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| Haystacks Tarn/ Summit Tarn | ||
|---|---|---|
| Type | Areally scoured (glacial) Summit tarn |
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| Max. Length | 15 metres (45 feet) | |
| Max. Width | 4 metres (13 feet) | |
| Max. Depth | ½ metre (1½ feet) | |
| Surface Elevation | 595 metres (1,953 feet) | |
| Access | Footpaths | |
| Topo Map | OL4 Explorer | |
| Coordinates | 54.507463 , -3.2476113 | |
| OS Grid Ref. | NY193131 | |
| what3words | embodied.strapped.aced | |
Haystacks Tarn is a small summit tarn, positioned on the ridge top of Haystacks at an elevation of 595 metres (1,953 feet). It is more of a long and narrow rock pool, with grass fringes set amongst the rocky features of the summit. This tarn is another example of areal scouring, along with Innominate Tarn and Blackbeck Tarn, where the ridge top terrain has been totally overridden with ice, scoured by the flow of ice to form these depressions that hold water.[1] There are also several other tiny bowl-shaped tarns on this summit ridge, none of which are named, but nonetheless, worthy of further investigation should the avid tarn bagger be so inclined. Although we have named it Haystacks Tarn, it is actually unnamed on the Ordnance Survey map of the area. It is also known simply as Summit Tarn, for obvious reasons.
Haystacks sits on the southern aspect at the head of the Buttermere Valley, where there are fine views in every direction, notably of Buttermere, Crummock Water, Ennerdale Water, Great Gable, and its immediate (and higher) neighbours of High Crag and Fleetwith Pike. A direct ascent to Haystacks Tarn is via the Scarth Gap Pass to the west, and Warnscale to the east, encompassing a circular walk from Buttermere. The climbs are steep, rising sharply over a fairly short distance, yet Haystacks is a popular destination in the Buttermere Valley, along with Red Pike and High Stile.
Renowned Cumbrian artist, William Heaton Cooper (1903–1995), author of Tarns of Lakeland, thought highly of this humble tarn:
Here is the delightful surprise of a small and exquisite jewel of a tarn set right in the summit itself. It is a true rock-basin tarn, and the rock in which it sits is lively and interesting in form and structure, an exceptionally good example of curved and parallel strata which suggests the tremendous force that so bent and twisted the crust of the earth. From here the profile of High Crag is seen end-on at its steepest and most dramatic angle.[2]
The Haystacks ridge was a favourite of Alfred Wainwright. At his request his ashes were scattered by the shores of Innominate Tarn further along the ridge.[3]
In the winter this shallow tarn will freeze over quickly.
References
- ↑ Smith, Alan (2014). The Smaller Lakes and Tarns of Lakeland. The Landscapes of Cumbria No.6. Keswick: Rigg Side Publications. p.37.
- ↑ Cooper, W.H. (1960). The Tarns of Lakeland. London: Frederick Warne and Co. Ltd. p.75-76.
- ↑ Blair, Don (2003). Exploring Lakeland Tarns: A Complete Guide. Revised Edition. Keswick: Lakeland Manor Press. p.143.