Mountains and Butterflies Irton Fell,Whin rigg and Illgill head june 18 th

The weather was looking good, and i had heard the Mountain ringlets had started emerging on Irton fell in Wasdale.  one of , or THE most beautiful valley in the lake district.  tucked away from the main tourist areas and having to drive through the Hardknott and Wrynose passes.  a very long drive for me, in fact allot longer than i expected because the road to the Hardknott was closed due to re surfacing so i ended up having to drive through Langdale,past Blea tarn and then onto the passes road!  Arghhh  

                                                                             Langdale

                                                                              THE sign!

After negotiating the passes without hitting anything!  it was only a few minutes drive to the car park below Irton fell in Eskdale.  a quick walk up through the woods and taking the right hand path that leads on to the fell ,instead of up Irton pike, to where the butterflies should be :)

Looking back the way i have just walked with Irton pike on the right hand side of the image!

And my first view of Wasdale!   WOW!

This is Irton fell , the grassy area should have the ringlets hiding  lol.  this is the lowest altitude that these butterflies are to be found , which means they emerge here first before the other colonies on the higher fells of Grey knott,Kidsty pike ect.  After looking around the lower slopes i had only spotted two tatty specimens, so presumed that the higher slopes up towards Whin Rigg might be a better area to search!

After climbing a little higher i soon found a few ringlets fluttering in the ever increasing breeze!  this was going to make photographing them very difficult, but with views like this, Who cares!   lol

  Finally a Mountain Ringlet shot , not great but nothing i could do with them low down in the grass!!!

turning around , the Isle of Man is clearly visible in the distance:)

Upwards to Whin Rigg now, a nice steady climb while watching flutters :))

                                   This is the area i have found them in !  lower slopes of Whin Rigg

Then as luck would have it! a newly emerged specimen Yay!   it was quite windy now, and bright sun also but managed this image that i am quite happy with :)

after shooting this image i made my way up to the summit of Whin Rigg , there where ringlets everywhere!  amazing to see them all fluttering high up on a mountain! in fact i sat here watching them for about 15 mins :D     this image is looking back from where i have just walked , the path leading onto Irton fell on the right hand side corner.

                         up here near the summit i found this one , quite a good area here for them :)

Wastwater was now in view! with Illgill head straight in front of me which is where i am heading now!

                           After saying Hello to the locals, which is becoming a habit now lol

                                               i shot this closer image looking down Wastwater.

I made my way towards the summit of Illgill head , and this is the view looking towards Yewbarrow, Kirk fell, Great Gable and Lingmel  Amazing views from up here!

Looking from the summit cairn of Illgill Head  , surprisingly there are quite a few ringlets up here between the two summit cairns/shelters :)

What a super day its been up here, think i spent more time watching the butterflies than shooting them!  so enjoyable in these surroundings :))

a long walk back now! over Whin Rigg ,  BUT more good views to shoot :)

one last butterfly pic taken on way back.

As i get back onto Irton fell i turn around and notice how the cloud has been building, WOW! looks amazing!

can just see the summit of Great Gable in the cloud over to the right!

The end of a superb days climbing and Butterflying :))))   a bit different from normal

images shot with canon 5d2, 100mm macroL and 17-40L

Cumbrian Mountains Haystacks & Fleetwith Pike April 15 2012

Sundays trip was Special!  i finally went up to Alfred Wainwrights resting place "Innominate Tarn" just below the summit of Haystacks:)  
This is a long photo blog, loads of images :D
The plan was to look around Grey Knotts area where the Mountain Ringlet butterflies will be in June/July, then cross over to Haystacks and then Fleetwith Pike. a long walk!  lol
I parked at Honister slate mine car park at 9.40am , only a few cars there surprisingly as the weather was looking great!

Wonderful blue sky as i set off up the ziz zag road track on the left :)

 Gaining height rapidly getting a great view back down Honister pass to the mine.

                      The track climbs steeply as you can see , and then levels out  at Drumhouse

At Drumhouse, the path splits left towards Grey Knotts which is one of the "Wainwrights" at 2287ft .  Here is where the Mountain Ringlet butterflies will be found along the north facing slopes of Grey Knott and the surrounding area.  they will emerge in June through early July, cant wait to see them. one of my target species for this year:)  i make my way along this track up onto the slopes of Grey Knott!  a nice steady climb in the warm sun:)

This is hopefully where i will see the Mountain Ringets in a few months time:)

       Now i am on the slopes of Grey Knotts, the views are amazing!!!!!!!!  looking down the Buttermere valley towards Crummock water. i can see Scotland very clearly in the distance.  The piles of stones are called "Cairns" most of the summits have them and also at various other high points:)

        Here i am :) with  Buttermere valley behind! in an area called "piles of stones" 

                                             traces of snow still on "pillar" in the background.

        Another shot with frozen pools in foreground, still very cold up here, no sign of any butterflies :(

Now from higher up on Grey Knotts, from one of cairns !  What a view!

 

Now i turn down to head towards Haystacks another of the "Wainwrights" at 1959ft ,the dark peak in deep shade on the left in the previous image.  down the steep valley with Blackbeck tarn just to the right of Haystacks .

                  I get a superb panorama view of the Ennerdale/Buttermere valleys   View Large

Getting past the bottom of the valley, across a few small streams and a lot of boggy ground!   think i missed the path actually ! lol,    to the left of Blackbeck tarn and start climbing up towards Haystacks i came across a small tarn.

          I soon came to an amazing view across to "pillar" on the left ,  and looking down Ennerdale water with High Stile and Buttermere on the right View Large

Its 11.45 am , At last i come to AWs resting place "Innominate Tarn"  so special to be here at last!!!!  sitting here in silence eating lunch with just 2 ducks for company :)))) 

I now make the short climb up to the summit cairns of Haystacks!  before i get there i shot this image looking down Ennerdale valley .

 amazing views yet again from all 3 summits, hard to tell actually how many summits there are!  its so hummocky!

                                                                           View Large

That was Haystacks, really loved being up there! , now off towards Fleetwith pike next , another of the "Wainwrights" at 2126ft , but down to Blackbeck tarn first  with a superb view down Buttermere valley before i get to the tarn.

                                            Blackbeck tarn NOT exactly a pretty tarn is it?   lol

I made my way down the valley following my viewranger app on phone,  the path i wanted to take up towards Fleetwith Pike was not very clear!!!!!!!!   i came to Dubbs quarry with its old slate built buildings

   Heading back towards Buttermere valley and then up the hillside to find the path up to Fleetwith Pike.

                      Eventually i found my way up the slopes of Fleetwith :)  the summit in sight :)

                         And the classic view down Buttermere valley from the summit cairn:)))
                                             Pity its clouded over now down the bottom end:(

Must say Fleetwith Pike was a little disappointing after Haystacks:(   a bit boring actually :D

The path back towards the mines was fairly straight forward,and another small tarn !

a mountain shot on the way back towards Honister pass

                                               the way down through the slate Monuments  :))))

      and looking back up the steep track i have just struggled to come down without slipping!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A train waiting for me at the bottom:D

 

The end of an amazing walk with views to die for!!!!!!!!!!!!

acording to viewranger , 8.30 miles, 5 hrs 28 mins,total height gained 3,353 ft

all images shot canon 5d2 and 17-40L