Thursday 26 March 2026

With the official Lakes meet being held in peak tourist season, a rebellious faction decided to return to the Agnes Spencer Memorial Hut in a quieter part of the season.

I as usual turned the meet into my Easter Holiday and headed down after work a whole week and a day early.

Taking advantage of good weather with only visibility on the disappointing side, I ticked off the Skiddaw Wainwrights before travelling down to Eskdale, with Langdale conveniently on the way Lingmoor Fell and Side Pike were added to the ticked list followed by a fake pint at the Old Dungeon Ghyll before enjoying myself on the Side Gates, Wrynose and Hardknott passes.

The following day was less so good on the visibility front and Scafell and Slight Side were ticked off via the Terrace Route with very little seen between the climb onto Horn Crag and the descent to Burnmoor Tarn. Proper touristing on the clearest day of the week which happened to also be the first day of the season on La’al Ratty before heading for the hostel at High Close which required a second crossing of the Hardknott and Wrynose passes.

With weather now atrocious I did more touristing with the Lakeland Motor museum, before carrying on north to Cockermouth to meet up with former club member Diana and her partner Jim.

The next day arrived cold and windy but seemingly dry, with the Hostel and the summit of Loughrigg so close together there was no chance I was missing the chance to tick it off, and that I did with plenty of stops on the climb to take in the view (honest) over Elterwater to the Langdales. At the summit I turned my back on sharp hail showers and “accidentally” descended to the Rydal Cave before returning to the hostel car park by Loughrigg terrace with views over Grasmere.

I finally ticked off Seat Sandal after a night at Grasmere hostel before thrashing the car up the Struggle to the Kirkstone Pass and down to the hut in Patterdale where Greg and Alex were settling in.

Friday was officially a rest day for me so I took to the Mell Fells, 2 very short walks with decent views of Ullswater.

On the Saturday I had a 200km Audax from Brampton so snuck out early and returned having spent the day riding up and then down the Eden valley and getting pelted by even more hail and of course the wind was North Westerly so the lumpy bit was with a tail wind and the big descent to Dalston was directly into it. After apple crumble and custard I returned late to the hut where everyone had decided Sunday was a write off.

Sunday was indeed a write off and after everyone left I did absolutely nothing, until some members of the owning club arrived for the night. Jeff a sprightly 82 year old kept me entertained.

Monday I had hoped to tackle some hills from Howton but a cold was brewing and I needed more recovery time, so I went and did more touristing with the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway and Aquarium followed by the Jetty Museum of interesting boats.

Now I was up at Greenside Hostel for the last 2 nights the cold wasn’t doing much other than annoying me so the final hike was on.

I set off through the mine workings, leaving the intended path to explore more and increasing the difficulty a bit before making it to the Sticks Pass. As I set off up Sheffield Pike a rather worried lady asked if I’d seen her Collie which had darted off, I hadn’t but as I neared the summit a gorgeous Black and white sheep Dog appeared on the path ahead, it didn’t seem to like me approaching so I backed off and walked to the edge of the bog I’d just navigated to try and grab the lady’s attention which given I was shouting into the wind was surprisingly successful. As she approached the dog caught site of her and had no problem trying to round me up before dashing off to her.

Sheffield Pike was reached with good visibility as was Hartside and Stybarrow Dodd, so far so good. As I approached Great Dodd the views over Derwent were noticeably stunning, and then the cloud rolled over. I sat in the shelter just off the summit eating lunch for a decent amount of time before accepting I would get the Tick but it wouldn’t be a “Clinch”, Watson’s Dodd required a retrace and divergence and as I stood taking in the views from there surprise surprise Great Dodd was clear again.

Back over Stybarrow to the Sticks Pass and I stood looking at the Ski Centre on the side of Raise, I decided to stick to the path up but once the summit was bagged I strayed down to the ski tow for a nosey before crossing to White Side where a group of walkers were doing a “Bruce” to get out of the wind for a rest.

I contemplated exploring the remains of industry on Stag by following “The Chimney” but decided that with thoughts of my last tinned meal of the trip being prominent I’d take the fast route to the Keppel Cove path to return to the hostel.

A cracking week and a half, and I’ve smashed past the 25% mark on Wainwrights, leaving Greg trailing but with Andrei using a guide designed for efficient bagging and considerably faster of foot, I suspect if I try and get the lot I won’t be first.

• Report by Niall