Catbells - Maiden Moor - High Stile - Castle Crag

The forecast was good for today so we decided to head up to the Lakes again - this is becoming a bit of a habit

The planned walk was a circular walk starting at Hawes End and climb up to Cat Bells summit and then continuing on to Maiden Moor, High Spy and Castle Crag.

We were keen to arrive early so we could get a free parking space in the small lay-by near the start of the walk.  We parked up at 8am and there was only one other car in the lay-by.

The low cloud had now lifted and the sun was shining, looks like a fabulous day for a walk.

We set off up the steep zig-zag path across Skelgill Bank (Birkett) then you can clearly see Cat Bells summit up ahead about half a mile away. 

Cat Bells with Maiden Moor behind

A pleasant walk along the grassy ridge and then a short sharp climb and some minor scrambling before reaching the summit of Cat Bells.

At Cat Bells summit

View from Cat Bells (1,480 ft)

We arrived at the same time as a man and his Labrador, spent a while chatting to him and fussing his lovely dog before continuing on to Maiden Moor.  The sun was beating down and and there was no breeze at all, we're really not used to this warm weather.  I was a little concerned that I'd not brought enough water with me as we had a long walk ahead of us.

Hause Gate

Maiden Moor

Then across Hause Gate and up on to the broad expanse of Maiden Moor and a good path to the summit.  Luckily, once we reached the summit it got a little cooler and the sun went in briefly so we were able to cool down again.

Maiden Moor summit (1890 t)

A quick break for cake and a read of my Wainwright book then descent to a broad col and on to High Spy.  Fabulous walk so far.

Route to High Spy

High Spy Summit (2142 ft)

We were following the path towards Dalehead Tarn and were looking out for the path to the left that we needed to take, we totally missed it and ended up at Dalehead Tarn but not to worry there was a cache there so we found that then backtracked to pick up the correct path.

Dalehead Tarn

Then it was over the stile and down the very steep descent to Rigghead Quarries

We paused halfway for our lunch then continued on down keeping Tongue Gill on our left before crossing the gill and going through the gate.  This is where the path started to get very busy.  With lots of people exploring the paths around Castle Crag.

Castle Crag (950 ft)is the smallest Wainwright and is the only one below 1000 ft.  A steep zig zag climb up an old slate spoil heap.  It looked a lot worse than it actually was and once we got going soon found our way at the top.  It was surprisingly busy at the top but not that surprising when we descended and continued down to the banks of the River Derwent where there was a camp site nearby.

The path to Castle Crag!

A memorial to Borrowdale men killed in World War I

View from Castle Crag Summit

River Derwent

We stopped off at the Grange Cafe for a very welcome cup of coffee before continuing on.  Also very handy as there was a wifi hotspot here.  From this point on the going was very easy, as we made our way along the lower paths of Cat Bells, the views all along this path were absolutely stunning.  After a mile or two we eventually arrived back at the car.  What a fabulous walk.

Colourful garden

Fabulous views of Derwent Water

looking back at Cat bells from the lower paths

Then we headed into Keswick for a chippy tea before parking up near the lake to watch the sun go down.

Herdy spotting

Relaxing

The end of  perfect day

Walk Summary:

Miles walk = 11
Wainwrights = 4
Total Ascent = 3466 ft

Haystacks and Fleetwith Pike

I can't believe another week has gone by!  I wish I knew where the time has gone.  It's just under  two months now since we moved up to Lancashire and we started this crazy Wainwright bagging challenge.

Mark surprised me with a lovely present the other day, a full set of Alfred Wainwright's Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells!  I was thrilled to bits as I have wanted a set of these for a long time.  Fabulous little books, I love all the little intricate drawings and walk descriptions.

So here we are again with another planned walk to bag a Wainwright or two.

The forecast for Saturday didn't look too great, pretty wet in fact and as we had a few DIY jobs we needed to get done we decided to plan our walk for Sunday instead as the forecast was for sun all day.

The plan was to bag two Wainwrights in the Western Fells - Haystacks and Fleetwith Pike.

Haystacks was A.W.'s favourite fell and through his Pictorial Guide he requested his ashes be scattered there.

We parked up at the Pay and Display car park at Gatesgarth Farm, we'd read that the price changes there regularly so we thought we'd try there first before looking elsewhere.  We normally look out for the NT car parks but the closest one would've added an extra couple of miles onto the walk.  The charge at Gatesgarth Farm today was £4 so for a day of parking sounded fairly reasonable.

View from Peggy's Bridge

There are a few different routes you can take to the summit of Haystacks but as we were making a circular walk taking in Fleetwith Pike we decided to take the route from Gatesgarth.  After leaving the car park we headed towards Peggy's bridge.

Scarth Gap Pass

An initial steep climb before the steady ascent up to Scarth Gap Pass.  This was quite rough underfoot but taking it steady we soon found our way, we stopped to chat to a man who was on his way down and this enabled us to have a bit of a breather before continuing on.

The route flattened out briefly before the steep ascent to Haystacks Summit.

In places the the route wasn't very well defined so we picked our way carefully until we made our way to the summit.

At the summit of Haystacks (1959 ft)

We were pleased to reach the top and were rewarded with some fine views.  There are two cairns at the summit, the two are at approximately the same elevation but the North one is usually reckoned to be the true summit.

Innominate Tarn

We took the route southwards down from Haystacks towards Innominate Tarn and it was far easier than the ascent. The tarn is where where Alfred Wainwright's ashes were scattered.

The scenery here is just amazing and the landscape like something from a fairytale

This was the busiest section of the route all day

path up to Green Crag

Continuing onwards towards Dubs Quarry and a bothy called Dubs Hut. We used to refer to our Labrador - Whisper - as Dubs so these names made us smile... especially an area on the OS map called Dubs Bottom!

Dubs Bothy

View from the bothy

The route towards Fleetwith Pike was a bit unclear so we just headed in a Northerly direction until we picked up the more defined path running towards the summit.

Onward to Fleetwith Pike

Fleetwith Pike Summit - 2126ft

Fantastic views of Buttermere

The views from Fleetwith Pike are our new favourite.  A gorgeous view of Buttermere and the 'toy cars' on the road far below us.

The path back down

OK here goes

The path downwards follows the ridge and I really wouldn't want to tackle this route in the ice or snow!

Fanny Mercer memorial cross

On the way down we passed Fanny Mercer's cross.  A very sad tale: Fanny was a young servant girl who worked for a school teacher in Rugby, she accompanied his family on a summer holiday in the Lakes in 1887.  They were descending down the steep ridge of Fleetwith Pike, she was not an experienced fell walker and tripped and fell, she was carried down on an old barn door as it was the days before mountain rescue, she was very badly injured and sadly died at Gatesgarth Farm before medical assistance could arrive.  Her body was returned to Rugby and a white cross erected in Buttermere in her memory.  To this day the cross stands as a warning to other walkers and a reminder of how perilous the mountains of the Lake District can be..... I'm glad I didn't read about that on the way up!

Then it was just a short walk along the road and we were back at the car again.

Time for a brew

Our route

After that we paid a visit to St James' Church in Buttermere to see the A.W. memorial plaque.

A.W. memorial window looking out towards Haystacks

St James' Church, Buttermere

We had a mooch around the church and noticed a poignant memorial to a young RAF airman who was killed in the Second World War aged 22. This really emphasised to us the waste of young life and lost potential when you consider that A.W. didn't even visit The Lakes until he was 23 and how much influence he has had....

Anyway, on a lighter note, the end of another grand day out in the Lakes, we walked 7 miles, bagged two more Wainwrights (15/214) and found a handful of caches... it was one of those days that you never wanted to end .... looking forward to planning our next walk.