It's been a fortnight since I was last on the fells which I can put down to work followed by a weak forecast, on any other given day I'd have taken the bad weather and planned around it but I thought it was best to put some hours in website preparation ready for when I start my Birketts which should hopefully be within the next two weeks and I guess my time away only made me more eager to get back, being away from the fells kinda works on both levels.

In the back end of December good friend, climber and fell walker Ian Sharples suggested it was about time we did another walk together and my reply was to arrange one on my first free Saturday in January. That Saturday came but the forecast wasn't too great if I remember correctly and we put the walk off for a better forecast, with personal commitments finding a Saturday which suited us both was becoming harder and harder until Ian suggested we widen availability by arranging a walk on a Friday/Saturday that way we at least had a couple of days to choose from.

I wrangled a Holiday of with work and the forecast stayed true throughout the week and by Wednesday evening we were texting each other on where we should walk, I suggested Red Pike to Haystacks simply because it's a walk I haven't done for two years (how time flies) and Ian replied with "sounds perfect Paul"

After two years away, today we had a lot of catching up to do, both on and off the fell.

With valley temperatures hovering around zero care had to taken whilst driving over Newlands Pass where on previous occasions at this time of year I've been forced to turn around due to ice, this morning we made the decision to risk it due to this weeks lack of rainfall, our risk paid off only encountering sporadic ice patches mostly on the Buttermere side of the pass which was avoidable with care. We arrived at the parking spaces close to Buttermere Church earlier than expected soon feeling a brisk chill whilst kitting up behind the car, it was no surprise with this arctic chill being all over the news lately but that doesn't stop that sudden shock you feel after leaving the comforts of a warm car.

From the bottom of the pass we had a clear view over the ridge and the winter condition it was in, any snow that was left was left was NE facing at around 2,100ft, it appeared from the valley as no threat and we made the decision not to pack ice axes. I was amazed to see that Ian had brought along his Karrimor pack which he used on our last few walks some years ago, I couldn't believe when Ian told me that his pack was 37 years old and despite the odd repair, was still going strong, back then Paul Ian said, Karrimor lead the way in mountaineering packs before reinventing themselves again with a wider range of outdoor gear over the last ten years.

Before we officially begin the walk I asked Ian would he mind we pay a quick visit to St James Church if only to view the Shepherds Gate found at the entrance.

We left the Church behind before making our way through the village still catching up whilst at the same time silently taking in our surroundings. I still can't believe it had been so long since my last visit and if truth be known I'm sure we would have liked to have spent more time just soaking up the views, they sure deserved it. We arrived at the lake to find the sun rising in the southern sky which created a vivid profile on Fleetwith Pike, a scene I've seen many times in the February so much so I used to plan my walks at this time of year just to get this view. We wondered down to the shale beach and took a few moments to take in the view accompanied by the sound of Sourmilk Gill in the distance.

The feeling of missing this place was starting to close and it didn't take long not to feel like a visitor anymore.

With Old Burtness Wood now behind the gradient eases slightly once a wooden gate is passed before taking on a stone path towards Bleaberry Tarn. Soon the tops of the trees are left below revealing clear views over towards the bulk of the Grasmoor fells which looked splendid in the clear morning light, this wasn't the case further east towards the Helvellyn Ridge whose summits are all below cloud.

It would seem we chose wisely with our fell choice and location today.

We encountered sporadic, unavoidable patches of hard snow and ice at around 1,700ft just prior to reaching top of Sourmilk Gill, it was here care had to be taken no matter how small the snow patch, mainly because of how hard and compact the snow was. Earlier we were caught up by a solo walker who we got chatting to who was making his way to Great Borne which was a great alternative to the section of the ride we'll be traversing today. From the tarn we watched the chap gain Dodd first before heading towards Red Pike summit.

The corrie around Bleaberry Tarn has two distinctive gullies split by Chapel Crags, these gullies were full of snow and would have been a great alternative ascent had we bothered to bring our ice axes, I won't say we wasn't slightly disappointed but hey-ho never mind.

That's our path from the bottom right to top left, it's pretty steep and steady and by the looks of it we'll soon be climbing into bright sunlight.

You get this grand view of Red Pike just below the summit of High Stile which shows why muscles are starting to ache while over on the left, Chapel Crags seen with the snow filled gully in the foreground.

Not far from the summit now.

The descent of Gamlin End was quite tricky due to the amount of snow and ice build up especially around the mid section of the path below the zigzags, at times we gained a cautious trot before being forced off the path due to hard snow and ice, all of which was easily avoided by taking a wide berth and soon we were looking back up at one of Lakelands steepest ascents!

There isn't many that comes close to Gamlin End.

We found the path quite tricky in places and care had to be taken due to ice all of which was avoidable before the Bothy roof was sighted within the shadow of Haystacks NE face. The sun had peaked and had vanished behind Haystacks leaving the east side of the valley in shadow and we soon started to feel the pinch once again.

Ian wanted to see the new Chimney that had been installed after the previous one by all accounts, let the smoke back in. We heard voices coming from inside but went in anyway finding two young lads along with a Labrador. They were chatty and we shared a laugh later finding out that they had both forgotten thier maps meaning their oringinal route from Wasdale Head (I think) had to be shelvled in favour of a simpler route from Honister Slate Mine, they admitted they now found themsleves with a lot more time to kill than they had planned for.

There was only one way we were going to reach Buttermere by and that was via the east lake path which provided these fabulous views back into Warnscale and of course, Fleetwith Pike and Haystacks. The path was understandably busy with dog walkers and couples all out enjoying the fantastic views despite a sudden drop of light due to cloud cover. Waves licked at the shoreline brought on by sometimes sudden gusts that howled down the lake, gloves had previously been removed and hadn't they have already been packed away we may have been reaching for them if only to take out the nip.

Wilkinsyke Farm was reached as we watched the farmer load hay with his tractor accompanied by the smell of farmyard swill as Ian smirks and says" bloody hell there's still that steep bit next to the Church before we get back to the car "aye that's Buttermere's own 'Bad Step" I thowt.