WHINLATTER, GRISEDALE PIKE, HOPEGILL HEAD and WHITESIDE - 17 May 2008
Whinlatter Pass - Whinlatter Top - Brown How - Whinlatter Top - Whinlatter Pass - Grisedale Pike - Hopegill Head - Gasgale Crags - Whiteside East Top -
Whiteside West Top - Whiteside East Top - Gasgale Crags - Hopegill Head - Ladyside Pike - Whinlatter Pass.
8 miles, 3000 feet of ascent.
These fells were climbed as a result of The Wainwright Society raising money for the Cockermouth Mountain Rescue Team by asking society members to walk all of the 95 ascents in AW's Book Six 'The North Western Fells'.
I undertook two separate walks. The first was to climb Whinlatter from the Whinlatter Pass.
Having climbed up through the forest the path eventually escapes onto the open fell and Hobcarton Valley comes in to view. Grisedale Pike which I would go on to climb later is prominent. Although the Eastern top is the higher by seven feet, the Western top, Brown How seen here, is generally accepted as the summit of Whinlatter.
Having completed my first ascent, I moved down the pass a mile or so and soon found the track that heads in to the forest.
The Pictorial Guide and OS map show the forest extending further up the valley than it actually does these days but it is still quite a view.
I knew where the path between Grisedale Pike and its subsidiary summit should be, but I certainly couldn't find it on the ground. The slope was incredibly steep and I took a photo later in the day looking back across the valley to prove the point. Meanwhile, about three hundred feet from the top the cloud swept in and before long it was raining. I took a photograph of the cairn, but there was little incentive to hang around.
An easy walk then to Hopegill Head and a photograph of the cairn there as well.
There then followed an interesting walk of about a mile to Whiteside which in places was very much like walking on an arete. Still no view at Whiteside though. Guess who!
On the way to Ladyside Pike, you can see just how steep the climb was that I had undertaken earlier in the day.
Ladyside Pike would have made an excellent 'Wainwright'. Good approach, good shape, a couple of sizeable cairns and excellent views. What more does a fell need?
Well that was an excellent walk spoilt by the lack of views from any of the fell tops. Importantly though, that now leaves me with only one of two hundred and fourteen fells to go.
All photographs taken with either a Nikon D40X (10.2mp) or a Nikon Coolpix 4200 (4.2mp)
