Distance: 9 miles Time: 4.5hr (exc. stops) Total ascent: 728m

First visit to the lakes in 2026, and originally we planned to the do the Coledale Horseshoe. However, the weather forecast was for some gusty wind and occasional showers, so we opted for a shorter circular route starting from Whinlatter visitors centre.

After leaving the centre we followed the ‘room on the broom’ trail up to the Gruffalo sculpture, and continued west, eventually leaving the woods and climbing up to the top of the Whinlatter ridge.

From there it was a windy walk to Whinlatter Top

Brown How is the peak selected by Alfred Wainwright we took a few quick snaps at the slightly higher Whinlatter Top

It wasn’t much further to Brown How, but there was little respite from the wind. The shelter at the top was occupied so we didn’t spend long there.

From Brown How, we descended until we met a stone wall. The route I had planned showed us following the wall eastwards, then crossing it. There was no official crossing aside from a collapsed fence. We descended through very steep and slippery woodland to reach the forestry track.

From there, the walking got a bit easier, though now we had rain as well as wind. We began ascending towards Greystones, there was even a moment where it actually felt like June in the sunshine.

It did not last – after leaving the shelter of the woods, we had a brutally steep climb alongside a broken dry stone wall. This made the going treacherous!

After a brief rest in the shelter of some rocks, we made to the summit of Greystones. While on the map it doesn’t look like we hit the true summit, on the ground I think we nailed it. We could not stay long enough to perform full geodetic survey though…

The walking did get easier from this point – undulating grassy moorland, but very boggy for June!

The summit of Broom Fell was very blustery, but there was a sheltered spot for some respite. From here, we could look towards Lord’s Seat, and Whinlatter Forest beyond.

It wasn’t too long before we were back on the summit of Lords Seat. The weather was very different from our first visit! We didn’t spend long, and began the journey back down through the forest to the visitors centre.

A good walk, though Sarah needed my emergency knee brace on the descent.

This brings our Wainwright totals to Sarah 29, Paul 46