Having completed Grey Knotts and Brandreth we were torn between which to do next. Do we press on towards Green Gable and potentially Great Gable or, drop down to Haystacks? After a bit of a chat we decided to drop down to Haystacks. It is a fell we've wanted to get done for a while and today seemed perfect for it. We set off downwards - with no obvious path you sort of aim downwards and wander!
After a little while you some to this little rocky outcrop which you skirt to the front on the obvious path.
Following the path takes you past Blackbeck tarn, around a little gully on an exciting path (safe but I didn't look left too much!) and finally up the path below.
Your reward for going round this way is the resting place of Alfred Wainwright, Innominate Tarm. Truly a beautiful place - you could understand why it was his favourite bit of Lakeland. This was a good place for lunch having been walking for around 3 hours now.
Suitably refreshed we headed up the final ascent of Haystacks.
Perhaps the popularity of this fell and what it means to walkers mean the paths are very clear and well looked after. A credit to those who do these things on our behalf.
And finally we made it. Theo was so pleased and proud to have reached the summit of this iconic mountain and I was also chuffed that as I hit 80 fells, I had hit that mark on a fell I had been desperate to do for many months.
The views on a day like today are magnificent.
Having completed 3 fells in the day we decided to retrace our steps back towards Honister. This meant a bit of up and down again back to where we had joined the path on our way down from Brandreth and then we saw we were going to have to drop down a bit before a final climb back up.
To be honest this was the worst part of the day for me. The drop seemed to be bigger and the ascent higher as we got closer and so we (well I) plodded slowly along the path until we started to climb towards the slate you can see in the photo above.
To the top of the climb there is a mine building which is lovely in its own way.
Then you follow the old mine road before rejoining the straight path that takes you back to Honister. We were out for about 5 hours on this walk.
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