Helvellyn from Striding Edge
On the way to Great Gable near the fell known as Brandreth
Scrambling up the screes of Great Gable
The English Lake District has been well and truly on the tourist path for the last 150 years or so, yet although as a teenager I spent long expeditions collecting the area’s numerous waterfalls for a youthful (and finished but never-published) book documenting the complete waterfalls of England, last week was the first time I’ve ever climbed any of the peaks in the National Park. The extraordinary beauty of this area has been well documented since Tennyson’s time, of course, but in fine, sunny weather, and with the company of a few like-minded hikers, considering the tremendous rewards to reaped for relatively little effort, the Lake District’s peaks simply can’t be beat in my book. It’s simply fabulous up there!
Striding across Striding Edge
Below Blencathra (Saddleback)
Sharp Edge, the most exciting ascent route up Blencathra
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Scrambling up the screes of Great Gable
Threading Nape’s Needle, on Great Gable
View from the summit of Helvellyn
On Sharp Edge, Belencathra
The screes of Great Gable
Near the summit of Helvellyn
On top of Great Gable
Sharp Edge from below
On Great Gable
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Round the back of Great Gable
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OFF THE BEATEN TRACK 