High Stile Range

High Stile Range

Western Lake District

Route: High Stile Range

Area: Western Lake District

Date of walk: 25th March 2016

Walkers: Andrew James and Tom

Distance: 9.4 miles

Ascent: 3,100 feet

Weather: sunny in the valley but very cold, windy and misty on the tops

Our son James and nephew Tom both have fond memories of the classic High Stile Range walk, so it didn’t take long to decide on today’s route. We parked in the National Trust car park on the edge of Buttermere and walked across the foot of the lake. The climbing starts as soon as Burtness Wood is reached and once we were above the tree line we were enjoying wonderful views back over the lake

It was a warm sunny day, T-shirt weather, but it was as well that we packed full winter gear since it very quickly became colder as we ascended and by the time we’d scrambled up the steep final section of Red Pike it was absolutely freezing. Gloves and hats were a necessity

We started out on the wonderful ridge walk leading firstly to High Stile and then High Crag. At times there was very limited visibility in the mist but there were frequent gaps in the cloud offering thrilling glimpses of the spectacular rock scenery all around

As we started the steep descent down Gamlin End, James identified the place where I’d taken his photo at age 6, and from the same spot I took another one – 20 years on. After the knee jarring climb down Gamlin End we picked up a path (easily missed) which took us to Scarth Gap Pass. On reaching Buttermere we decided to take the path back along the far shore which would give us views across the lake to the fells we’d just climbed

We arrived back at the start tired but happy after a fantastic day in the fells

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)

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