Scale Force

Scale Force is quite an interesting waterfall tucked away in a gill. What it loses in width it makes up for in height; it is around 50 metres high. A grey wagtail flew down in front of us, bobbed down twice and then flew away. The path climbed steeply through woodland beside the gill and then levelled off to follow Scale Beck. There wasn't much to see along the beck and views were limited. Eventually the path branched away from the beck up on to the fell.  The views really opened up though when Lingcomb Edge was reached with a wonderful panorama down on to Buttermere and Crummock Water. Now that we had climbed out of the valley we were battered by a strong, chilly wind. Three Typhoons flew low over Crummock Water and then over Buttermere before banking upwards over Haystacks.

Red Pike And High Stile

We had Red Pike's summit to ourselves. There were tremendous views down on to Crummock Water, Buttermere and Ennerdale Water. We could see some other walkers struggling upwards near Bleaberry Tarn. The wind was still strong and we descended a little to find the shelter of some rocks to have a break.

It didn't take long to get to the top of High Stile. Its top has a broad ridge that is fairly flat. There are also a number of cairns and it wasn't completely obvious which was the summit cairn. We looked up the grid reference which was roughly near a cairn with two iron posts sticking out like antlers. That would do for out summit.

High Crag

High Crag can be seen from High Stile and also the impressive Comb Crags that flank the approaching ridge. There was also a great view over the Ennerdale valley to Pillar and Steeple.

At High Crag we dropped down from the summit to get out of the wind and had some lunch. A couple of Typhoons flew over Haystacks and headed over to Kirk Fell. If this wasn't difficult enough, one of the Typhoons appeared to be carrying out this manoeuvre upside down. 

A side wind blasted us on the steep, slippery descent from High Crag. It certainly demanded concentration. By the time we reached Seat the wind had reduced and it wasn't long before we reached to top of the pass at Scarth Gap.

Buttermere

Many Wheatears accompanied us down the path to Buttermere. As soon as we were about 10 metres away from them, they'd take off and fly a further distance down the path to wait for us. We heard a lot of shouting on the fell above us. We could see four people walking up to High Crag. They were spread out and it looked like the one at the back wasn't happy with the one walking too fast at the front. Further on we met a mountain biker climbing up to Scarth Gap with his bike over his shoulders. He was sweating buckets; it didn't look much fun.

It was a very pleasant walk back to Buttermere alongside the lake. Many families were out doing the easy walk around the lake. A woman was even havnig a swim. Now we had lost the wind it was actually quite warm and it was good to walk in the coolness of the woodland.  The pubs and cafes at Buttermere were packed out with people. 

The last time I had been up to Red Pike and High Stiles it had been thick mist. It was great to get up there today and have those splendid views.