High Fell to Haycock and Buck 2^nd June 2007

It was warm and sunny when I eventually got to the Overbeck Bridge car park, having been delayed slightly by tourists driving slowly along the narrow, scenic Lake District roads and minibuses, carrying teams of 3-Peaks walkers, blocking the Wasdale valley road on their way out. I walked up to the start of the Yewbarrow path, but, instead of following the fence up the ridge towards Bell Rib, I crossed over the fence at a stile; I found a path, almost hidden by the new bracken growth, slanting downwards towards the banks of Over Beck. It joined a reasonable path going upstream that kept above the steep-sided beck with its hidden waterfalls; the lush new growth of Oak, Silver Birch and Mountain Ash meant I only got a glimpse of the white water.

I continued to walk along the path above Over Beck; in an unfamiliar landscape, Yewbarrow soared upwards to my right with the less spectacular High Fell rose above the Bowderdale intake wall on my left. Eventually the path met the stream where a footbridge allowed me to cross over a still pool of water in a small, steep-sided canyon just below a waterfall; after you climb over the low wall and a stile you are on a path heading up to Dore Head, but instead of following it ,I followed the wall straight up to the skyline. It was hard going on steep ground with no path and no obvious easy way through the newly grown bracken; it would have been a lot more strenuous if the bracken had been fully grown.

I eventually reached the crest of the ridge below Knott End on High Fell, a spur that gives Red Pike a foothold in Wasdale. To be honest, I was beginning to think I had over-complicated the start of this walk, I consoled myself knowing that I had avoided having to walk on tarmac and I was in a nice little place that I hadn't visited before. On the other hand, I had to lose all the height I had gained so far to get down to Nether Beck; the beck was easily crossed and Middle Fell stood before me. My route for the day involved climbing Middle Fell from there; it wasn't the first time I have climbed it using a non-standard ascent, so I wasn't worried about getting into difficulties but it looked mighty steep and it was becoming a warm day.

I worked out a route and began to climb up Middle Fell; it was rough but dry ground, I was following a grassy route to avoid the rock outcrops but there were plenty of boulders to walk across. It got steeper as I got higher, grass and boulders were replaced by bracken and boulders; higher still it was steeper still where bright green bilberry hid the boulders underfoot. I climbed and clambered up the steep slope; the ground became rougher, with unavoidable outcrops that had to be scrambled over, until eventually and suddenly I was on an easy gradient close to the summit. I soon found the ridge path and walked over to the obvious summit of Middle Fell; I met a couple of people near the summit cairn, I had a feeling that one of them was Ann Bowker and I made a mental note to visit Ann's Mad About Mountains website the following day.

My route didn't involve using any standard routes yet; I did descend slightly on the obvious path towards Greendale but I was expecting another rough ride as I turned right to make my way downhill to Greendale Gill, not far from the Tarn of the same name. It was a surprisingly easy descent on dry, grassy ground to the gill; I made a simple crossing of the gill and then a beeline towards Buckbarrow. I had expected much more of a descent with plenty of rough ground to climb but there hardly any gradient; I was walking across a lush, grassy meadow that was slightly wet in places.

I was surprised by how level the ground was; it would have been easy walking if the grass hadn't been so luxuriant, walking on a soft surface always absorbs some energy and you have to work a bit harder to make progress. On the flat, featureless meadow something caught my eye, slightly off my route; when I went to investigate I found a tall, slim cairn that must have been fairly recently constructed. The pink stones have not weathered to grey and there was no lichen on the rocks; it is a splendid construction that serves no obvious purpose except to indicate the best view of Wastwater Screes, although I doubt that many people ever get so far off the beaten path.

I carried on across the pathless grass, rising gently to the summit of Buckbarrow; I descended to the cairns just above the crags of Buckbarrow to see if it improved the hazy view, it didn't so I returned back to the summit cairn. I managed to follow a faint path back to the summit but lost it soon after I passed the cairn; I started to make my way generally in the direction of Seatallan but I realised I needed to get to Cat Bields first. I started to walk towards the ridge on my left and soon saw the distinctively positioned cairn on Glade How; there is a surprisingly good view of the Sellafield Nuclear Power Station from there.

The path from Glade How up to Cat Bields is visible, better than the direct walk across rough, swampy meadow from Buckbarrow to Seatallan; there is an interesting variety of views, with the Scafells on one side and Sellafield on the other. It is a bit of a slog up the plain, green slope to Cat Bields followed by a long green plod on a broad, rising ridge towards Seatallan; I met the walker who I suspected to be Ann Bowker again on her way down from Seatallan. The long trudge to the summit of Seatallan ended in a fine, extensive view, although it was quite hazy I got a good look at the next part of my route. I like the neat summit of Seatallan, it is big and wide, uncluttered but with an interesting large cairn and stone-built triangulation column.

From the summit I walked towards a smaller cairn, from where you start to descend steeply, almost a nose-dive, in the direction of Pots of Ashness; I was quite impressed by the view if the Scafells either side of Mickledore but I was paying particular attention to the green rake I could see on Haycock. As I was walking down the steep hill I was making a mental note of the paths heading towards Haycock; the bottom of the green rake was where I wanted to be. On the descent from Seatallan there were unusual circles of vegetation, the mossy equivalent of fairy rings. There is no path at first on the steep descent but a faint one appears further down, that leads you to the start of a grassy path across the large, flat depression of Pots of Ashness.

I followed the faint path and where it split for the first time I took the left fork; after a fairly undulating section of ground I took the right fork when I had to choose and had to climb slightly onto a small grassy knoll. The path disappeared so I kept on the same bearing, heading for an imaginary point at the bottom of the green rake on Haycock. Suddenly I came across the bield that is marked on map; a cairn built on top of a pair of boulders that wouldn't give much shelter but is an obvious landmark that can be seen from the green rake. I turned right and walked uphill, there was no path but I found another cairn that I recognised and I continued in the same direction until I was climbing steeply up the rake.

I kept to the edge of the rake where I could, I find stepping up boulders is easier on the calf muscles than going straight up a steep green slope. At the top of the rake there is a green plateau between rocky summits; I turned left and walked across the suddenly bouldery summit plateau. A wall runs across the summit, there is a big cairn on one side of the wall and a large shelter cairn the other side; either of those could be the highest point. It was getting a bit late to be so far out, so I decided to take a short cut; I walked almost straight down the green eastern slope of Haycock, heading directly towards Scoat Tarn but having to zigzag to avoid crags. It wasn't too arduous a descent before I reached the shallow, green gully that becomes Nether Beck as it fills with water lower down the hill.

I stepped over the gully and kept on my bearing towards Scoat Tarn, although I could no longer see it; I had to traverse rough ground and bouldery outcrops as I tried not to lose height or climb too much, there was a good view of the length of Nether Beck. Eventually I reached the crest of a ridge and I could see Scoat Tarn below; it was an easy descent to reach the outflow stream. I crossed over the stream, walked past the Rain Gauge, and headed for higher ground; after a short walk up rough ground I reached the rocky crown that is probably the highest point on High Fell. The rough slopes I could see on the back side of Red Pike contrast with its gentle summit ridge; there was an uninterrupted hazy view southwards to Harter Fell.

It was an interesting walk along the undulating ridge of High Fell; there was a scramble up and down three of four summit outcrops and there were several others I bypassed with being short of time. After the scrambles I followed the easy ridge until I could see Low Tarn below, I could have carried on along the ridge but I decided it would be quicker to drop down towards the tarn and down to the Over Beck footpath as soon as possible. I was quite taken with High Fell, it is a nice interesting little hill although not really that little; there is no exposure or danger and it is completely unspoiled, although there was recent evidence of cattle having grazed there.

I veered left once I got past Low Tarn, I had to cross the youthful Brimfull Beck before crossing very wet ground and then descending steeply, trying to keep on grass as I passed through outcrops and crags. I eventually reached a path at a cairn, looking back upwards at my descent it looked rather steep, I did have to use my long legs to their full extent on a couple of occasions. I followed the path until it crossed Brimfull Beck via a small footbridge, I have often seen this beck in full spate from Yewbarrow but never visited it before. I carried on downwards on the good path until I reached the first footbridge of the day at the intake wall and retraced my steps back to the Overbeck Bridge car park.

Andy Wallace 2^nd June 2007

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