First stop the Honister Pass.

Ive driven past this little tree loads of times and never managed to make an image including it. Today was quiet so I stopped and got it.

The High Fells above Buttermere

Route to Haystacks

This image would make a complimentary print to my Haystacks print here.

St. James’ Church Buttermere

A herd wick coming down the steps form St James’ Church

A Herdwick blowing a Kiss?

Shy Herdwick

Approaching Crummock Water

Red Pike over Buttermere

Trees over Loweswater

Time to turn back now. Its easy to keep going…

Over by Ullswater now.

Wall Holm Island through the trees.

Norfolk Island

Amazing autumn colours around this part of Ullswater.

A great day touring around the Lake District. So many beautiful places in such a compact area. If you have the energy you could certainly visit every main body of water in one day.

Prints form various locations across the Lake District are available here in my online Gallery.

Castle Crag over Derwentwater with the Keswick Launch in the foreground.

Approaching Derwentwater.

Amazing Autumnal Reflections.

With a little boost to the colours in post processing this scene really pops with vibrant Autumnal colours.

Great Autumnal colours over Derwentwater through the trees.

End of the Road.

 Honister Pass was closed at the Slate Mine. I wasn’t risking it. Here’s the view into Honister from the Slate Mine Car Park. I’d of loved to make it to Buttermere today. Shame.

The Honister Pass in snow.

Ashness Jetty with a Snow Skiddaw in the distance over Derwentwater.

Skiddaw over Derwentwater.

Skiddaw under Snow.

You can see my collection of Lake District Landscape Prints from The Borrowdale Valley here in my gallery.

A great start to the day

Lewis waving at one of the competitors. At first I thought it was simply a one off sighting, out for a drive…

Then another and another…

Heading towards Buttermere.

High Crag above Buttermere in the distance.

Haystacks

Lewis pushing the boundaries of staying dry.

The beautiful shaped Haystacks. Check out my popular print of this iconic Lake District Fell.

Here they come. Could be the 1930’s

A 1937 Austin 7 followed by a 1921 GN ANZANI.

High Crag above Buttermere. To think I walked up here including Haystacks and the entire High Stile ridge some years ago seems so far away now. Still, I am working hard everyday to get back to that.

Combe Crags

Combe Beck

Walkers up high.

The Char Hut over Buttermere

Hello 1929 Austin 7 Chummy

A quick Lunch stop in Buttermere and we decide to head back up to Honister and see what’s going on at the Honister stage of today’s Vintage rally.

Looks like a tight squeeze in their 1934 Austin 7 RP Box Saloon.

Reminds you just how far Cars have come.

Looking up the section

Just past the start line.

Cars coming up Honister Pass.

A rather relaxing 1930 Austin Ulster heading to the start line

Some of the cars we saw didn’t make it all the way up the steep section.

A 1927 Singer Junior

A 1930 Austin 7

A 1935 Austin 7

Looking over the Honister Pass to more mine workings.

Zooming in on the Start line.

An Alfa Romeo

Charlotte Holden in a 1930 Austin 7 Gordon England Cup. Go on girl.

Yes, she made it.

A family day out in a 1914/1920 Vauxhall A Type.

A 1935 Austin 7.

A 1921 For T Special motoring up the section.

Having some assistance with braking coming back down the course.

A fine looking 1937 Austin 7 Special

A 1914/1920 Vauxhall A Type.

Lewis Spectating.

The final checkpoint on this stage of the Rally. Congratulations to all those that made it this far. Even on foot Lewis.

Intersting mine workings on the Fell side.

Nice patches of Light appearing as the sun sets behind us.

Herdwicks Spectating

What a great coat this little one had.

A Herdwick taking it easy.

A 1927 Austin 7 coming up…

Going down…

A procession of cars heading back down the mountain. A 1929 Austin 7 Ulster, A 1929 Ausin 7 and a 1930 Austin 7 Sports.

A 1930 Ford Model A Tudor

Light on the Fells opposite.

Heading Home.

We chatted to this lovely lady further down the track…

Car 172 owned by Don Skelton and his wife who featured in the previous image.

Checking out the horn.

Lewis was kindly invited to sit in Don’s car. He loved it. I was a little jealous.

Can we get one Dad?

Don Kindly offered to give Lewis a ride back down the Mountain….

Lucky Boy

More competitors still arriving. A 1929 Chrysler

Getting the weight over the back wheels helping with traction.

Adjusting tire pressures at the start line.

All the mod cons.

Back at the Car Park. A big thank you to Don for kindly taking Lewis for a ride in his 1930 Austin 7 Sports.

Where to next…

Another fantastic day out at Honister. Such a great setting for this event which has been running here at Honister since the first Lakeland Trial in 1969. I’m really pleased we happened to fall upon it. I’ll make sure I attend intentionally next year. You can find out more about The Vintage Sports Car Club and the Lakeland Trial here. Also you can see more of my Landscape Photography Prints from this beautiful part of the Lake District here in my online gallery.

7 years earlier I walked my biggest Lake District Fell walk, starting at Buttermere and climbing, Haystacks, descending and then heading back up High Crag, High Stile and Red Pike because I didn’t want to go home. It was an amazing day and the day I created on of my most popular prints. The Retreat. I had been planning to make a return to the Retreat and take a new version of that shot, however with Chronic fatigue Syndrome it is a total lottery as to when and how much energy I have these days. We made 2 visits to Honister earlier with the intention of doing this walk but by the time I got to the start of the walk I didn’t have the energy to start it. There is no way Im putting myself or my family at risk by collapsing in the middle of nowhere, its just not going to happen. I find with my condition within a very short space of time I can lose all my energy and be numb. Unable to feel my limbs , with the worst head and neck ache imaginable. I can’t push through it, once it sets in, that’s it, useless for hours, days or even a week. It’s a cruel condition and one that severely restricts activities I previously took fro granted such as walking in the Lake District but also menial day to day tasks. So I had to be confident and also have a way out.

I planned to take it really easy and not be afraid to quit. I broke the walk up into sections with rest stops to refuel and take a break, in the guide book I referred to the walk was suggested to take 1.5hrs from Honister to the Summit of Haystacks. Allowing for some time at the Summit that would be a 4 hour walk maximum. It took over 8 hours. We did it though and it felt great, yes I paid for it for a week or so afterwards but the photos I captured and the memories made will last a lifetime. I hope you enjoy these images.

The crystal clear water crossing the paths on the route up Haystacks.

Down Warnscale to Buttermere.

Simply stunning.

From left to right. Green Crag, Haystacks, High Crag, Buttermere and Fleetwith Pike.

I love this view.

Later in the Summer the foreground will be covered in purple heather.

When the Heather is in full bloom this would make a nice image.

Looking down to Buttermere.

Last time I was up here I started from the farm in the distance and walked to path, crossed the river and climbed up here. Click here to see details of that walk.

Great Gable. I climbed up there a few years back.

Great Gable at the head of the Ennerdale valley, Innominate Tarn in the foreground.

Fantastic.

Approaching the summit of Haystacks.

Feels like your flying stood here on the summit, it is such a great feeling to be high on the fells again.

Great Gable form the Summit of Haystacks.

Great Gable and Pillar over the Ennerdale Valley.

The light is getting better as we turn and head for home.

Green Gable on the left leading up to Great Gable.

Buttermere and Crummock Water in the distance.

My first visit to the Retreat in 7 years. Looks like I’m not alone.

Great to see the old building still standing.

These guys were staying the night.

The fence posts caught my eye.

This is the best time to be out, the Golden hour, the light on nights like this is superb.

Here are some iPhone photos from the walk

The Honister Bus taking visitors to the Mine.

Doing well so far boys…

Lewis, he’s done well for a 4 year old.

Thomas, he did well for a 9 year old.

On the way home I stopped at Ashiness Jetty on Derwentwater.

Follow this link if you’d like to see my current collection of prints from Buttermere and Haystacks.