2020 was quite the year for me, as it was for everyone. I was ‘stuck’ in Cyprus, spending my time scuba diving, rock climbing and being stuck in the occasional lockdown. I managed to get some posts in and videos onto YouTube, but the lack of travel somewhat limits adventure. What’s Frontpacking Adventures without the latter?!
2021 and I got back to the UK. Restrictions were still in force, but the slight easing has meant that I can start adventuring once again. The first of these adventures is making a start on something I’ve wanted to start for a while now; the Wainwrights.
Nestled on the coast of Ullswater in the Lake District is the quiet town of Glenridding. There are a few hotels, a pub, outdoor shops and lakeside access for boating, swimming or just some scenic walks. Any form of ‘normal’ civilisation is miles away; it took us an hour round trip for some night time pizza! If you come fully prepared, however, Glenridding is an ideal location for a break away. As much as we would have loved to relax and enjoy the lake, we were here for a hiking trip!
Raise to the Ski Slopes
Our first day started after some cereal, with the aim to be back at camp before the forecast rain! We intended to take on Helvellyn via Striding Edge. However, looking at the low cloud forecast, we switched to take on some lower peaks.
We started off by heading up a steep ascent to Glenridding Dodd overlooking Ullswater. It was a tough way to start the day, particularly as we hadn’t really done much hill hiking together beforehand. Nonetheless, we took some suitable breaks along the way and successfully made it up our first Wainwright! From here it was an interesting clamber along a ridge, past Heron Pike and began a further ascent. In the morning weather check, the cloud base was forecast to be between 600 and 700 metres. Low and behold, as we climbed towards the summit of Sheffield Pike, we starting coming into cloud at just over 650m. Who’d have thought the weather forecast would be so accurate?
With two peaks already out the way, it was time for an early lunch break. We came off the summit and took refuge from the wind behind a large rock. Despite the low cloud, we actually got some great views over the valley!
Afternoon Scenes
After lunch we continued on our route, heading downhill before clambering up another (a pretty common theme throughout the trip…) as we ascended back into cloud onto Stybarrow Dodd. Here we were surrounded by sheep for the first time and they seemed somewhat offended that we were passing through their land when visibility was less than 50m! While not being able to see much, I thought it would be a good time to freshen up some compass skills. I taught my partner how to take bearings and follow them, and she had a go navigating us South towards the next summit, which would be the highest point scaled that day.
The cloud began to disperse as we climbed and visibility even improved. We passed the ski tow on the way up Raise as during the winter months when the mountain is covered in snow, people take to the hills for some winter sports. We were even able to spot the ski hut as we made our way up. After a quick photo, we quickly made our way along to the final summit of the day, conscious of the forecast showers looming ever closing. White Side was the last Wainwright of the day and we began the long trek back to the campsite.
The descent was difficult; a long zig-zag took its toll on our knees (I’m not that old, but a history of some knee issues prevail). It was quite a walk back to the site, but thankfully the weather forecasters were wrong and we weren’t caught in any rain.
Gillside Campsite
Considering our visit to Glenridding was split over multiple days, we obviously had to find somewhere to stay. After looking through a few reviews, it was a bit of a no brainer with Gillside being top of most lists. The campsite is great value for money; situated on a farm, with a cute little stream and fantastic views of the surrounding peaks, it’s a beautiful site to spend an evening.
Helvellyn Ascent
Come our second day of walking we were warmed up and ready to attempt the largest peak of the area; Helvellyn. I wanted to put a plan together that saw us take in a few more peaks than just this one. Ultimately I pieced together an 18km route which we set off on from the campsite, pretty early in the morning.
The initial ascent was on the well marked and trodden route towards Helvellyn. There were many people along these paths, heading up a more relaxed incline compared to yesterday’s route! The weather was, however, much hotter, so we still had to take a couple of breaks to grab some water and shade wherever possible. As we approached Striding Edge, we took a small diversion up onto Birkhouse Moor. This peak was nothing noteworthy, but considering it was 100m off our path, we ticked it off.
As we continued, we had the peak of Helvellyn looming over Red Tarn ahead of us. Before we scaled the summit, we traversed across the famous Striding Edge. This for us was the highlight of not only the day, but the whole trip! It’s a proper Grade 1 scramble and was great fun to manoeuvre across, picking the most suitable route. We were rewarded at the end by stunning views from atop Helvellyn, where we stopped for a while for lunch.
Homeward Bound
From atop Helvellyn we made our way South along the Ridgeline, with glorious views back over Striding Edge. With relative ease we took on both Nethermost and Dollywagon Pikes, a stretch that culminated with us overlooking Grisedale Tarn. The descent down to the tarn was quite taxing on the knees, so we took it steady. As we got to the bottom, it was time to ascend again; we took a ‘goat path’ (it wasn’t even a footpath) up St Sunday Crag which was a challenging climb as the day neared its end. On the way back to the campsite we rounded off with the Birds, possibly the most pointless of the Wainwrights!
These couple of days ticked off 11 of the Wainwrights. My new mission is to start bagging all 214 fells from Alfred Wainwright’s Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells. While not the most original of challenges, it gives me a sort of purpose and goal for some of my mountaineering adventures! Watch this space for some more Lakeland breaks.