A couple of weeks ago I had a Sunday and Monday in Buttermere. Sunday was blowy and the clag didn't lift from the high fells,so I did a bit of a meander up Rannderdale Knotts and Whiteless Pike - I was hoping the cloud would lift, as it did over most of the Lakes, but it stayed down, so I dropped down to Crummock Water and Buttermere for a low level afternoon.
But Monday dawned clear and blue, with a sprinkling of snow on the tops. My chosen route was Sourmilk Gill to Bleaberry Tarn and then up onto Red Pike. The lady in the hotel described the path as the Devil's staircase, and it certainly had a lot of stony steps, but the views more than made up for it;
Towards Fleetwith Pike from just above the trees
Buttermere and Grasmoor from a bit further up;
The scenery changes as you reach Bleaberry Tarn, with the walls of Red Pike and High Stile surrounding
The route up from Bleaberry starts off relatively easy before steepening at The Saddle. There was a little more snow here, but it was soft and there was no ice to speak of.
Reflections in the tarn
The final push to the summit was obviously loose scree/shale type stuff - quite hard going. Just before the summit of Red Pike is a short gully, and this was pretty chocked with snow, quite soft and with big steps in it. Then the summit plateau;
Looking towards High Stile
Summit of Red Pike
I met two fellrunners on Red Pike and a walker on High Crag, and that was it for the day, until the Buttermere lake path
Leave only footprints;
Now, I'm thinking this is from High Stile, but really, who knows;
Pillar, being Pillar, and looking great
View down to Crummock Water
From High Crag I descended to Seat and Scarth Gap before making my sad way back to Buttermere. I love this corner of the Lakes, and had a great day.