The Coledale classic

Date:

13.12.2012

Characteristic:

Hillwalk

Duration:

5:00h

Distance:

16.0km

© Hannah Vickers Only one day after I thought I'd had the best welcome back to Lakeland, I was treated to yet another cracking day out on the fells with more unbelievably good weather and views which were very pleasing on the eye! There were of course so many of my favourite routes I could have chosen to do, but this hike was a bit closer to the youth hostel I was staying at and quite conveniently had a free parking place at the start of the route. I first did the route 11 years ago and on all occasions I have been back and repeated it, it has never failed to bring a smile to the face even though it isn't much of a strenuous walk. It takes in 6 tops in a 16km circuit around Coledale which lies a few miles outside of Keswick in the northern end of the Lake District. There are several other tops which can be >>>

Coledale half day circuit

Date:

07.08.2011

Buttermere to Keswick

Date:

24.10.2010

This has to be one of my more memorable days of walking in the autumn! After a previous day's soaking in the rain, we were totally inspired by the beautiful route we had planned from the Buttermere youth hostel. So excited about it that I even made the effort to get up specially at 4.00am just so we could be out the hostel and onto the route by 5.00am. That's dedication I can tell you. Anyway, when we left the youth hostel it was pretty chilly, but fortunately the sky was almost crystal clear. The hike up through Burtness wood and following Sour Milk Gill in the dark wasn't my fondest memories of the day, but since we'd been looking forward to seeing a sunrise from the top of Red Pike, it simply had to be done. Unfortunately though, all our efforts weren't rewarded with the amazing sunrise >>>

Braithwaite to Buttermere

Date:

23.10.2010

This was a day of walking which is only memorable for the unpleasant weather we had, and the first of a 2-day circuit from Braithwaite. I was meeting with my friend Sue from Dumfries again, and the route was basically taking us up from the high car park in Braithwaite, to Grisedale Pike, Hopegill Head and finally across Wandope and Whiteless Pike before we headed down into Buttermere. It was a case of trying to ignore the incessant wind/rain/sleet and getting to our destination where we could dry off a little. Fortunately, even though our gear might have gotten damp from the rain, our morale wasn't dampened since we had already prepared ourselves for a day of bad weather but the next day was forecasted to be really good. We had something to look forward to, and a great route planned out!

High Spy

Date:

05.01.2010

I met a nice lady called Jackie in the Keswick youth hostel, and as we were both staying alone we ended up deciding to do a walk together. Some new snow had fallen overnight, which meant our route over Cat Bells and High Spy, was much harder work than expected! The northwestern side of the Catbells ridge was especially covered in deep snow and quite a lot of effort to wade through. But the weather was pretty OK, some dramatic clouds here and there but nothing threatening. I had to drive back home later that evening so I decided only to go to the top of High Spy before descending back down to Rosthwaite and walking back to Keswick.

Coledale round

Date:

12.12.2009

A great day out with some friends I went to the Himalaya with from the previous November in 2008, Ian and Lorraine Brookes. Sue Jeffrey, whom I'd met at the Adventure Peaks meet 2 weeks previously also joined from Dumfries for the day. I walked into Keswick to meet Sue, from the youth hostel at Derwentwater (Barrow House Bay) which is now no longer a YHA hostel sadly. Anyway, me and Sue met up at Booth's supermarket and then headed out to Braithwaite at the high car park just outside of the village. Ian and Lorraine joined us there, and we were soon out and up on Grisedale Pike, enjoying the crisp and clear conditions with a touch of frost underfoot. Great views down over Keswick and out east toward Blencathra and Skiddaw, and the Helvellyn Ridge......It was sunny for pretty much the whole >>>

Coledale round

Date:

08.12.2001