Explore with Amie

The weather has been glorious in the Lake District for the past week or two so it would have been rude not to head out onto the fells. We had two options for walks that would hopefully provide some great views and we opted to head up Sheffield Pike which had been on Alex’s list for a while. The walk we planned not only climbed Heron Pike to Sheffield Pike as well as Stybarrow Dodd and then onto Raise so…. four wainwrights for the price of one.

From there, off we went to tackle the first wainwright: Heron Pike. There is no easing yourself in here, it’s steep from the offset. The first section is a gravel path with some steps and then the climb to the peak involves a little bit of minor scrambling. It is very beginner friendly though and can be avoided for the most part. In fact, this is much better as you have the distraction away from the difficulty of the ascent. Just over two kilometres in and, Heron Pike is done! Be sure to keep looking backwards as you climb though as the views back down across Ullswater are pretty special.

The next peak is Sheffield Pike and I actually can’t tell you anything distinctive about it because….. well, we passed it without even realising. Once we reached Heron Pike we were chatting away and we were well past it by the time we looked at the map. I know, I know…not exactly recommended practice but it was a clear day so we weren’t worried on a navigation front.

We had originally planned to go straight across to Raise but, we were doing pretty well for time at this point so decided to add in Stybarrow Dodd which involves a short descent and then a long-ish climb up to the peak. You could also extend the walk on to Watson’s Dodd but, we decided not to do that on this occasion. That would bring the total to five wainwrights – potentially six if you add in White Side later one too. The best part of Stybarrow Dodd, and this part of the walk on the whole, is being able to look across to Helvellyn. There was still snow on the top on this occasion but, I imagine it was melting as it was far too warm on this day! There was a lot of people going across Striding Edge too, as you can probably imagine.

Next, you head downhill towards Sticks Pass and then up another ascent towards Raise, the highest peak of this route at 883m. We took a short lunch break here to refuel and I tried Kendal Mint Cake for the first time. I feel like I need to preface this by saying that I don’t really like mint flavour things so the taste test was already off to a bad start. I don’t think Kendal Mint Cake is horrible… but it’s not nice either. Have you tried it? It is pure minty sugar at the end of the day.

From Raise, we had a lovely walk on a gravel path back down the valley towards Glenridding. This was a fairly popular route and we saw quite a few people out on the hills. That is pretty expected when you’re in the central lakes and its a lovely day. One thing we need to remember going forward is to increase the amount of water we take on warm days as our first order of business once we got back to Glenridding was to buy some fizzy drinks.

Fancy trying this route for yourself? Follow the step by step below:

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Start Point: Glenridding

Because of the busyness of the area, we parked in the overflow car park. Here is a good place to start:

1. Head towards the small playground (this is at the far end of the carpark on the left). You should pass through a wooden gate and then turn right in the park.
2. Walk diagonally uphill across the field and exit through the wooden gate in the top corner.
3. Follow the track alongside the houses and continue along the lane.
4. When you reach the road, turn right and continue until you reach a cattle grid.
5. Take the immediate path on the right after the cattle grid; this is signposted.
6. Begin the ascent following a gravel path with intermittent steps.
7. After you’ve been on this path for around half a kilometre, it levels out at a t-junction with a boundary straight ahead. Turn left to begin the ascent of Heron Pike.
8. Follow the path up around the rocky outcrop, involving some minor scrambling.
9. Once you’ve reached Heron Pike, continue following the path to Sheffield Pike.
10. Follow the grassy path as it descends slightly before climbing again. Once you’ve reached the top of the first incline, you should see (on a clear day) Stybarrow Dodd ahead with Raise slightly to the left and Helvellyn even further left.
11. Head up towards Stybarrow Dodd. Once you reach the peak, head down to the left.
12. Descend towards Sticks Pass and then ascend towards the peak of Raise up a gravel path.
13. Once at the peak, descend straight ahead before taking the path on the left, almost going back on yourself slightly.
14. Follow this path as it becomes a gravel path and descends alongside the valley.
15. Stay on the left hand side of the river and continue down as the path becomes a lane.
16. Soon, you’ll pass the cattle grid that began the walk.
17. Either retrace your initial route, or instead, continue down the road and follow this back to the centre of the village.

End point: Glenridding

This was a fab route, made even better by the glorious weather! Have you bagged these wainwrights?

Amie x