Well its been some time since we were last out! Peter and I did Scafel Pike back in June and we have not been out since. So we were all raring to go for this walk. We were joined on this one by Paul who has not been out for a while with us. The last couple of walks we have discussed doing High Street but have opted for another walk so we planned on doing High Street this time.  Paul drove to my house and Peter picked us both up just after 5.45 am on the morning the clocks went back so we had gained an hour.

When we set off we realised that Paul had already done High Street so we had to choose another walk. We decided to still head to Mardale Head on Haweswater and tackle Harter Fell and maybe Branstree.  We arrived at Mardale Head just before 8.00 am in time to boot up and tuck into the Angus pie to get us started.  There was low cloud over the tops but you could tell this was a great start point with fells on all sides of Haweswater.

Start of the walk

We started walking at 8.00 am and set off through the gate following the path towards Nan Bield Pass. We could see the return path at this point as well via Gatescarth Pass.  It was quite a steady climb following the beck up towards Small Water crossing the stream just before reaching Small Water.  This would be a perfect location for a summers bait stop but it was a little damp and windy today so we carried on around Small Water, climbing steadily up to Nan Bield Pass. The path became a little steeper as we left Small Water and as we got higher and looked back we got a great view of Small Water with Haweswater in the background, just a shame it was not good weather for the camera! It was also starting to rain so time for the waterproofs. We arrived at the small stone shelter at Nan Bield Pass just after 9.00 am. We met another walker here who had taken the route up Gatescarth Pass and was heading towards High Street on our right.

Harter Fell summit

We stopped for a cuppa and a sandwich and then turned left from our ascent towards the summit of Harter Fell. Around 40 minutes later we were at the top, not a lot to see from the quite flat top and visibility was not great today either due to the weather. We stopped for a quick photo, the only one of the day and then started to follow the fence down towards Gatescarth Pass.

Summit of Harter Fell

The descent

Very quickly we were on a wide path winding down towards the pass, Peter and Paul in particular got quite a pace going down the hill. We arrived at the pass about 30 minutes later and took another bait stop. Ahead, in the sometimes clearing mist we could see the ascent to Branstree. We had maintained quite a pace so far, added to the fact that we had not been out for a while I could tell that the climb and subsequent descent of Branstree would not be great for the knees so I decided not to go. I tried to persuade Peter and Paul to go alone and catch me up on the way down. However in true Musketeer spirit they said it was all or nothing so we were on our way back to the car and it wasn’t even noon!

As we had only done the one top, the descent was relatively easy although I just knew it would have been very different had I done Branstree. It was not until the day after when I came to write up this post that I realised I had already done Branstree on the same day we did Tarn Crag.  The day we found a car half way up the track towards Tarn Crag and the same day we had our Battle Royale with the paste eggs.  We were back at the car about 12.30 and stopped for a couple of pints and a game of pool. We were home again for 3.00 pm. A nice steady walk to get us back into it and my 38th top. Hopefully we can squeeze one or two more in before Christmas.