Author Topic: New to long distance and Lake District  (Read 693 times)

Nymeria

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New to long distance and Lake District
« on: 23:22:43, 08/02/18 »
Hi,
 
 Ive not been to the lake district before but am looking to do a 6 day trek there this coming July. My proposed route is:
 
 Ambleside to Coniston
 
 Coniston to Eskdale
 
 Eskdale to Buttermere
 
 Buttermere to Keswick
 
 Keswick to Glenridding
 
 Glenridding to Ambleside
 
 I am hoping that this is a reasonable and relatively straighforward route. I dont mind hard work but my orientiering skills are rather lacking. Any thoughts or suggestions are greatly appreciated.
 
 Thanks
 

April

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Re: New to long distance and Lake District
« Reply #1 on: 08:51:16, 09/02/18 »
I would learn to navigate if you are lacking in skills in that department and have a plan b for each day if the weather is poor. Are you going over the fells or through the valleys?
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Ridge

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Re: New to long distance and Lake District
« Reply #2 on: 08:53:54, 09/02/18 »
Hi and welcome to the forum.


A route between those places is do-able for lots of people, I don't know if it is for you, and you will get to see some lovely areas of the Lakes. You need to do a lot of map studying though to decide where you are actually going to walk.

Lakeland Lorry

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Re: New to long distance and Lake District
« Reply #3 on: 11:56:46, 09/02/18 »
That route looks very similar to the round The Lakes walk that Trial Magazine came up with a couple of years ago.

I did a variation of it, starting and finishing in Keswick.   However, instead of Ambleside I stayed overnight in Grasmere.

Whether you'll be able to do it, without having any navigation skills, is all dependent upon the weather.   Four of us did it the first week in May, a few years ago, and the weather was abysmal.    For 5 of the 6 days we had torrential rain, hail, and very poor visibility.  Fortunately, I can navigate and I know my way around the Lakes quite well, so getting from A to B wasn't a problem for me.   However, the other women I was with, all said that they would have given up on the first day if I hadn't been there.

The first section from Keswick to Glenridding started off fine, with lovely sunshine in Keswick.  However, by the time we got near to the top of Sticks Pass the hail started and the visibility was down to about 10 metres.   We left Glenridding the next day in torrential rain and climbed up towards Grisedale Tarn.   Although the path passes quite close to the massive Grisedale Tarn, we couldn't really see it, the visibility was that bad.   Without knowing the area, and also being able to navigate, we could have very easily wandered off into the completely wrong direction.    The section from Coniston to Eskdale follows the Walna Scar Road, which is a massive wide track and perfectly easy to follow in good weather.  Again though, in bad weather it's amazingly easy to go wrong on it, which really suprised me.  Although I know the route well, the visibility was so bad, that I started to question if I had in fact gone wrong. 

I would say that the section from Eskdale to Buttermere is the hardest part of the whole walk, as you have to go over three big passes.   The weather was really bad on the day that we were meant to do it, so I took the decision to miss out that leg and we caught L'al Ratty from Boot to Ravenglass and made our way to Buttermere by bus instead.   We actually did go back two years later to complete that section but, as luck would have it, the weather was abysmal once again.   

If you are going to do the route, then I would strongly advise you to do a navigation course before you attempt it.   You will also need to check the route closely to work out where it's possible to miss out sections, by catching buses.   

I hope I haven't put the damper on things too much (I feel like I may have though) but it's best to come prepared for all types of weather when you're walking in the Lakes.

gunwharfman

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Re: New to long distance and Lake District
« Reply #4 on: 14:25:54, 09/02/18 »
I've done that Trail Mag walk, enjoyed it a lot. I'm sure I've still got the pullout somewhere in the house. I've often thought of walking the Bob Graham route, just never got around to it.

Lakeland Lorry

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Re: New to long distance and Lake District
« Reply #5 on: 15:45:58, 09/02/18 »
I've done that Trail Mag walk, enjoyed it a lot. I'm sure I've still got the pullout somewhere in the house. I've often thought of walking the Bob Graham route, just never got around to it.

I've been thinking about walking the Bob Graham route too.   I was thinking of splitting it into 5 days, like this:

 Day 1.
 Starts at the Moot Hall in Keswick and ends in Threlkeld.   This leg includes Skiddaw, Great Calva and Blencathra.
 Total 12.5 miles - 2570 feet of ascent

Day 2.

Start at Threlkeld.   This leg takes in the Dodds ridge, including Clough Head, Great Dodd, Watson Dodd, Stybarrow Dodd, Raise, Whiteside, Helvellyn, Nethermost Pike, Dollywagon Pike, Fairfield and Seat Sandal and finishes at Dunmail Raise.   Accommodation in Grasmere.
 Total: 14 miles and 6154 fees of ascent.
Day 3

From Grasmere:   Steel Fell, Calf Crag, High Raise, Sergeant Man, Thunacar Knott, Harrison Stickle, Pike O' Stickle, Rossett Crag, Bowfell, Esk Pike, Great End, Ill Crag, Broad Crag, Scafell Pike and Scafell.   Overnight in Wasdale.   
 Total 17 miles - 6830 feet of ascent.
Day 4.

Yewbarrow, Red Pike, Steeple, Pillar, Kirk Fell, Great Gable, Green Gable, Brandreth, and Grey Knotts.   Finishing at Honister Pass.
 Total distance 12 miles - 6,500 feet of ascent.

Day 5.

Starting at Honister Pass.   Dale Head, Hindscarth and Robinson, then back to the Moot Hall in Keswick.  Haven't worked out the distance or total ascent for this section yet.










pdstsp

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Re: New to long distance and Lake District
« Reply #6 on: 17:40:12, 09/02/18 »
Blimey Lakeland Lorry - all tough days there!!  Are you sure the ascent of 2,570 feet on day 1 is right - looks awfully light to me?


I would imagine that walking the Dodds ridge and then dropping down and then climbing Fairfield and then Seat Sandal has got to be hard work, on the brain as much as anything - I think I would switch off on the descent from Dollywagon and then have to really gird the loins to climb again, particularly when I could just turn right and drop into Grasmere for a pint!








 

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