It’s been a while since the Christmas Walk so when Peter called me a couple of weeks ago asking me if I fancied a walk, it was perfect timing.  It was only me and him today and his turn to drive so he picked me up at 6.00 am.  The forecast was good for the east but a little cloudy, clearing later for the west which was where we were heading.  We had decided to do High Street after missing out on that walk a couple of times previously so headed over the A66 in clear blue skies.  As we turned off the road towards Haweswater there was a road closed sign but another one saying the hotel was open so we ploughed on.  It turned out they were doing some pipe laying on the road although not on a Sunday so the trucks were all parked up and we drove straight through.

Start of the walk

We arrived at the car park at the end of the reservoir before 8.00 am, got the boots on and started walking at exactly 8.00 am.  No Angus pies today but a decent substitute with Peters Bakery steak pie!  We ate as we walked, surrounded by very welcome blue skies.

When we walked Harter Fell recently we had noticed a path which looked more direct than walking round Haweswater and climbing up Rough Crag so we took the direct route.  It was a steady walk at first, gaining height slowly.

As we climbed we started to come out of the shade and already it was getting quite warm, I was beginning to regret having 3 layers on!  We followed the path, climbing all the time until we came to the first bait stop of the day at 9.00 am.  Time for a quick cuppa and then we continued on towards the shoulder where we would join Long Stile. We reckon we saved quite a bit of time taking this route and joined Long Stile about 10.00 am.

We were now in full sunshine and with the climb it was was getting very warm so time to shed a layer or two.  Looking back down to Rough Crag we had a quick look to see if we could see the Golden Eagle which is supposed to live here but nothing today.  We continued up Long Stile, now becoming more of a scramble over the crags.  As it was such a great day we stopped to take another photo of the great scenery around us.  The shot on the left shows Blea Water in the background and the summit of High Street is to my left out of shot.

High Street summit

Once we reached the top of the more difficult climb we were on a very flat summit heading towards the summit marked by a small trig point.  We reached the summit at 10.40 and took a few more photos for the record.

The views were fantastic today, we could see Thornthwaite Crag I did last summer with the lads from work, we could see Helvellyn and Striding Edge clearly.  Looking towards the west seemed a little more cloudy and as we wanted to stay in the sun we headed towards Kidsty Pike, knowing that we would not be able to get another top in on that route but at least we would stay in the sunshine and get the views.

We descended the Straits of Riggindale towards Kidsty Pike and decided to take in The Knott on the way, including Kidsty Pike that would mean we would do 3 Wainwrights today although only one official top in High Street.  The photo on the right shows the view back up Riggindale towards the summit of High Street, you can make out the Roman Road on the right.

The descent

We continued on the path to The Knott and at this point we saw only the second person of the day although after this point it did get much busier.

We arrived at The Knott about 11.20 and then paused for a few minutes to take a few more photos and  consider our next move.  We decided to back track slightly on the path we had taken and head for Kidsty Pike and then back down to the Reservoir.

Once we dropped down from The Knott back to the path we turned right and then a left climbing towards Kidsty Pike.

We arrived at Kidsty Pike just after noon and for the first time today it was a little breezy on the top so we dropped off the summit slightly to some rocks for  another bait stop, take some more photos and just chill in the sun.

This was also a good vantage point to see the Golden Eagle if it was around but again we saw nothing today.  We sat for 20 minutes or so and then started the descent back to the car park.

At first it was quite a rocky descent becoming quite steep as well so taking its toll on the knees.  We dropped down to the shores of Haweswater and then had about another 20 minutes to walk through the woods back to the car park which was now full despite the road closed sign!  We arrived at the car about 2 pm just as some cloud started to appear – perfect timing!

A really good walk today, fantastic scenery, some decent challenges and great company as always.

Click here to see more photos from the day and turn your speakers up and see if you can guess the music!

See you on the next one.