Hay Stacks
Date 11/02/2007
Walks done by: Jed, Paul, Susan and Pam
Weather: Dry and chilly. Low cloud till mid afternoon. Very occasional sunshine
Distance 6 miles.
Started at: Lay-by alongside Kirk Close, Buttermere
We made and early start for this walk as the days are still short and we had a long drive to Buttermere. We made excellent time to Keswick arriving around 9.40. We needn't have bothered. Firstly we did the cafe breakfast, and then Susan decided to buy some new boots, with my money!!
Eventually we set off for Buttermere, arriving at 11.30 and by the time we had got ready it was near noon when we set forth. As we approached Gatesgarth Farm we saw the white cross on the path up Fleetwith Pike erected in memory of Fanny Mercer who died in an accident descending the fell in 1887 (120 years ago).
It's been over 4 months since we have walked seriously and once we started the climb to Scarth Gap we knew it had been a while. As we approached the col we stopped and had lunch. Pam took a very large stainless steel flask out of her rucksack, and when Paul saw it, he asked if it had been converted from an old artillary shell!
We then made our way to the summit and the sun came out for the first time. We had intended to go to Fleetwith Pike and descend by its ridge, however, after having a nice hot chocolate from Pams naval shell in Dubs hut we decided it would be safer to descend by the path alongside Warnscale Beck.
Finally we arrived back and after loading the rucksacks in the car we decided we would drive to The Kirkstile Inn at Loweswaterwhere we had a superb meal and superb beer. Then we set off on the 100 mile+ journey home.
Please press the REFRESH button on your browser if any pictures fail to load
Best viewed at 1024 x 768 resolution (or better)
The cafe in
Keswick - this is when we started to lose time |
The view of
the Moot Hall from the cafe | |
Lovely new
boots |
Pathetically
dirty boots - the boots on the left were new here | |
As we set off,
this is the view of Fleetwith Pike's ridge we got | ||
| ||
...and this is
the view we got of Hay Stacks | ||
This is
Buttermere with the rugged Hay Stacks beyond | ||
Another lovely
view of lake and mountain | ||
Fanny Mercer's
memorial cross | ||
Buttermere,
from Peggy's Bridge | ||
Pam and Susan
on the ascent to Scarth Gap | ||
| ||
Pam looks
right, Paul looks left, Susan looks up, and Hay Stacks awaits
us | ||
Looking down
the trod to Buttermere | ||
Lunchtime.
Paul with ludicrous hat, gets his sandwiches out. Meanwhile Susan has
quickly removed what she calls her muff, from over her face. She is
paranoid about appearing in "The Lost Sheep" again. I should explain that
her muff can be worn as a neckerchief or a hat. | ||
The view from
our lunch spot | ||
Ahhh!! Here is
the flask that Paul said was converted from an artillery
shell | ||
Happy times. By the way, Paul doesn't have a wooden leg - thats the handle of my walking pole! Mention should also be made to Paul's colour co-ordination skills, very few people can pull off wearing hoops, tartan, stripes, diaganol stripes and red gloves. Unfortunately Paul isn't one of them either!! Still - he's happy! | ||
Looking down
to Buttermere from the final climb to the summit | ||
Susan and Pam
on the climb | ||
Nearing the
top now. Buttermere and Crummock Water provide the
backdrop | ||
Fleetwith Pike
from near Big Stack | ||
The summit
tarn and visitors on the true summit | ||
The secondary
summit of Hay Stacks | ||
The sun came
out to provide this atmospheric view over to Looking
Stead | ||
Please email
me with your captions for this photo | ||
Pammy on Hay
Stack's summit | ||
Blackbeck Tarn
with Grey Knotts (l) and Brandreth (r) in the distance | ||
Blackbeck Tarn
| ||
Looking over
to Buttermere and Crummock Water from Green Crag | ||
Hay Stacks
from Dubs Hut | ||
Inside Dubs
Hut | ||
Two views from
the path we used to descend | ||
Zooming in on
Buttermere and Crummock Water | ||
Zooming in on
Buttermere and Crummock Water | ||
At the
Kirkstile Inn - | ||