Walk #2 was actually walk 11 from the excellent book Peak Bagging the Wainwrights (https://shop.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/peak-bagging-the-wainwrights/) and was a 5 peak circular on the eastern most part of the lake district.

The starting point was a little turning point called Mardale head at the top most section of the Haweswater Reservoir. This impressive body of water was created from a pre-existing lake back in 1929 and submerged the villages of Measand and Mardale Green in the process. now supplying a quarter of all the water to the north west of the UK, its a vital asset and in times of drought and low water levels, the peaks of some of the old village buildings can be seen

The route starts at a small car park and takes me along the reservoir towards a fir covered peninsular. As i approach this there is a drystone wall heading up the ridge of the hill towards the first peak, a good mile or 2 away. A small trail through the bracken is the only evidence of a path and this quicky turns into a steep trail with occasional scrambles

As I slowly climb more of the walk comes into view and we slowly begin to see a fairly large tarn nestled at the base of High Street and Mardale Ill Bell. This is a very clear tarn and as I wander up the ridge and look down I do wonder at where all that water comes from! Its not that large a catchment area for rain water so there must be some natural streams up there too. The mouth of the tarn has been adapted to control the flow of the water down the valley and with these steep sides I can imaging that in heavy rain the flow could get quite dangerous!

Looking to the south of the valley I can see an amazing track/road which is Gatescarth Pass:

This pass is one of the many unsealed roads within the lakes and whilst access is controlled, it is possible to obtain permits for 4x4 and offroad access should anyone want some fun there. Mountain Bikers are also allowed access all year round and I can’t help but imagine what a rush bombing down there on a bike would be!

As I climbed further up the clouds began to thicken and obscure the Cairn at the top that was my waypoint.

The upper reaches of the path to High Street

After a little scramble and some more epic view I finally reached the Cairn to find that the peak was actually a plain stretching out ahead of me and a short 100m walk further on lead me to a trig point which was the top of High street.

A quick water break and I headed onwards towards Mardale Ill Bell (an odd name for sure!). The path follows a drystone wall and then diverges but is very clearly marked and well maintained. So well maintained that I was past Mardale Ill Bell before I knew it and did not even take a picture! the next objective was Harter Fell and to get there I had a short drop into a small saddle before the climb up to the top of Harter Fell. At this point the Sun was out and the heat began to evaporate the water on the ground, making for some beautiful scenes:

It was here I managed to get some cracking Drone footage too which is hopefully now on YouTube!

After this I began the descent to the top of Gatescarth pass and straight up a boggy slope to Branstree and onwards to Selside Pike.

Apart from some rather different cairns:

and some amaxing views out across the M6 towards the Penines:
There was not much more than a nice gentle walk along boggy paths. I eventually took a left onto the Old Copse Road which took me back down tot he road alongside the reservoir and back to the car.

All in all an excellent 5 peak walk, 5 - 6 hours in length and not too strenuous. Some amazing views though - here are some more to end the blog with: