Walking Forum
Regions - Trip reports, destination advice, recommended routes, etc. => Lake District => Topic started by: 1slandmonkey on 19:59:09, 20/03/17
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Me and my Father are thinking about doing a route that starts and finishes in Buttermere. Taking in Red Pike, High Stile, High Crag, Haystacks and Fleetwith Pike. I was wonderihow suitable it is for dogs. He wanta to bring his but we havent done this route before.
We would possìbly be staying in Dubs hut overnight depending on our pace.
Any advice would be grateful. Thankyou...
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Done most of that section (allbeit in 2 walks) before and I don't recall there being any tricky (ie scramble) bits for a willing dog.
Hopefully somebody who's more familiar will confirm.
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I've done Red Pike to Haystacks with a dog, and Fleetwith to Haystacks with a different dog. There were no special problems. I also once did the whole Buttermere round with a dog too with no problems. Depends on the dog, obviously; mine were both collie crosses who were pretty good on hills and able to cover a lot more miles and contours than I could.. If you go Red Pike - Haystacks, there's a steep descent off High Crag which at the time was quite loose and the dog needed to be off the lead. This might have been "fixed" by Fix The Fells (although some of their fixes are more awkward than they were before they were fixed) (slaps own legs for blasphemy). I've not been along there recently. But the point is that the dog needs to be able to ignore sheep because it might be awkward on the lead on that particular section.
Haystacks to Fleetwith is very straightforward but the descent off Fleetwith to Gatesgarth, if you're going that way, is also very steep with a crag to avoid at the bottom (has a white cross on it where a Victorian lady fell off)
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Haystacks to Fleetwith is very straightforward but the descent off Fleetwith to Gatesgarth, if you're going that way, is also very steep with a crag to avoid at the bottom (has a white cross on it where a Victorian lady fell off)
Fanny mercer
http://scafellhike.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/fanny-mercer-fleetwith-pike.html (http://scafellhike.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/fanny-mercer-fleetwith-pike.html)
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There are some rocky steps going up Haystacks from Scarth Gap, some would describe it as mild scrambling. I don't have a dog so I don't know if your dog would find this a problem or not.
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Thanks guys.
My Dad's dog is a miniature schnauzer and has been on walks with us before. He's pretty good with the sheep now. I'll let him know what you have said and leave it up to him. I'm just not sure what he'd be like on the steep rocky areas.
At least he is small and light to carry if he gets tired. Probably fit in our backpacks.
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Thanks for all the advice folks. We ended up doing this route with my Dads dog on Mothers Day weekend and what a trek it was.
The weather was amazingly warm. No wind, no rain and no clouds. Yet there was still a good couple of feet of snow along the ridge in some places. What stunning conditions they were.
The little pooch did awesome and only really needed a lift a couple of times around Scarth Gap.
We never found Dubs Hut and camped by Blackbeck tarn. A pleasant nights sleep and a beautiful walk back to Buttermere via whanscale Beck valley and Gatesgarth.
Im assuming Dubs Hut was nearer Fleetwith Pike and Dubs Quarry.
The lake was so serene early on that Sunday morning. Definitely be back in this area again within the next year. A walk around the lake will be ideal for the kids. Well worth the hours drive from Tebay, where my parents live.
O0 :D O0 8)