Walking Forum
Regions - Trip reports, destination advice, recommended routes, etc. => Lake District => Topic started by: April on 07:07:17, 17/07/14
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I was asked this by Jim (alreet hinny?) and Ridge on another thread last night.
Best AW for me is Blencathra. I love it to look at and to go up it, Halls Fell, Doddick Fell, Gategill Fell, Sharp Edge are all super routes. I hope the new owners treat it well.
Worst AW for me is Little Mell Fell. It is so boring doing it, just up and down in 30 minutes and so far away from other fells and lots of road walking for those with no car.
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Sorry. I have to ask. What's an AW?
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Sorry. I have to ask. What's an AW?
I'm guessing Alfred Wainwright.
Rob.
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I was asked this by Jim (alreet hinny?) and Ridge on another thread last night.
Best AW for me is Blencathra. I love it to look at and to go up it, Halls Fell, Doddick Fell, Gategill Fell, Sharp Edge are all super routes. I hope the new owners treat it well.
Worst AW for me is Little Mell Fell. It is so boring doing it, just up and down in 30 minutes and so far away from other fells and lots of road walking for those with no car.
I'm going to have to agree on both counts ;D
Though I've only done 17 :-[ so the odds were not that remote.
Been up Blencathra 3 times. Got to say that Sharp Edge contributes a lot towards my choice being the challenge that it was to finally get across it.
It's also the first big mountain I see every time I visit the Lakes and always gets the pulse racing.
I've camped a couple of times at "The Quiet Site" (nice campsite) at the foot of little mell fell.
Did a walk right round the fell the first time I was there in 2010. It's quite a short sharp pull onto the top but the rest of the walk was pretty uninspiring, save for the nice views at the top.
Favourite - Blencathra (runner up possibly Catstye Cam)
Worst - Little Mell Fell
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Worst AW for me is Little Mell Fell. It is so boring doing it, just up and down in 30 minutes and so far away from other fells and lots of road walking for those with no car.
I assumed we would all vote for Mungrisedale Common as the worst, it really is hardly a separate hill at all. I've not walked either of the Mell Fells but I do have a soft spot for them as they are the first Wainwrights you pass as you drive down Route 66.
Favourite is too hard a question, Blencathra is a good suggestion, Helvellyn may be too obvious. I thought I would decide while I typed my answer but I still don't know.
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Favourite I'm not sure about but am tempted to say Crinkle Crags although the last time I was up there the weather was bloody terrible and it wasn't a great experience.
Least favourite? I suspect I've got quite a few candidates left - I've yet to tackle Little Mell Fell and most of the more isolated tiddlers. A new one for me last weekend was Sour Howes, that was pretty dull despite the views of Windermere.
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Sorry. I have to ask. What's an AW?
Sorry! I'm too lazy to write Wainwright so I always use AW.
Ridge I did think about Mungrisdale Common but decided the routes to get there made up for the dullness of the top and I do like the Cloven Stone too. :)
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Out of the 46 ive done so far Skiddaw Little Man for the views over the entire ranges and Sharp Edge for the buzz and the worse because it is so boring is Binsey a straight line up and back down. :)
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MINE TOSS UP BETWEEN CARROCK FELL & PILLAR . LEAST ONE BE BINSEY PROBABLY BECAUSE ITS OUT OF THE WAY JIM O0
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Least fave - Mungrisdale Common or Ullscarf.
Favourite - Langdale Pikes - probably Pavey Ark (I just love Stickle Tarn) and Pillar because I love Black Sali Pass.
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My criteria for choosing a fave AW is how many sporting days out I have had on any single hill, and the winner by a mile is Scafell.
It’s got hundreds of different routes up it ranging from easy walks thro to the hardest rock climbs it’s got a magical and often tragic well documented history going back to 1802.
It has one of the most recognisable skylines in the UK even the easiest way up is a challenging walk and its got my fave high level camping spot in the Lakes.
In Brackenclose at its foot it has the best climbing hut in the UK, sitting on the porch sipping G&T's watching the sun set over Wastwater has to be my fave view ever.
I have had dozens of fantastic days out summer and winter on this hill over the years.
As for my least fave AW’s I believe that the old man realised he probably had only got enough top quality material for 3 maybe 4 books so he had to find a lot of fillers in to make up 6 books. Therefore there are a lot of very average and as some of you have said boring hillocks in the 214.
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As for my least fave AW’s I believe that the old man realised he probably had only got enough top quality material for 3 maybe 4 books so he had to find a lot of fillers in to make up 6 books. Therefore there are a lot of very average and as some of you have said boring hillocks in the 214.
MWM, what is your reason for this belief? He was always planning to write 7 books even before he knew if they would get published, it is not like he expanded the Pictorial Guide series to cash in on his popularity. If it is true there is even more padding than you imagine as he made them up to 7 books.
Some books he did later, on the other hand, were probably not his best ideas.
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Best is Blencathra love it, been up many times in many types of weather and by many routes...
worst is Skiddaw...BORING!!!!
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I think i'd have to say best would be Pavey Ark via Jacks Rake just for the buzz,would i do it again tho....not to sure lol.not to sure as to the worst yet but having just done Skiddaw myself i did find it a bit uneventful apart from in the words of AW himself "a raging toothache"
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Last time I was in Langdale the queue to go up Jakes rake was similar to the one outside of Next on Boxing day, so I swerved it.
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Shhhh don't tell anyone BUT If you get to the bottom of Jacks Rake and find a queue a good alternative is the East Gully this is the climbers descent and almost as good as the rake.
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Done it, nice and quiet, I usually look for my own routes skirting around those which are busy and noisy. I love the northern fells for that very reason, a lot hit the hills around the southern end...and stay there, or so it seems to me O0 .
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I haven't climbed that many compared to some, but has to be Catbells :)
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A tough question!!
Favourite - Pillar via Gatherstone Head and Looking Stead
Least - Raven Crag, the ascent is now a right mess.
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AW himself says Armboth Fell isn't worth climbing and High Tove doesn't rate much higher in his estimation. On the strength of that non-recommendation, I don't suppose many people have been up them.
Thunacar Knot is something of a non-event, barely worth the easy half mile walk from Pavey Ark. Why on earth did he include such a minor height?
I always think AW reserves his best turns of phrase for spots he doesn't like.
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I don't think I could pick just one. Steeple springs to mind, and I like the ridge between Ladyside Pike > Hopegill Head > Whiteside. Not a summit, but I love upper Eskdale around Great Moss. It's like a little lost world, high up, but nestled in between all the biggest fells, and the walk in from Brotherilkeld is lovely, past all the rockpools. Some humble fells with great views are:
Castle Crag: Borrowdale.
Raven Crag: Thirlmere.
Keldas: Ullswater.
Border End: Upper Eskdale.
Yewbarrow: Wasdale Head.
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I don't think I could pick just one. Steeple springs to mind, and I like the ridge between Ladyside Pike > Hopegill Head > Whiteside. Not a summit, but I love upper Eskdale around Great Moss. It's like a little lost world, high up, but nestled in between all the biggest fells, and the walk in from Brotherilkeld is lovely, past all the rockpools. Some humble fells with great views are:
Castle Crag: Borrowdale.
Raven Crag: Thirlmere.
Keldas: Ullswater.
Border End: Upper Eskdale.
Yewbarrow: Wasdale Head.
That ridge is great^^^^
Out of the 150 I've done my favourite has to be Mellbreak - the views from Loweswater side are awesome and it's a great little climb from that side too, also the view from the Kirkstile Inn beer garden. Honorable mentions to Blencathra, Sheffield Pike, Binsey and Low Fell for a variety of reasons.
As for a worst, cant' really say I enjoyed Sour Howes or Sallows and have visited them twice
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i've only done about 35 so far...
Best: Great gable for the views down from Westmorland Cairn
Worst: Skiddaw soooo dull
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My favourite is probably Coniston old man. Plenty of exploring to be had and loads of options for bigger walks around. I like Grisedale pike too!
Least fave? Hmmmm... Grey knott maybe?
Sallows? Mungrisdale common. Broom! That's a pointless fell if ever there was one.
We should remember that the books were meant to be guides not a list of his favourites. Some of the hills are in cos he's telling us not to bother with them...
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At this moment in time I don't think I've got a favourite but one of the best walks we did took in quite a few all in one day.
We did the Newlands Horseshoe one hot, sunny, summers day and it was the most fantastic walks, and at that time one of the hardest in the UK, that we had done. The views were out of this word and after starting in Little Town, in order we went up Robinson, Dale Head, High Spy, Maiden Moor over towards Catbells, then back down to Little Town.
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Really difficult to have a favourite. It depends on the circumstances: weather, company, route etc. And some have specific treasured memories like the first one you went up with your kids or the last one with your dog. So I have lots of favourites.
But on the negative side Armboth Fell/High Tove area is a total waste of what could have been a wonderfully situated central range of proper fells instead of a dull boggy midge fest. And its hard to tell when you have got to the top.
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Im having great difficulty answering the question. Blencathra? Yes but what about Great Gable from Gatesgarth? And Helvellyn? The Langdale Pikes too. and...and...and I've had the best times around Langdale but that's as much as the people I went with and the evenings in the pub. I have to vote for Langdale but there's lots of good stuff up in Borrowdale too. And some of the lesser fells are amazing.
My only gripe about AW is that he focuses too much on mountain tops. Some of the walks up and down those valleys are every bit as interesting.
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worst glamara... up down up down
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Only on 61, but favourite so far is Barrow as a less obvious alternative to Blencathra or Louighrigg Fell, both of which I enjoyed just as much.
Least favourite, Mungrisedale Common instantly comes to mind. A less obvious mention to Maiden Moor, just for the fact I was suffering dreadfully from hay fever when I passed over at the end of a long day on the way to Cat Bells back in Easter.
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Out of the 46 ive done so far Skiddaw Little Man for the views over the entire ranges and Sharp Edge for the buzz and the worse because it is so boring is Binsey a straight line up and back down. :)
Well after completing all 214 i thought it was time to update my post on this.
Lets start with the least favourite which by a clear mile has to be Mungrisdale Common, I am sure AW put it in for a laugh just so people will walk to it and back ;D
It is hard to choose just one favourite with so many great ones to choose from but there is one that has stuck with me in my memories and one i cant wait to go back and revisit. It awaked a craving for the fells and mountains of the Lake District when i stood on its summit back in October 2013 and ultimately brought me to this point in time. It has been the source of insperation over the last couple of years as well as a yearning to go back and say hello and thank you for leading me to this point in my life.
High Pike (Caldbeck)
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Wether Hill !!
Most boring lump of nothing I've had the pleasure of walking across :(
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Best for me is Great Gable like to go to the remembrance service The worst on has to be Black Comb so boring
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Favourite is Skiddaw - least favourite was the disappointing bump in the middle of bigger things that was: Arthur's Pike. To be fair, I was told that we were doing High Street on that particular walk, and we did, the path not the mountain, so it was an expectation thing. Hmph! (That's just onomatopoeia before anyone asks :D )
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Shhhh don't tell anyone BUT If you get to the bottom of Jacks Rake and find a queue a good alternative is the East Gully this is the climbers descent and almost as good as the rake.
Certainly one i shall have to try O0
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Is it wrong to have a soft spot for Mungrisdale Common?
Castle Crag is wonderful, despite being the shortest though I don't think it's a favourite. Scafell, now we're talking - that's a proper mountain.
Green Crag seems to linger in the memory as one that wasn't much fun - might just have been because it wasn't a great day overall (leaky boots = wet feet)
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Is it wrong to have a soft spot for Mungrisdale Common?
In a word, 'yes'. As I recall, that slog was among the most boring and pointless couple of miles we've ever walked ;)
Mind you, I find many of Wainwright's grassy knolls distinctly underwhelming when compared with favourites like Bow Fell, Great Gable, Sca Fell, and Pillar. Even with those it's not the actual summits that hold the magic for me - with Pillar it's the route through Green Cove, Hind Cove and Pillar Cove; with Bowfell it's the Climbers Traverse to Bowfell Buttress (and also the Churns, often referred to as Bowfell Links); with Gable it's the various climbers approach paths and the Napes; and with Sca Fell it's the West Wall and Deep Gill
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As I recall, that slog was among the most boring and pointless couple of miles we've ever walked
And wet
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And wet
Was it?
Mind you, I need hardly ask - it's usually raining up there :(
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My best would be Bow Fell, or maybe Blencathra, or actually maybe ... (so many great ones)
Not so many possibilities for worst, but I would have to go for Mungrisdale common - absolutely no idea why he had a chapter on it!
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Having just completed the lot (yes, I know - smug git) I can at last answer the OP's question.
My favourite Wainwright mountains are Bowfell, Gable, Sca Fell and Blencathra in that order.
My least favourite was Mungrisdale Common; and quite a few of the others were so nondescript that I've forgotten them.
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That's a hard call.
I think my absolute favourite has to be Scafell or Bowfell but in the snow and ice and I really don't have a least favourite yet but I guess Bowfell in dry sunny conditions did nothing for me if I really had to choose. Can I do that?
I've never done Blencathra yet, we're doing it the last weekend in July and it seems to be well loved so perhaps it may become a favourite.
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Worst Fell has to be Mungrisedale Common I think... the only feature I found was the Cloven Stone... Other than that an empty bare landscape.
Best is a little harder to choose! It would have to be one of the following:
1. Langdale Pikes
2. Blencathra
3. Great Gable
4. Pillar
5. Yewbarrow
Cant decide which! Just love them all :)
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Have to agree with you on Little Mell Fell, April. Used to stay at the Ullswater Holiday Park when I was young, and ventured up one day. Ventured back down again fairly quickly.
Poor Little Mell Fell; loved by nobody :'(
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i really enjoyed high stile. and i know there will will be controversy over this but my least favorite is ulscarf
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i know there will will be controversy over this but my least favorite is ulscarf
No quibbles from me, we call it Dullscarf