Route: Crummock Water
Area: Western Lake District
Date of walk: 23rd April 2015
Walkers: Andrew
Distance: 9.3 miles
Weather: Sun and blue skies – again
I parked in the National Trust car park at Scale Hill and followed the familiar track down to the foot of Crummock Water – the view from the shingly beach was as wonderful as ever
I decided to go round the lake anti-clockwise, for no other reason than it seems the natural way to go, as is the case with Buttermere (for me anyway)
The path hugs the shore of the lake for much of the way, heading inland slightly at a juicy section near Scale Knott. I then followed a recently improved path to the head of the lake and crossed Scale Bridge to walk into Buttermere village. At this point I had to decide whether to walk along the road (about 2 miles) or avoid this by climbing up to Low Bank and walking down Rannerdale – a longer and more strenuous alternative. In the end I opted for the road and this wasn’t an issue, there wasn’t much traffic and the surroundings were beautiful
At Cinderdale Common a path leads off the road down to the shore of the lake and I followed this back into Lanthwaite Wood. Instead of retracing my steps along the main track I followed the bank of the River Cocker back to the start of what had been a wonderful walk
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
The River Cocker and Mellbreak at the start of the walk
The track leading to the foot of Crummock Water
Bonnie waits impatiently for me to catch up, she knows what lies ahead……
L to R - Rannerdale Knotts, the High Stile Range and Mellbreak
Grasmoor, from the point where Crummock Water flows into the River Cocker
Looking across to the boathouse - in 3 hours time I’ll be passing by it along the far shore
The footbridge over Park Beck
Park Beck
Grasmoor
Rannerdale Knotts left of picture and Great Gable in the distance
Mellbreak
Rannerdale Knotts
High Ling Crag……
…and Low Ling Crag
Low Ling Crag and Rannerdale Knotts
Whiteless Pike
Rannerdale Knotts again
The head of Crummock Water - and Fleetwith Pike
Fleetwith Pike
I cross Scale Bridge to head towards Buttermere village
Bonnie beside Buttermere Dubs
Heading into Buttermere
Herdy
Buttermere again
Walking out of the village
The road section of the walk
Woodhouse Islands
The end of the road section as I head back down to the shore of Crummock Water
Gorse - it seems to have been flowering for months
Stand well back - here comes The Shake
Further along the lakeshore path
The boathouse, looking across to where I’d been 3 hours ago
There just remains a lovely stroll back to the start along the bank of the River Cocker
