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Climbing Blencathra

As the weather forecast promised another beautiful sunny day in the Lake District, we thought we should take the opportunity to get out onto the fells. Living in Keswick gives us the advantage of having plenty of great walks on our doorstep without having to resort to the car, but the question is always where to go. We could get the Keswick Launch across Derwentwater and strike out for Causey Pike and Eel Crag, or perhaps take on the Dale Head horseshoe. Having tackled Skiddaw on a disappointingly cloudy and rather windy day last November, we also felt there was unfinished business there. However, we looked instead to the mountain that stands sentinel over the A66, dominating the approach to the Lakes from the east, Blencathra.

Anyone familiar with this part of the world will also be familiar with the huge bulk of Blencathra, its towering buttresses falling down seemingly vertically to the green fields of Threlkeld and presenting a fortress like wall some three miles long to the A66. Which begs the question, how do we get up? As is often the case, the best person to ask is Alfred Wainwright, who was so fond of the mountain he climbed it every weekend for the whole of one winter. He recommended taking the ascent of Hall’s Fell, which leads directly to the summit at 868m. In fact Wainwright describes the route as “possibly the finest way to any mountain top in the district”, so expectations were high.

And so it was with those high expectations that we left Grassmoor, the sky clear blue as promised. The best way to get from Keswick to Threlkeld, where the climb would start, is the railway footpath following the course of the old Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway. Forming part of the Coast to Coast cycle route, the path is wide, well maintained and justifiably popular, following the River Greta through its scenic gorge, well below the main road above.

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Some four miles later, we arrived at Gate Gill Farm, Threlkeld, where the route would take us onto the fellside. The impression one gets of the vertiginous slopes are justified – the climbing starts immediately, the somewhat indistinct path climbing steeply through heather, before becoming progressively rockier and narrower. And it is for this reason that Wainwright so liked this route, for the last 400m or so of climbing requires hands as well as feet, and a head for heights. Although not as precarious as nearby Sharp Edge, this is not a route for the faint of heart, rising sharply over rocky bluffs with precipitous drops to Gate Gill on one side and Doddick Gill on the other. And it just keeps getting steeper and steeper. Fortunately, all of the rest stops required give you time to admire the superb views opening up across the Lakeland fells to the south, the bulk of Helvellyn directly south and the Scafells rising in the distance over the hotchpotch of lower peaks between. And just as you get to the steepest bit, you find yourself on the summit. And characteristically, it couldn’t be more different. The craggy, unforgiving nature of the south face suddenly gives way to a wide, flat summit plateau leading gently down to the rounded, bare fells beyond. And the views are even better, looking over the Solway Firth into Scotland to the north, the Irish Sea and the Isle of Man just visible to the west and Morecambe Bay appearing on the horizon above Thirlmere to the south.

Despite the warm, sunny weather (we were in T-shirts by that point), large patches of deep snow still adorned the summit, causing an unwelcome obstacle to tired legs. We made our way due west across the plateau to Blease Fell, the westernmost of Blencathra’s tops, where a wide, well-made path drops down the grassy hillside to the valley below – the preferred route of ascent and descent for the risk averse. Within relatively little time, we were strolling through sun dappled woodland on our way back to the railway path, and the way home. And so, about six hours and eight or so miles later, we hobbled wearily up to our front door after a truly fantastic day.

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From the summit looking south