Church Aisle to Altar

Bright Aisle, mysterious Chancel

Window - Cotswold

Light coming in from an angle, just around the corner...

Lichens and Runes -- Headstone - Cotswolds

Wonderful textures here

Headstones

Three headstones akimbo.

Tombstones -- Cornwell Vicinity

These early headstones have extraordinary textures - and angles.

Adlesthrop Loop -- Cotswolds - Churches

I did an 8 miles loop beginning at Adlesthrop in the Cotswolds with my Cousin Cathy and her husband, Rob. It was an exquisite day and a real "extra" was the find of several 11th century and before churches along the way, in particular in Cornwell and Oddington.

Approaching Rye

It was so overcast I couldn't resist using Levels to lighten it up, but the colors, therefore, are a bit artificial. Years ago, imagine not sheep, but sea!

A Feel for the Local Achitecture: Winchelsea

At least I think this is Winchelsea. It in general was more upscale than the other villages.

Nice House - Westfield

There was a possible pub stop in Westfield, but it opened at noon and we were there at 11:45. I thought this was a tasteful, small house there.

This is our pub stop in Icklesham.

Jane consults with hikers about 5 miles into the hike. (This may be the point at which she and the two split off from our hike.)

House-types on the Way

Beer was made in the original structure. The cylindrical portion contained the hops.

The Cliffs -- Where the Sea Came in the Middle Ages

Looking to the North as we approach the marshes, we can see the cliffs to which the sea came in earlier times.

Through the Marshes To Rye

We approached Rye on this hike across the marshes. The sea level has changed since Roman times and even since the middle ages. This marsh area would have been under water.

Via Cowpasture near Winchelsea

We shared this pasture with the cattle, including a bull, who was otherwise distracted.

The Village of Battle to Rye with the Ramblers

I signed up for a Saturday hike with the Hamstead branch of the Ramblers walking group and joined what turned out to be a joint hike with the South Bank branch. There were about 15 on the 15 mile hike. Clicking on the thumbnail to the left will launch Motionbased's Dashboard of the hike as I experienced it: tracks, average speed, distance, weather conditions, etc.

Sailing Ship at Whitby Harbor

Had to use an autostitch, but still could fit in everything smoothly.

Whitby Harbor

Whitby Harbor includes an old sailing ship, quite photogenic, but hard to get by itself.

Whitby Abbey

Whitby is not quite on the Wainwright Coast to Coast. But it is a part of the Cleveland Way. I walked towards it from Robin Hood's Bay to the Hawsker turnoff.

If I were to have completed the trek on the Cleveland Way to Whitby, I would have been right at the Abbey, a spectacular end to a spectacular walk.

[Photoshop Note: It's relatively easy to use Photoshop's perspective correction tool while cropping. But I've been puzzled about how to correct the elongation that results. My "Aha!" insight was to un-constrain the proportions and resample.]

That Coast to Coast

Wainwright has a small book on the Coast to Coast -- he, of course, is the one who defined it. Go4awalk.com has the GPS waypoints corresponding the the key waypoints Wainwright chose.

The easternmost waypoints were the ones I explored. 191 is the last point where you put your toe in the water next to the Bay hotel in Robin Hood's Bay. The first point is about 168 miles to the west on the Irish Sea at St. Bees. Point 187 is a High Hawsker which is where I got to reversing the points from the toe-dipping. With practice, this is doable. See all of the points here.

Ever present, the sheep. In this instance, from here to the horizon.

Speaking of Color: Here is a Black and White

This has promise as a Palladium Print. (Of Robin Hood's Bay village from the south, a B&W version of the view a couple of postings ago.)

The End of the Wainwright Coast to Coast

The route has you descend into the village and thence to the beach. This is what you see. Turn around and you find The Bay Hotel where you can celebrate your Coast to Coast achievement.

This is a HDR composite from the arrival day which was quite rainy. Still, I couldn't tease more color in!

These are the signature houses that you can see in the previous posting near the surface of the trail. (The descent is quite steep.)

Looking South Over Robin Hood's Bay

This a the view I remember when we stopped briefly here the Christmas of 94. We did not have a chance to go down into the village then. Notice the "Harry Potter" lamppost. It suggest something magical, which Robin Hood's Bay definately is.

Robin Hood's Bay Village From the South

This is from the Cleveland Way (the Cliff Trail) looking back at the village of Robin Hood's Bay.

North Along the Cliffs to Hawsker

Looking north along the coast. The path is part of the Cleveland Way which goes along equally spectacular scenery for over a 100 miles.

(Do you see that gull flying right at the top of the cliff?)

Robin Hood's Bay and to Hawsker

Here's a Google Earth View of my tracks walking the coast in a northerly direction. (It helps to start with overviews, but I'll have some real photos in a minute.)

From Robin Hood's Bay to Hawsker

This hike is from the village of Robin Hood's Bay to a small (very small) village called High Hawsker. I was interested in this hike not only because of the absolutely spectacular coastline to it, but because it overlaps the end of the Wainwright Coast-to-Coast (though in reverse).

The c2c ends at the water (Waypoint 191) in Robin Hood's Bay village. But it comes via Hawsker and the reverse of my route. It doesn't proceed through Whitby but rather from the west. I got a good sense of what it would be like to come into Robin Hood's Bay, but not, of course, the two weeks leading up to that. Figure about 16-18 miles a day. The loop at Robin Hood's Bay was about 10 miles. I added about 4.5 miles on the extension to Hawsker for 14.5 miles. This is "lite" for a typical day on the c2c, so some endurance build-up would be necessary. (Hawsker, by the way, is right in the middle of the map thumbnail. I got a ride from there into Whitby - my lucky day - otherwise it would have been another 4 hard, but spectacular, miles into Whitby, finishing at the Abbey.)

Robin Hood's Bay Walk

The walk starts along the cliffs overlooking Robin Hood's Bay, proceeds to the Southern end of the Bay and up to Ravenscar Hotel. From there the return to Robin Hood's Bay village is along an old rail bed. The Motionbased track information is linked to the thumbnail to the left.

The go4awalk.com has really excellent maps and waypoint sets. Check here for the map on which this walk was based.

The Route from Buttermere to Haystacks and back via Fleetwith Pike

Google Earth does help to visualize the hike - after the fact.

Google Earth versus a Real Photo

It's possible to roughly recreate the same vantage in Google Earth as in a photo. Here is a Google Earth view looking down towards Buttermere from Fleetwith Ridge, and the corresponding photo.

Books and Maps for the Fell Walker

There is something of a cottage industry in A. Wainwrights' books. Here is a local source. And of course Amazon has these too.

A great source for maps and waypoints online is www.go4awalk.com. There is a small fee, but you can get individual maps and waypoints for these maps, including the Coast to Coast walk planned by Wainwright. The book of his that I used was Twelve Favourite Mountains. This featured Haystacks as his favourite. The Coast to Coast in on my list -- I have the waypoints ready for my GPS.

Key Turn: Dubs Quarry to Haystacks Summit Trail

Looking across the valley from Dub Quarry. You can see hikers going to the hill on the far side. Blackbeck Tarn is just over the top.

Looking Across to Haystacks from Fleetwith Pike

Looking down into the Valley from Fleetwith Pike. (We crossed over up the valley near the top of the stream to catch the trail to Haystacks. The "Dubs Quarry" route.)

From near the Bridge Hotel Looking to Fleetwith Pike and Haystacks

There is a very nice flat walk around the lake after the more serious fell-walking. You can see Fleetwith Pike (but not the small white cross that occasioned the ascent up the ridge to the highest point you can see on the peak in the center). To the right you see the "sawtooth" which is Haystacks summit and the place of Innominate Tarn.

More Things Green

Things Green

There is much new growth here now, with grass and moss intensely green.

Looking Up

One can, of course, overdo metaphor in the mountains.

But I love this quote from Wainwright on Scafell Pike (the highest of these fells): "...Scafell's top is a most excellent viewpoint and additionally, a place for reverie, especially when reached from the north, for here there is awareness that one has come at last to the outer edge of the mountains and that, beyond, lie only declining foothills to the sea. Vaguely, in the mind of a fellwalker long past his youth, there arises a feeling of sadness, as though at this point the mountains are behind, in the past, and ahead is a commonplace world, a future in which mountains have no part, his own future...."

Tunnel on the Path back to the Bridge Hotel

There are surprises, even on the level. Remember the light at the end of the tunnel?

Innominate Tarn (again)

Some spots are so photogenic that I use up my flashcard by bracketing each exposure. For my relatively unsophisticated Olympus 350SP, this means three exposures per picture: one at the normal exposure, one over, and one under the normal exposure. Photomatrix Pro puts them together and saves the details in the shadows -- and in the highlights, too. Here is the Photomatrix version of Innominate Tarn. (This is, by the way, where Wainwright had his ashes placed.)

Innominate Tarn

The summit of Haystacks is about a mile long between Blackbeck Tarn and Scarthgap, just below the summit of Haystacks. Just beyond Blackbeck Tarn is Innominate Tarn, wonderfully named. (Does this mean it doesn't have a name or that it cannot have a name?)

On the way...

This is sheep country. Also lambing season.

View Down from Fleetwith Ridge

So we climb up from the white cross. And find we continue to climb up! But this is the view of Buttermere looking back along the ridge.

View from the Bottom

Walking South from Buttermere you see Fleetwith Pike on the left and Haystacks on the right. Fleetwith Pike is a non-intuitive approach to Haystacks, but a lovely one. You see, there was this tiny white cross trail marker which one can see on approaching Feetwith Pike....

View from the Top

Here is the view from Haystacks looking down towards Buttermere (the lake - also a village - but I have in mind the lake). Fleetwith Pike (mountain) is on the right. Climbed up its ridge and looped around clockwise. This image is a panorama of about a dozen individual images put together in autostitch. Don't forget to click on it to download the larger image.

Overview - Haystacks via Fleetwith Pike

On Saturday, May 2nd, the weather cleared and I was able to hike Alfred Wainwright's favorite fell -- Haystacks, which is outside of Buttermere, Cumbria, UK in the Lake District a little north of Wordsworth country. I put new batteries in my GPS so that there is a good track of the entire hike, which was more than 11 miles. If you follow the link from the thumbnail on your left, it will take you to the Motionbased player set. From there you can set the mileage and elevation stats (over 4,000 ft elevation gain) and even "play" the walk in one of the players. (Motionbased favors an SVD player which is typically an Internet Explorer plug-in - but there are players enough for everyone.)