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" Whinlatter via Honister " Date & start time: Saturday 1st March 2014, 2 pm start. Location of Start : Revelin Moss car park, Whinlatter, Cumbria, Uk ( NY 209 243 ) Places visited : Revelin Moss, Forest Centre, Whinlatter Fell and Brown How. Walk details : 3.9 mls, 950 ft of ascent, 2 hours 45 mins. Highest point : Whinlatter Fell 1,722ft - 525m. Walked with : Jo, Ian, Ann and the dogs, Jodie, Amber and Harry. Weather : Bit of everything . . . sunshine but a cool breeze on the walk. |
" Whinlatter via Honister " at EveryTrail [ Alter the settings to zoom or change the Map, use Everytrail to download the Gps route ] |
Sunshine at the head of the Buttermere valley was visible from home so in need of a walk to suit all today, we set off to climb Dale Head from Honister Hause, in order to get a big view with a steady ascent. Hope the snow doesn't stop us. Whinlatter via Honister is a strange title for a walk report as the two locations are in totally opposite directions from home, but soon after the start of our journey the vagaries of the weather demanded a change of plan even though we had driven the length of the Buttermere Valley in order to start our walk. Mmm . . . a photo stop on the way up Honister Valley. A picture taken from the same spot as the previous one . . . but with a totally different weather outlook. There is sunshine up there as the wintery shower moves away, so we continued on in hope . . . Honister Pass from below . . . this is as far as we got . . . the road was very slippery and difficult to stand on. The drivers coming down the hill after being caught in the snow were advising against proceeding further ! Time for a quick change of plans . . . and we drive back down the Buttermere Valley and head off to Whinlatter. The main Forest Centre car park was looking full so we parked over at Revelin Moss. [ Both car parks demand a ticket but this side is marginally cheaper.] Sunshine after the rain . . . the rainbow highlights the passing of the wet weather.
The off-road parking we used last time we climbed Whinlatter no longer exists, hence the parking at Revelin Moss today. Our walk starts by crossing over the main road and walking up past the Forest Centre. The Osprey Sculpture The bird is looking good . . . but the base is looking rather rotten after several years of loyal service. We walk up through the woodland paths, passing through the Go Ape arena on the way.
Closer to the ground . . . a climbing frame with attitude, part of the forest attractions ! We head up towards the summit path on the forest roads, stopping here to admire the view and read the information board about red squirrels. A fine view of snow-capped Grisedale Pike. Zooming in on the top. The wall from Revelin Moss, which makes navigation from that side easy, can be seen climbing the central spur into the snow. The Hobcarton ridge, with the Magic Tree on it, falls away to the right. As we zig-zag up on the forest tracks the view through the gaps in the trees becomes more extensive. End of the road . . . start of the path. Ian and myself at the stile that leads out onto the fellside.
One of the many mountain bike routes that criss-cross the forest. Nowadays Whinlatter is a forest full of outdoor pursuits. Onward and upward . . . this is the steepest part of the climb . . . but it doesn't last too long. Soon you are out on the ridge where the views on a day like today are very extensive. This is Lords Seat taken from near Whinlatter top. Click here or on the photo above for a Loweswatercam 360 degree annotated panorama Close up on Skiddaw. Plenty of snow and just a little cloud . . . no doubt to tease successful summiteers with rather intermittent views. As we make the final climb to the top there's a grey cloud moving across our part of the fells. Grisedale Pike now takes on a black-and-white appearance. It doesn't spoil the enjoyment, but it does make us wrap up slightly more warmly. These three Whinlatter summiteers are Ian, Jo and myself, with our three dogs. The fourth summiteer Ann, is taking the photo of course. A wider summit shot with just Harry. We can now see into the Hobcarton Valley with the twin peaks of Ladyside Pike and Hopegill Head in the distance. To extend the walk we headed on to the outlier summit of Brown How, seen here to the west. From our second summit we looked out over the Solway Plain. Below us is the Aiken Beck Valley, Fellbarrow and the village of Lorton in the distance. As we took in the views, the sun came out and added colour to the fells once again. Time to be heading back . . . the path across had been wet at times but no great problem. Jo and I discuss the view. Another dark shadow was covering the Helvellyn Ridge . . . it looked to be snowing over there. One more boggy bit and we'll be back on high ground. The open-fell section of the walk was drawing to a close as we retraced our steps down the fellside to the stile. A complex wooden structure due to the adjacent slab of rock.
We left the stile and made our way back down through the forest. It was a delight to walk to Whinlatter once again, it has been nearly five years since we walked to this summit. Perhaps the imposition of car parking charges at Whinlatter and the closure of free off-road parking had put us off ? - - - o o o - - - Talking about Grisedale Pike and Hobcarton End with its decorated tree, a friend of ours sent us a few pictures of her walk across the way from us this very same day . . .
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Certainly a well decorated tree Sue. Does anyone else know of similar ones elsewhere in the country . . . or elsewhere in the world for that matter ? Thanks for sending the photos . . . RmH - - - o o o - - -
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Technical note: Pictures taken with either Ann's Canon Sureshot SX220, or my Nikon P520 digital camera. Resized in Photoshop, and built up on a Dreamweaver web builder. This site best viewed with . . . an alternative plan to hand. Go to Top . . . © RmH . . . Email me here Previous walk - 28th February 2014 - Knott Rigg and Ard Crags A previous time up here - Sunday 11th Oct 2009 Whinlatter Return A visit to the Magic Tree - 25th March 2008 Grisedale Pike in the snow Next walk - 3rd / 6th March 2014 - Mosser Road and Finlay
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