Walk Report: Grisedale Pike and Hopegill Head

Over Easter I spent over a week in that most gorgeous of places, the Lake District. I have been going there every year for four years and enjoyed the walking every time, this year was no exception. As a report of the week I wrote accounts of my walks in the youth hostel each day at the end of the walk. The first report follows:

Friday 25th March
Once more I am back in the Lake District and as always it's a pleasure to be here; there is no where quite like the Lake District for it's wide opportunities for great walking. Everywhere you turn there is a great walk to be had with stunning scenery. I always look forward to coming here and this has been no exception, the Lake District is never disappointing.

The journey up here was rather longer than it needed to be, it took me six hours to get here, but that includes ¾ hour in Nuneaton station, ½ hour in Crewe and an hour in Penrith. Everything in my travel arrangements this year has seemed to conspire against me with the return journey being even worse. C'est la vie. Eventually I arrived in Braithwaite with the whole afternoon to enjoy the hills so I immediately set off up the hill at the western end of the village quickly gaining the top of the ridge. So began the slow climb over Sleet How and onto Grisedale Pike in near perfect weather, the warm sun alternating with a cool wind when the sun went in. The views as I made my ascent were, as ever, magnificent with a gloriously rocky final section to enjoy before I reached the summit. The climb to the top of the first hill of the day is always a drag, especially if it's the first day of your holiday :-), but this one was as pleasurable as it could be.

During lunch on Grisedale Pike the clouds descended putting a cold spin on the day that remained for the rest of my afternoon in the hills. Proceeding along the ridge around Hobcarton Crag I arrived at Hopegill Head where I attempted the rocky descent north towards Ladyside Pike. This proved to be rather tricky in the damp misty conditions but I was soon on the path towards and onto Ladyside Pike, which awarded me with glimpses of the scenery to the north through the clouds. Most importantly, however, I had the hill all to myself, the crowds on Grisedale Pike had been left far behind. Returning towards Hopegill Head I found conditions less slippery than before so had great fun tackling the rocky scramble head on keeping to the highest point on the ridge, but soon found myself back on Hopegill Head.

Now I had a straight route ahead of me all the way to my overnight in Buttermere, over Sand Hill, across Coledale Hause, between Grasmoor and Crag Hill, and over Whiteless Pike. As I descended the coulds began to lift and the sun came out resulting in a very warm end to the afternoon. As a diversion in the glorious weather I decided to end the walk by passing over Low Bank and Rannerdale knotts. These may be tiny hills compared with the giants around about me but there was still a lot to keep my interest with a path that was full of adventure particularly during the steep descent to the road; I thoroughly recommend it. A bit of road walking brought me to Buttermere Youth Hostel, which was rather crowded (well, it is Good Friday) and a little over stylised for me, but I prefer more basic hostels, which is what I'll be staying in for the rest of my holiday. Tomorrow I'll be going over Fleetwith Pike and down Ennerdale to Gillerthwaite Youth Hostel.