Date : 11/12/2024
Wainwrights : Whinlatter, Hopegill Head
Start / Finish : Braithwaite
Distance : 22 miles
Height Gained : 3524 ft
Time Taken : 7 hours 30 mins
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| The Route : Anticlockwise from Braithwaite |
This hike was planned with the intention of ticking off Whinlatter and Barrow, via Hopegill Head, Crag Hill, Sail and Scar Crags (which I have already climbed). It was long and somewhat ambitious route for this time of year due to limited daylight but I felt it was achievable.
However, I experienced one of those rare, unexpected and truly magical views from the summit of Hopegill Head (more detail below) which resulted in me lingering there far too long and ultimately losing light and having to cut the route short. Barrow will therefore have to wait for another day.
The hike, and the wonderful views can be seen in the video below.
The walk starts in Braithwaite, a small village near the southern end of Bassenthwaite Lake. I headed off towards Lanefoot Farm just after sun up. It was about -2 degrees C, the ground was frozen, the sky was clear and there was no wind. A perfect day for a winter walk.
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| Whinlatter (left), Bassenthwaite Lake (centre) and Skiddaw (right) |
After a short distance of road walking a path head off towards Whinlatter, which Forestry England describes as 'Englands only mountain forest'. And it was a surprisingly lovely place. It has a myriad of paths, tracks and mountain bike trails. There are sculptures, educational and reflective messages, viewpoints, picnic spots and a visitor centre. Everything you would expect from a forest tourist attraction but with better views.
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| The path over Chapel Beck |
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| Views over to Keswick |
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| Whinlatter Forest |
I headed in the vague direction of the summit, taking the upwards option whenever there was a route choice, which was frequently. The map was of little help.
Eventually I emerged from the forest onto the open heathland of the summit plateau. There are 2 summits. The eastern summit is slightly higher and is the true summit at 525m. The western summit is more picturesque, with a wind shelter and better views but is lower at 517m.
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| Whinlatter summit ahead |
Whinlatter Summit Panorama
The direct route to Hopegill Head would be south, but this would involve a pathless scramble down steep icy terrain and so I opted for the longer route along the only path heading vaguely in the direction I was heading but which initially left Whinlatter in a northwesterly direction. Eventually the path intersects one of the forestry tracks which meanders around the western flank of the mountain before reaching the road.
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| Views over to Graystones |
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| A Whinlatter Forestry Path |
About 1/2 mile of road walking meets the path which head up the flanks of Swinside. At this point I entered the cloud base and fully expected to have zero views from the upcoming summits. So I plodded along the ridge with a slightly heavy heart as the clag I was wading through was not forecast. There were no views from the summit of Ladyside Pike and so I continued onwards and then upwards onto Hopegill Head.
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| The path up to Hopegill Head |
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| Ladyside Pike summit |
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| The ridge up onto Hopegill Head |
And it was during this short but steep scramble that I broke through the cloud layer and emerged into another world of glorious blue skies and unbroken sunshine. The neighbouring high fells were also poking above the cloud like islands in white ocean. It was a truly breathtaking experience. Ive seen pictures of cloud inversions but never thought I'd be lucky enough to witness one. But today was my lucky day. And it was such a striking and rapid contrast between polar opposite weather conditions. One minute I was in demoralising clag and then within a few steps I was in a clear blue sky with a stunning panorama.
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| Looking over Sand Hill towards Crag Hill |
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| Sun over Grasmoor |
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| A Brocken Spectre with Skiddaw beyond |
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| Lost for words |
And so it was that my route plan had to change. By the time I was ready to head off the island of Hopegill Head there was about 45 minutes of daylight remaining. The prospect of a steep icy descent off Crag Hill, Sail and Barrow in the dark was a little foreboding and so I decided to bail out down the Coledale valley path. Back below the cloud it was a overcast evening which looked like any other typical day in the UK winter. You would ever know that there was another world just a few meters higher.
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| Back below the cloud |
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| The Coledale Valley |
It was a long trudge back to car following the course of Coledale Beck but thinking of that magical summit view passed the time quickly. The last 20 minutes were in darkness.
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| Darkness for last mile |
This was a day that I will never forget. I just hope I'm lucky enough to see another one.
