We started this iconic Lake District hike from the Honister Slate Mine, on the epic Honister pass (CA12 5XN). There is a five pound charge for all day parking, you pay in the shop. The mine itself is pretty unusual, it is the last working slate mine in England and hosts many different activities and tours, plus it has a cool shop with lots of slate themed gifts.
The start of this circular walk is an obvious, but steep path overlooking the mining works. The hike takes in 4 Wainwrights, just over 7.5 miles of utter beauty (about 5 1/2 hours which lots of sightseeing and tea swilling). The views on this one were outstanding.
The first peak, Grey Knotts (697m), is reached by following a pretty well defined but somewhat broken path alongside a fence. The peak lets you look out over the Buttermere valley.
The path between Grey Knotts and Brandreth (715m) is less defined and can be hard to stay on course in bad weather. Also, it is worth noting, this area can get very boggy, but we were lucky on this day, wall to wall sunshine, and on a fine day, you are able to see your paths direction. Brandreth is an pretty fell, lots of debris from the old boundry fences are scattered around, but sitting under Green and Great Gable and looking over the Ennerdale and Buttermere valleys makes for a stunning peak.
Soon we were heading down towards tarns that are nestled in the gap between Brandreth and Green Gable (801m). The path up the face of Green Gable is wide and clear, it can be a bit rocky and winding in places. The pull up was pretty steep but the views kept us going along happily. The peak provides a real 'wow' moment. We stopped here for a snack and tea, drinking in the atmosphere. From here you can see the very, very steep path down into Windy Gap, which sits between Green Gable and her big sister, Great Gable (899m).
The path here is nasty, it's like walking on marbles. But it is short and you quickly find yourself moving up towards Great Gable's scramble route. This is a relatively easy scramble, fun and not too exposed but we both had to use our hands a few times to keep moving upwards and the rock can be a touch slippery from smoothing off and loose in spots, so take care but don't be too worried! Lots of cairns show the way and they are very welcome as the geology of Great Gable means the path is nondescript on its own. After a false summit we saw the top of the mighty Gable, adorned with a WW1 memorial plaque placed by the Fell and Rock Climbing Club for those members who lost their lives in conflict. It explains how the group also bought the mountain and gave it to the National Trust to ensure its' enjoyment for others, forever. A truly beautiful memorial.
We were almost alone on this usually very busy fell top, so we took our time and sat for a while, looking out over Wasdale and Wast Water, the deepest water in the Lake District. Eventually, we headed off down the scree-filled and mostly awful route down to Moses Trod path. This is a challenging, slippery path, be very careful to not head too far right (West) onto the very bad scree, it is dangerous and zero fun. Kirk Fell loomed in front of us, looked tempting....but we decided to have a quick tonic water and head off along the notorious smugglers route, Moses Trod path.
Moses Trod is a fabulous route back to the slate mine. First created as a cart path to move slate to Wasdale by quarry man, Moses Rigg. However, he soon started using it to smuggle his illegally distilled whisky, often using the crags for Great Gable as hiding spots.
We follow this high level path all the way back to Honister pass, an awesome way to finish the hike, stepping over shimmering green slate and looking out over Buttermere once again, perfect.
We loved this walk, we've done it once before, many years ago, but we had driving rain and thick fog the first time, this day made up for that tenfold, it was tremendous!
Thank you for being here, all the best, Ceri & Kat!
/ teainvalhalla
/ teainvalhalla