Red Pike

January 25, 2015 • Leave a Comment

Haystacks, High Stile & Red Pike - part 1

I was lucky enough to have three trips to the Lake District in 2014. The first trip was with my work friends towards the end of April. The weekend weather was mixed to say the least, with three out of the four days being gloomy, with some rain. Nonetheless, we had very enjoyable walks up Hopegill Head and Grasmoor, and around Langdale, with a slightly scary (and ultimately aborted) attempt to walk up Halls Fell ridge to Blencathra - not a good route if, like me, you don't like exposed edges.

The weather on the second day was considerably better, with pretty much wall to wall sunshine. We decided to walk up Haystacks, with the possibility of turning this into a circular walk by including High Stile and Red Pike. I had done most of this walk before, on my own, but the weather had turned so bad at the top of Red Pike that I couldn't find my way off the top. I had to trudge back over three miles the way I had come, in pouring rain and strong winds! So I was looking forward to doing this walk in better weather.

We parked the car at the end of Buttermere and walked along the shoreline, with Fleetwith Pike standing proud at the end of the Lake in front of us.

As we left the lakeside and walked up Scarth Gap Pass, the view opened up in all directions. Firstly, another shot including Fleetwith Pike.

Looking back we could see across Buttermere.

Our first destination, Haystacks, soon came into view.

As we climbed higher, the views behind us grew more spectacular.

The final assent up Haystacks involves some minor scrambling...

But the views from the top are well worth it. You can see both Buttermere (front) and Crummock Water (back), snaking their way between Melbreak (middle left) and Grasmoor (opposite on the right).

Haystacks was reportedly Wainwright's favourite peak and I can understand why. His ashes were scatted at Innominate Tarn nearby.

This next image shows Haystacks summit with the summit tarn in the foreground, with Ennerdale Water and Ennerdale valley (left) separated from Buttermere and Crummock Water (the latter seen on the right) by a series of peaks that would become the second part of our walk, later in the day. The large hill in the foreground is High Crag.

At the end of Ennerdale you can just make out the sea!

The view in the other direction is towards Green Gable and Great Gable.

But it's the views in the other direction that really held our attention. Whilst it was a lovely sunny day, there was sufficient cloud to make different patterns of shadows across the fells. I love the play of light on the land. It was great to see the views of Grasmoor, the highest peak on the right, which we had climbed in the rain the day before.

The weather was great, and the views magnificent, so we decided to extend the walk into a full circuit - up High Crag, High Stile and Red Pike. More of that in the next post.

Keywords: buttermere, crummock water, cumbria, ennerdale, ennerdale water, fleetwith pike, haystacks, lake district

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