High Crag - Topography

Topography

The Western Fells occupy a triangular sector of the Lake District, bordered by the River Cocker to the north east and Wasdale to the south east. Westwards the hills diminish toward the coastal plain of Cumberland. At the central hub of the high country are Great Gable and its satellites, while two principal ridges fan out on either flank of Ennerdale, the western fells in effect being a great horseshoe around this long wild valley. The highest section of the northern branch is formed by the trio of Buttermere fells, High Crag, High Stile and Red Pike.

The Buttermere Fells, also known as Buttermere Edge, form the watershed between Buttermere and Upper Ennerdale. The Ennerdale flanks are steep and rough, put with only small areas of crag, the lower slopes being planted with a ribbon of conifers. Across the narrow ridge-top to the north are deep corries and dark walls of crag, glowering down over the lake. The ridge continues south east to Haystacks and the Great Gable group. Beyond Red Pike to the west are Starling Dodd, Great Borne and the Loweswater Fells.

High Crag forms the eastern terminus of the Buttermere Fells, its most arresting feature being the great scree slopes of Gamlin End where the high ground falls away. 700 ft below, the ridge levels out once more and throws up the craggy top of Seat (1,840 ft). A final steep descent then leads to Scarth Gap, a walkers' pass between Buttermere and Ennerdale.

All three Buttermere Fells throw out a rocky spur toward the lake, these walls enclosing Birkness and Bleaberry Combs. Birkness Comb, also called Burtness Comb on Ordnance Survey maps, lies between the truncated and unnamed northern ridges of High Crag and High Stile. Drained into Buttermere by Comb Beck, its headwall is rimmed by crags on all sides. Sheepbone Buttress flanks High Crag, which also has a share in Comb Crags, lining the onward ridge. It is the great scooped hollow of the Comb which results in the narrowness of Buttermere Edge. The northern spur also ends abruptly as High Crag Buttress, a further tier of rock lying just above the lakeshore.