Route: Haystacks
Area: Western Lake District
Date of walk: 10th April 2015
Walkers: Andrew
Distance: 5.6 miles
Weather: Sunny but hazy
I parked in the car park at Gatesgarth having made an early start as Haystacks is a popular fell. I crossed over Peggy’s Bridge and made the fairly gentle ascent to Scarth Gap. Beyond this point the going gets harder and there are a few scrambly sections where hands are a help and walking poles a hindrance
The mountain scenery is magnificent and dramatic, and it’s no wonder that this is Wainwright’s favourite fell. There are two summit cairns on Haystacks and I visited both of them before setting off on the complicated terrain at the back of the fell. I hadn’t seen anyone else up to this point, and it was only on the descent that I passed by a few other walkers
I followed Warnscale Beck back down to Gatesgarth, a route which is full of interest and beauty
It was a shame that the long distance views, in particular the classic view along Buttermere and Crummock Water, were shrouded in haze but there’s so much to see at close quarters that this didn’t spoil the day and it was a great mountain excursion
For other walks here, visit my Find Walks page and enter the name in the ‘Search site’ box
Click on the icon below for the route map (subscribers to OS Maps can view detailed maps of the route, visualise it in aerial 3D, and download the GPX file. Non-subscribers will see a base map)
Scroll down – or click on any photo to enlarge it and you can then view as a slideshow
Red squirrel in the garden, having breakfast at the same time as me
At the start of the walk I pass by Gatesgarth Cottage
I follow the path along the head of Buttermere, to the right
Today’s objective - Haystacks
The path follows the right hand edge of the small woodland, then goes up behind it
Spring lambs
Buttermere pines and Warnscale Bottom, with Haystacks up on the right
Looking back to the bothy on the shore of Buttermere
Looking along Warnscale Beck from Peggy’s Bridge
I walk through a flock of Herdies
Looking back to the start
Head of Buttermere
Haystacks
Looking ahead……
…and looking back
Further along the path
Looking back along the path, with Buttermere beyond
Pillar
Fleetwith Pike
……and again
Looking down into Ennerdale, with Pillar towering over it
The summit tarn on Haystacks
Buttermere and Crummock Water from Haystacks, the view is sadly very hazy
Lower part of Fleetwith Edge
Looking back down to the start at Gatesgarth
The contradiction in terms that is Innominate Tarn, looking towards Pillar
The path across the top of the fell is a complicated one, and a bad place to be in mist
Looking down to the valley bottom - my return path will be to the right of the trees, top left of picture
The descent path heads back in the direction of Haystacks for a while - note the building below on the left
Warnscale Bothy - an old miner’s hut, which seems to be a part of the landscape
What an amazing location
Looking down to Warnscale Bottom
I deviated slightly from the main path to take these photos of the cascades down Warnscale Beck
I cross the footbridge over the beck
Buttermere pines - by now the weather had become indifferent
A last lingering look back up to Haystacks just before I arrive back at the start
