Grisedale Pike and Hopegill Head

As I haven’t done any hill walking since September I think it would be a good idea to post reports from my old blog written in 2005. They begin with my walking holiday of Easter 2005:

Friday 25th March 2005

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 I enjoy the walking every time; this year was no exception and as always it was a pleasure to be there. There really is nowhere quite like the Lake District with its wide opportunities for great walking. Everywhere you turn there is a great walk to be had with absolutely stunning scenery. I always look forward to going there and this holiday was no exception as the Lake District is never disappointing.

The journey up took me rather longer than it needed to, a total of six hours, but that included ¾ hour in Nuneaton station, ½ hour in Crewe and an hour in Penrith. Everything in my travel arrangements for this trip 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 left for me to enjoy the hills so immediately I set off up into the hills at the western end of the village quickly gaining the top of the ridge. So began a slow climb over Sleet How and onto Grisedale Pike in near perfect weather with the warm sun alternating with a cooling wind when the sun went in. The views were, as ever, magnificent as I made my ascent with a gloriously rocky final section that was simply the icing on the cake to enjoy before I reached the summit. The climb up 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 at the top of Grisedale Pike the clouds descended which put a cold spin on my remaining time in the hills. I proceeded along the ridge around Hobcarton Crag and 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 that I found myself in, but soon I was down the steep rocky slope and heading on the path to Ladyside Pike, which rewarded me with glimpses of the scenery to the north through the clouds. Most importantly, however, I had the hill all to myself as the crowds on Grisedale Pike were left far behind. While making my return towards Hopegill Head I found the conditions less slippery than before and had great fun tackling the rocky scramble head on while keeping to the highest point on the ridge, but soon unfortunately I found myself back at the top of Hopegill Head.

Now my route was straight ahead of me: over Sand Hill, across Coledale Hause, between Grasmoor and Crag Hill, and over Whiteless Pike all the way down to my overnight in Buttermere. As I descended the clouds began to lift and the sun came out resulting in a pleasingly warm end to the afternoon. As a diversion in the glorious weather that I now found myself in I decided to end the walk by climbing over Low Bank and Rannerdale Knotts. These may be tiny hills compared with the giants that I had just visited but there was still a lot to keep my interest on a path that was full of adventure particularly during the steep descent to the road; I thoroughly recommend it. A bit of road walking through the village of Buttermere brought me to the Youth Hostel, which was rather crowded (well, it is Good Friday) and is a little too family-orientated for me as I prefer more basic hostels, which is what I stayed in during the rest of the holiday.