Jim Millen wrote on Mon, 18 Jul 2005 23:54:10 +0100....
Quoted message said:
The route that I had in mind was starting from the car park near
Wilkinsyke Farm and ascending Red Pike on the path through Burtness
Wood and past Bleaberry Tarn. Then following the ridge along to High
Stile and High Crag before descending back to the side of Buttermere
to return to the car park.
This walk appealed to me because it's circular, takes in some nice
peaks, and has plenty of options to cut short if the legs are tired -
could even come straight back down after Red Pike if the climb kills
us!
This is an excellent ridge walk. However, if the full route you planned
is to descend from Scarth Gap, there aren't too many options to cut it
short.
Bearing left down the hill at the bottom of Gamlin End is possible, in
order to bypass Seat and Scarth Gap. But that doesn't cut much out.
Coming down the front of High Stile into the entrance to Burtness Comb
is also possible, but you need to be confident of your route-finding
abilities. It's not such a major path and it's easy to miss it (tip:
keep over to the right as you start off the top). There are some
misleading tracks as you come off the top this way, probably caused by
people who meant to follow the main ridge but got lost in mist and
failed to follow the dog-leg in the fence posts.
There are certainly opportunities for *lengthening* this route, if you
feel up to it. Continuing over Haystacks is very worthwhile. There's a
small amount of very slight scrambling on the main path up from Scarth
Gap, but don't let that put you off. You can then choose either the
Miners' track or the Warnscale path (on either side of Warnscale Beck)
for the descent.
Quoted message said:
What I really wanted to find out, though, was what the path up to Red
Pike was like. Obviously it's pretty steep, but does it provide
decent solid footing? Steepness I think we can cope with, but rough,
slippy scree would probably be too much. Any other info about this
area would also be appreciated.
The top section of the path is not too pleasant, as it is steep and
rather worn and eroded (unless they've repaired it now). It's called
the Yellowbrick Road by some people I know (though actually the ground
is red, hence the name Red Pike).
If you want an easier but longer way up, go up the path next to Scale
Force, along the valley at the top of the waterfall for a little way,
make your way up the slope to Lincombe Edge and then follow the edge.
--
Tim Jackson
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