Fairfield, Great Rigg & Heron Pike

Fairfield, Great Rigg & Heron Pike - Thursday 28 December 2017

Route

Parking

Mileage

Terrain

Weather

Time Taken

Total Ascent

Wainwrights

Map

Traveller's Rest - Hause Moss - Grisedale Hause - Fairfield - Great Rigg - Heron Pike - Greenhead Gill - Traveller's Rest

The Traveller's Rest Pub Car Park on the A1591 - Grid Ref NY336089

(Please discuss parking with the pub staff - they are happy for you to use the Car Park as long as you visit the pub on completion of your walk).

7.6 miles

Good mountain paths for the most part. Sections of the route were icy underfoot therefore care needed to be taken. The ascent to Fairfield from Grisedale Hause and along the summit ridge to Heron Pike was covered in snow. The path marked on the OS Map from Heron Pike down to Greenhead Gill is extremely vague and could not be located in snowy conditions. As to whether the path actually exists is another matter.

It should be noted that the summit of Fairfield is extremely confusing in mist.

Bitterly cold and sunny with light breezes on the summit ridge. Visibility was excellent.

7hrs 30mins

3274ft (998m)

3

OL5 - The English Lakes (North Eastern Area)
OL7 - The English Lakes (South Eastern Area)

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Walk Description

Meeting old friends you have not seen for a few years is always a pleasant experience. Sharing a classic walk with them is even better. I had not seen Ian for over 25 years since we served together at HMS Raleigh in the early 90s - he was in the area with his chums from work therefore Angie & I drove out to Grasmere to meet up and walk over Fairfield in the Eastern Fells with him. Today's route would see us depart from The Traveller's Rest at Grasmere and ascend Fairfield via Grisedale Hause - once on the summit the plan was to transit over Great Rigg and either descend via Stone Arthur or carry on a bit further and come down via Heron Pike.

After a fair bit of snow and freezing conditions, the walk today would certainly be a challenge therefore we made sure we had the microspikes packed today but as it happens we did not need them - the terrain was mainly soft snow as the white stuff had not had a chance to compact itself yet. The visibility promised to be very good also as the various weather information sites stated cloud free summits - normally the kiss of death for any walk we have done before with that criteria. Therefore after Bacon Sandwiches & Tea we were off, heading down the A591 in the direction of Grasmere before turning north east to Winterseeds and the delightful path which delivered us to the base of Great Tongue and the meeting of Little & Tongue Gill. There are two options here for Grisedale Hause - either left to follow the path alongside Little Tongue Gill or right to pass above Tongue Gill. Our route today would be to the right, which is another delightful walk that undulates gently before steepening near Hause Moss to finally arrive at Grisedale Hause.

From the Hause the climbing starts with the path heading steeply and zig zagging to reach the summit plateau of Fairfield. The area is littered with cairns & shelters and in mist can be very confusing. Today our route to Great Rigg was clearly evident and we descended on the snowy surface to gain the summit where we continued on to Heron Pike, however there is always the option to return to Grasmere via Stone Arthur. On the summit of Heron Pike we turned west to try and find the path marked on the OS Map which should have taken us to Greenhead Gill - however the path has more than likely gone out of use as for the life of us we could not find it. Instead we made our way down, steeply on occasion to the gill as best we could and followed the path alongside it to eventually reach the A591. A great day out in fantastic conditions - hopefully as the pictures below will show.

With Ian - a good friend and shipmate from my days in the Royal Navy.
Despite us not having seen each other for 25 years it was pleasing to see he had not changed - always got something to eat in his sticky mitt!

Heading out of Grasmere via Winterseeds - Seat Sandal is ahead

Helm Crag

Approaching Great Tongue - Little Tongue Gill descends from the slopes of Seat Sandal.
Ahead at the Foot Bridge there are two options for Grisedale Hause - either go left to follow the path above Little Tongue Gill or right to pass above Tongue Gill.

Looking back towards Grasmere

The Coniston Fells over Silver How

A little further up the view widens to include the Coniston Fells to the left and the Langdale Pikes to the right

The Cascade, Tongue Gill

Nearing Grisedale Hause - it started to get a tad icy here but could be avoided

Gavel Crag on Seat Sandal

Looking across Hause Moss to the western ridge of Fairfield

Seat Sandal from Grisedale Hause

A glorious view of the North Western Fells

Fairfield's ascent in mono from Grisedale Hause

Another view of Seat Sandal from Fairfield's western ridge.
It took an absolute age to ascend the ridge as I had to keep stopping to look at this view