Great Gable with Pete and Bella

Buttermere and Crummock Water, a classic view from the path to Great Gable.

Pete and Bella were guiding on Great Gable recently and here are some pictures of our adventure. The weather was perfect to start but soon turned cold and windy with cloud well down over the high fells though there were moments when the sun burst through the swirling mist and if you were quick there were opportunities for some dramatic photos.

View towards the Drumhouse with Fleetwith Pike on the left and Dale Head beyond. 



Path in Stone Cove leading to Beck Head.

Windy Gap and Stone Cove

 Beck Head Tarn with Kirk Fell beyond.

Steve takes a photo of Wastwater as the mist clears

North West ridge of Great Gable, our route of ascent, with Gable Crag on the left. 

On the North West ridge of Great Gable with Kirk Fell beyond and Ennerdale below.

Mist clearing to reveal Ennerdale far below

Descent from Great Gable, Langdale Pikes in the distance, Sprinkling Tarn in the centre. 

Prayer flags on a cairn above Sty Head.

Great Gable from the summit cairn on Green Gable.

Pillar from Gatesgarth

It's a long way to Pillar from Gatesgarth Farm so Pete, Lyn and Bella, Alan and Julie made an early start. There's a climb of about 400m over the pass of Scarth Gap; we made good time but it took us about 2 hours nevertheless to reach the Memorial Bridge over the River Liza in Ennerdale. From the bridge we climbed through the woods into Pillar Cove, under Pillar Rock and up to Robinson's Cairn which stands at the head of the cove at the western end of the High Level Route from Looking Stead. Here we debated whether to venture the Shamrock Traverse or to scramble the NE Ridge above us. The traverse looked wet and uninviting so we opted for the ridge though we took the easier left hand side of it which, though steep and rocky, was interspersed with enough grass to enable us to make our way upwards to the crest avoiding most of the rock. The ridge led onto the broad East shoulder of Pillar at about 850m from where we made our way easily in the afternoon sunshine to the top, about 300m away, having taken 3 hours from the Memorial Bridge; not the easiest way but... as AW himself suggests, undeniably the finest way up the mountain!

After crossing Scarth Gap Alan and Lyn take a breather on the track in Ennerdale above the Memorial Bridge

The Memorial Bridge below with Pillar Rock high above still shrouded in the morning mist.

The Memorial Bridge over the River Liza is the key to the ascent of Pillar from the North.

Pillar Cove with the Rock to the right and Robinson's Cairn in the dip on the horizon.

Robinson's Cairn with Pillar Rock as a dramatic backdrop

Pillar Rock dominates Pillar Cove as Lyn and Julie climb the last few yards to Robinson's Cairn.

While surveying the route from Robinson's Cairn with Alan and Julie, Pete decides to add a layer of clothing as it's getting chilly above 2,000feet

From Robinson's Cairn the views into the head of Ennerdale are spectacular.

Ascending the NE ridge above Robinson's Cairn with Pillar Rock and Ennerdale now far below.

Emerging from the scrambly NE Ridge onto the East shoulder of Pillar high above Pillar Rock.

Spectacular views from the broad East shoulder of Pillar as we head for the summit.

A late lunch at the summit of Pillar 892m  

Pete's trying to get Bella to smile though she's not keen to have her photo taken; Julie and Lyn look pleased though! 

Pete and Bella, Julie and Alan at the summit shelter. It's Alan's 189th Wainwright, only 25 to go now!

The spectacular view from the East Ridge on the way back towards Black Sail Pass. We descended the easy way to cross the River Liza near Black Sail Youth Hostel. The return over Scarth Gap took only an hour and a half so we were back at the car at Gatesgarth Farm eight and a half hours from the start, a hard day but a great day all agreed.  

August 24th Wall to wall sunshine

We left Buttermere village and set off around the lake with the sun glinting on the surface of the water like diamonds. I have seldom seen it look more beautiful or peaceful and I took this shot of Fleetwith Pike as we made our way along the footpath.
This next piccie shows us hiking up by a Rowan tree covered in red berries.
This is a shot of the view ahead of us as we ascended the path. You can see the slopes of Haystacks on the right and on the left is Fleetwith Pike again, in the middle distance the Warnscale Beck makes its way to the valley bottom.

This is the view behind us

The path keeps ascending until it eventually goes through an old stone wall and then the way becomes strewn with more and more boulders.

Until at last the top of the pass is approached, this is Scarth Gap and it is a cross roads for the path can be followed down into Ennerdale or the same junction can give access to the ridge back over High Crag towards Red Pike or the other way over Haystacks via an airy scramble! Our route obliged us to cross straight over and start the descent into Ennerdale.

Here we are making our way down the path with Scarth Gap behind. Our path goes on down over some manmade stone steps until we reach the bottom and then we turn left towards our destination; Black Sail Hut.

No matter when you seem to be there, it is always a focal point for walkers. Most of them have come on the coast to coast path and are booked into the Youth Hostel for the night, because it is indeed a working hostel. But it never ceases to amaze me that so many people are always there milling around; it seems to draw them like a magnet. (Pete tells a sorry tale though of being turned away at the inn.) Seriously, it was once pouring down and he turned up at the 'hut' and sought shelter for himself and his group against the elements but little Jock our Parson Jack Russell terrier was refused admission...Shame on them, he was going to be left outside until Pete decided that was unacceptable and all of them left bedraggled and disconsolate, but at least Jock was not made to feel like an outcast. However, I have digressed again. Must be habitual by now.
The weather on this occasion was the opposite of my tale and after having taken a couple of photos I urged on my group to leave thoughts of luncheon outside the confines of the hut until such time as we had gained a decent height again..... So I cracked the whip and on we went along the path towards the cleft in the hill which holds Loft Beck.

Once we had gained a lofty height and the wind was pleasantly ruffling our hair and cooling us down, we settled amongst the rocks and had lunch. All that remained was for us to ascend upwards until we topped out near the fence posts below Brandreth. Anyone wandering around in this area will be pleased to find excellent fences which are all marked on the OS maps. The views are stunning too. This is what it was like to look back down on Buttermere with Crummock Water and Mellbreak in the distance.

This shot shows the group all admiring the views whilst standing near the Brandreth fence posts.

The views infront of us now were dominated by Dale Head.

But I must include a couple more shots because they are so good. This first one is Alan who has an outdoor shop and has been on a few walks and will be returning for our navigation day. He is becoming quite a regular and has absolutely promised to bring me a pair of 'Smartwool' socks next time he comes over, haven't you Alan, size 5 feet.......

Before you think that I am scrounging, please note that I cannot get these in Keswick, I don't know why but Fisher's are not stocking them anymore, so Alan (who does stock them) will be supplying me and I will be paying.
Lastly I want to thank Pete who came along as photographer because we are trying to build up an archive of walks photos for your benefit so that when you want to know about a walk you come to the blog and see the actual photos and description as it happened, rather than the old system on the website which just gave a text based analysis. So here he is:- the star photographer.....

And of course, Bella is just there too, we must not forget her, she is very keen on Keswick Rambles.