Buttermere to Boot
15 miles, 9 hours (including pub visits)
About the day
The first section of the walk today was along the edge of Buttermere. Once again we had ideal weather. Bright and sunny, with no breeze either so the water was perfectly calm.
The lake looked amazing with reflections mirrored everywhere so it took a while to get to the far end.
At the end of the lake the path turned up hill to climb Scarth Gap Pass. This is also the most direct route up to Hay Stacks and so was quite busy with walkers.
As we neared the top we had a final view back along to Buttermere.
When we reached Scarth Gap, everyone went off in separate directions. Our way was to descend into Ennerdale rather than continue up to any of the nearby summits.
On reaching the valley floor the path briefly joins with the route of the Coast to Coast walk to pass Black Sail Hut Youth Hostel.
Very shortly afterwards we crossed the River Liza and turned to climb up Black Sail Pass.
As we climbed the steep path up, Black Sail Hut shrank behind us to become a little dot in the vastness of Ennerdale. There were wonderful clear views back across to Hay Stacks and Brandreth.
At the top of Black Sail Pass was a very disused stile. After a short rest and a chat with some other walkers we began a long descent into Mosedale.
The descent path started steeply down, then became more gradual. Ahead the steep scree slopes of Yewbarrow dominated the view.
As the path levelled out we reached Gatherstone Head, crossing the beck near a small waterfall.
We took a last look back up Mosedale with Pillar at the end before turning into Wasdale Head.
21) Wasdale Head Inn, Wasdale - 2:10pm
Welcoming bar brewing it's own Great Gable Beers. A few outside tables with good views.
Leaving Wasdale Head the patchy cloud threw shadows across Great Gable.
We passed the head of Wast Water then followed a track up on to Eskdale Moor.
From the end of the track a cairned path led us across the open moor towards Burnmoor Tarn. The ground became wetter underfoot as several small streams fed into the tarn. In some of these little fish darted away as we splashed through. We crossed Whillan Beck at Bulatt Bridge.
There was then a long but gentle descent to Eskdale and the village of Boot.
22) Boot Inn, Boot - 5:30pm
A lovely old pub. Staff very welcoming despite being very busy. Lovely garden.
23) Brook House Inn, Boot - 5:45pm
Nice, although we didn't stop for long.
After a brief stop in the two pubs we left the village passing the church. The fells surrounding Eskdale looked lovely as the evening light fell on them.
Our B&B was about a mile further on, at Penny Hill Farm.
For the evening we had one more pub to visit.
24) Woolpack Inn, Boot - 5:30pm
Very quiet. Own brewed beers with unusual taste.
The Woolpack were short staffed, so they wouldn't serve food except to residents. This meant we had to walk back into the main village again where we returned to the Boot Inn for a meal. We weren't disappointed as the menu here was excellent and it was a lovely evening so we sat outside.
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