Walking The Wainwrights – A Book-by-Book Adventure

Adventurer Nic looking over at Great Gable from Kirk Fell in the snow during her Walking The Wainwrights Challenge
Adventurer Nic walks away from Grisedale Tarn ascending St Sunday Crag
Adventurer Nic walks away from Grisedale Tarn ascending St Sunday Crag

Walking The Wainwrights – Introduction

Walking the Wainwrights of the Lake District, UK is something I’ve done once before. I hiked my first Wainwright fell in 2017 and I quickly caught the hill bagging bug! I completed my first Wainwright round in September 2018 – all 214 fells in 364 days. Then, two years later I moved to West Cumbria from South Yorkshire, delighted to be closer to my beloved fells. Regular Wainwright walks were suddenly far more accessible to me.

In 2021 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, I decided to embark on my second Wainwright round. A round with a twist! This time I’d be hiking them one book at a time. In the 1950s and 60s Alfred Wainwright published seven guidebooks entitled ‘A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells‘. I decided I’d hike each collection of fells together in a single continuous route, one book at a time. Seven multi-day Wainwright walks in total.

At the time, I was working three days a week in research and analysis in front of a laptop. So this left me with Friday to Monday to dedicate to my series of micro adventures. I would embark on seven Wainwright walks on my days off from work.

Wainwright Routes – The Planning

Stack of Alfred Wainwright Guidebooks
Stack of Alfred Wainwright Guidebooks

I planned each of my Wainwright bagging routes in the komoot app. Primarily, I used the following resources to plan my Wainwright walks –

  • paper maps
  • Alfred Wainwright’s guide books
  • a Wainwright fells list
  • a variety of blogs

Anyone who knows me knows that one of my favourite things to do is plan peak bagging routes. I enjoy it almost as much as the hiking itself!

Overall I would be walking over 600km and climbing over 30,000m in ascent.

Lake District By Bus

Adventurer Nic stands at her local bus stop in Cockermouth ready to travel the Lake District by bus

A quirky part of my Wainwright bagging was that I planned each of my Wainwright routes to start and finish at a Lake District bus stop.

Ultimately, this ‘Lake District by Bus’ approach ensured that I never had to worry about taking my car into a congested National Park during the busy Spring/Summer months.

Furthermore, travelling around the Lake District by bus also meant that I could undertake my Wainwright bagging routes in an environmentally friendly a manner as possible.

Bus Services for Walking The Wainwrights

Bus stop in the village of Rosthwaite, the Lake District with fells and farmland in the background
Bus stop in the village of Rosthwaite, the Lake District with fells and farmland in the background

The bus services I used to service my Wainwright routes were –

The X5 and X4 were always my first buses which led out of my home town of Cockermouth, Cumbria to the hub of the Keswick Depot bus station or the Penrith Depot bus station. From either of these points I could connect to the rest of the Lake District. Luckily, the X5 and X4 buses also took me directly to the Northern fells.

The 77 and 77a buses transported me from Keswick to both the North Western fells and the Western fells. This service follows a gorgeous route down Borrowdale alongside Derwent Water.

The 508 bus from Penrith allowed me to access the Eastern fells and Far Eastern fells via Ullswater. A really pretty route down the side of the lake.

The 555 bus from Keswick to Rydal transported me to the start of the Central fells route. This is a fantastic route down by Thirlmere via Grasmere.

The 505 bus allowed me to get back from the Southern fells by taking me from Coniston to Ambleside. From there I could get the 555 back to Keswick and the X5 home.

Lake District by Bus Recommendation

Nic travels on a near-empty X5 bus on her Walking The Wainwrights project

In conclusion, I highly recommend using the Stagecoach bus services of Cumbria to explore the Lake District National Park.

In the main I found the buses to be punctual.

The drivers were super friendly and helpful which always made me smile.

Seeing the Lake District from the top deck of a bus is very relaxing and the time flies.

I actually fell asleep on one of the buses which shows how comfortable the journey was.

Nic charges her phone using the USB port on the Stagecoach bus

Moreover, most of the buses have USB charging points.

This means you can charge your phone whilst you travel the Lake District by bus which I found very useful.

I was always taking lots of photographs along my journey and so the extra opportunity to recharge my phone battery along the way was handy.

On the other hand, a pitfall of the 77a route in particular is that the service regularly has to be cancelled during the busiest weekends of the year. This is due to inconsiderate car parking on the single track roads around Catbells. Unfortunately, this does lead to bus using hill walkers getting stranded at the wrong end of the valley. Luckily, the service wasn’t disrupted during my visits. Finally, it’s also worth noting that this service does not operate during the winter months.

The Lead Up to Walking The Wainwrights

I prepared for this walking challenge by meticulously reviewing my walking kit and making refinements. In addition, I went over the Wainwright routes with a fine tooth comb multiple times before locking them in. It was important for me to ensure I was using all available paths, reducing the pathless elements of the routes to a minimum as I knew that would slow me down. Furthermore, I wanted to avoid private land and wall/fence hopping which is often associated with long distance hill bagging challenges.

Researching the bus route options was easy using the Stagecoach website and the Traveline website.

My fitness was on the low side before the walking challenge began. We had just come out of another national lockdown and I hadn’t been out in the mountains regularly. I knew I wanted to start with one of the shorter Wainwrights routes. As a result, I decided on the Northern Fells.

The Wainwright Routes

The Northern Fells – Walking The Wainwrights

View of Derwent Water from the ascent of Lonscale Fell whilst Walking the Wainwrights
View of Derwent Water from the ascent of Lonscale Fell whilst Walking the Wainwrights

I walked the 24 Northern Wainwrights over three days in April 2021 starting at the Keswick Depot bus station in Keswick and hiking Latrigg first. The route ended with Souther Fell and finished at the Mungrisdale Road End bus stop on the A66. The whole Northern fells route was 79.5km in length.

The Eastern Fells – Walking The Wainwrights

A bivvy wild camp on the Eastern Fells Walking The Wainwrights route
A bivvy wild camp on the Eastern Fells Walking The Wainwrights route

I walked the 35 Eastern Wainwrights over four days in April 2021 starting at the Kirkstone Pass Inn bus stop on the Kirkstone Pass and hiking Red Screes first. The route ended with Little Mell Fell and finished at the Longthwaite Road End bus stop near Watermillock. The whole Eastern fells route was 96.4km in length.

The Central Fells – Walking The Wainwrights

The Howitzer - the summit of Helm Crag on the Central Fells route during the Walking the Wainwrights adventure
The Howitzer – the summit of Helm Crag on the Central Fells route during the Walking the Wainwrights adventure

I walked the 27 Central Wainwrights over three days at the end of April 2021 starting at the Rydal Church bus stop in Rydal and hiking Loughrigg Fell first. The route ended with High Rigg and finished at Dale Bottom bus stop near Keswick. The whole Central fells route was 71.6km in length.

The Western Fells – Walking The Wainwrights

Adventurer Nic walks along Mellbreak in the Western fells on the Walking the Wainwrights adventure
Adventurer Nic walks along Mellbreak in the Western fells on the Walking the Wainwrights adventure

I walked the 33 Western Wainwrights over four days in May 2021 starting at the Honister Youth Hostel bus stop at Honister Slate Mine and hiking Grey Knotts first. The route ended with Fleetwith Pike and finished the circular at the same Honister YHA bus stop. The whole Western fells route was 99.5km in length.

The Southern Fells – Walking The Wainwrights

Adventurer Nic peeks out of her tent during a wild camp in Eskdale at sunset
Adventurer Nic peeks out of her tent during a wild camp in Eskdale at sunset

I walked the 30 Southern Wainwrights over four days at the end of May 2021 starting at the Stonethwaite Road End bus stop in Borrowdale and hiking Bessyboot (Rosthwaite Fell) first. The route ended with The Old Man of Coniston and finished at the The Ruskin Centre bus stop in Coniston. The whole Southern fells route was 102km in length.

The North Western Fells – Walking The Wainwrights

The summit of Rannerdale Knotts on the North Western Walking The Wainwrights route
The summit of Rannerdale Knotts on the North Western Walking The Wainwrights route

I walked the 29 North Western Wainwrights over three days in June 2021 starting at the Rosthwaite General Store bus stop in Rosthwaite and hiking Castle Crag first. The route ended with Sale Fell and finished at the Dubwath (Junction with A66) bus stop in Dubwath. The whole North Western fells route was 73.9km in length.

The Far Eastern Fells – Walking The Wainwrights

Adventurer Nic hiking on the Kentmere Horseshoe on the Far Eastern Walking the Wainwrights route
Adventurer Nic hiking on the Kentmere Horseshoe on the Far Eastern Walking the Wainwrights route

I walked the 36 Far Eastern Wainwrights over four days in June 2021 starting at the Patterdale Hotel bus stop in Patterdale and hiking Place Fell first. The route ended with Troutbeck Tongue and finished at the Town End bus stop in Troutbeck. The whole Far Eastern fells route was 99.4km in length.

Walking The Wainwrights – Conclusion

Wild Camping in Back O Skiddaw
Wild Camping in Back O Skiddaw

Walking the Wainwrights and accessing the Lake District by bus was a really fulfilling experience. In short, my Wainwright walks were slow enough to truly appreciate the views and catch up with friends but fast enough to feel like a properly challenging series of walks.

About the Author

Photo of Adventurer Nic on a Loch in the Scottish Highlands

Adventurer Nic is a Munroist and double Wainwright ‘Compleator’ who in 2020 hiked a piligrimage from her birthplace of Sheffield to her home in West Cumbria. Let her know what you thought of this post by dropping her a comment.

Wild Camping Lake District

Adventurer Nic getting into her tent at sunset on Glaramara
Woman standing next to tent looking at a mountain view at sunrise in the Scottish Highlands

My name’s Nic and I’m an addict…..a wild camping addict. At the time of my first camp, I didn’t realise how Wild Camping Lake Distict Fells would become such a big part of my life.

I popped my wild camp cherry in the Lake District in 2017. On a misty, moody day, I kayaked across Ullswater to Norfolk Island. Not appreciating what I was letting myself in for, it was a rough, windy night and I didn’t sleep a wink. But boy did I love every second of it.

Wild Camping Lake District Wainwright Fells

Adventurer Nic on Robinson during her Wainwright bagging challenge
Adventurer Nic on Robinson during her Wainwright bagging challenge

Later that same year I started bagging the Wainwrights. Starting on Great End and finishing on Pavey Ark, I walked them all in exactly 365 days. Bagging all 214 Wainwrights during my days off work and using virtually all of my annual leave.

In order to bag the mountains efficiently I started creating my own multi-day routes and planning wild camps along the way. Most of the time I scouted out my sleep spot on the fly, but sometimes I saw a place in advance and made a beeline for it as part of my route. Wild Camping Lake District Fells 18 times during my challenge was a great enabler to walking wild and wonderful routes.

I loved everything about it. The planning of the routes, refining my camping gear, reacting to the weather, camping alone, embracing bivvying and sharing the experience with good friends.

My Wild Camping Lake District Index

Black Fell

Black Fell was the first of the 12 most southerly Wainwrights that I hiked over 3 days from east to west with my partner James. We enjoyed glorious sunset views over the Langdale Pikes and cracking sunrise reviews over Windermere from the summit of Black Fell, where we camped side by side in our bivvy bags on firm grass.

Blencathra

I decided to get some winter hiking experience in by Blencathra during a deep freeze in early 2018. Two friends and I hiked up to Scales Tarn where we pitched our tents in the dark on the edge of the tarn. By morning we scrambled up Sharp Edge and bagged the Wainwright. I was nervous going over Sharp Edge in winter conditions and I was thankful for the support of Carl and Matt.

Cat Bells

My friend Rory bagged his last Wainwright, Cat Bells in the summer of 2018, and invited me along! Attending his final Wainwright was a pleasure and the conditions couldn’t have been more perfect as we ascended. Myself and a few friends camped just off Cat Bells, setting down a few bivvy bags and one small tent just off the summit. The following morning we hiked Castle Crag, Eagle Crag and Sergeant’s Crag before hitchhiking back to Keswick.

Dove Crag

I have once visited the Priests Cave on Dove Crag during the day, but on this occasion James and I attempted to find the Priests Cave after dark. Could we find it? No we couldn’t! We scoured the hillside with our head torches until 1am before resorting to bivvying on a patch of grass on the hillside. Luckily the weather was good and the morning view as I drank my coffee was delightful! I reached the summit of Dove Crag in the morning.

Dow Crag

I noted earlier that Black Fell marked the beginning of a 12 Wainwright bagging spree, well Dow Crag marked the close of the 2nd day of that three day expedition. The 2nd night was much colder than the previous night. James and I bivvied on the ridge line after the summit of Dow Crag and were treated to a glorious sunset over neighbouring peaks.

Glaramara

I hiked Glaramara as part of a multi day route bagging 6 Wainwrights. Starting in Seathwaite and ending in Stonethwaite, my friend Adam and I left a car in either village. A dark cloud chased us to Glaramara and we felt lucky to set up the tent in time before bad weather hit. Remarkably it stayed dry all night and we fell asleep to the sound of Herdwick sheep munching the grass around the tent.

Great Cockup

I had a great cock up on Great Cockup! Yes it’s true, I lost my mobile phone for 15 minutes just off the summit of Great Cockup as the sun was going down. So I channelled my inner Jeffery Deaver (crime author who writes about crime scene investigation and ‘walking the grid’ of a crime scene looking for clues) and I walked the grid of the hillside until I found it nestled in the grass. I’ve always been much more careful with my gear ever since! I slept soundly, alone in the shadow of Skiddaw before walking to Meal Fell, Bakestall and Great Calva the following day.

Hallin Fell

James and I slept on Hallin Fell on the night of Wild Night Out 2018. We slept in our bivvy bags overlooking Ullswater after racing up to the Lake District following the birthday party of our good friend Saul in Wales. As it was a popular night to be wild camping and good clear conditions, we weren’t alone – but we found a nice quiet spot just off the summit to enjoy our bivvy.

Helm Crag

Helm Crag was my 8th Wainwright fell in an epic 13 fell multi day solo walk. Beginning in Glenridding and finishing in Grasmere, the route involved hitchhiking back to my car in Glenridding. I wasn’t an experienced scrambler at the time so was petrified climbing the Howitzer on the summit of Helm Crag but I was so proud of myself for trusting my instincts and going for it. I then bivvied in the shadow of the rocky pinnacle before continuing my journey the next day.

Helvellyn

A late winter ascent to Red Tarn was icy and cold! The new tent that my friend Carl and I were using suffered a snapped pole and it was so cold that everything was freezing. It was nearly appropriate to bail on the camp but we patched up the pole and made it through the night to summit the mountain via Swirral Edge the next day, descending on Striding Edge. That night I learned to sleep with everything in my sleeping bag – stove gas, socks and anything with a battery!

High Raise

High Raise formed part of my Martindale Horseshoe round. I walked this route with James in dire weather. It rained non stop on day one and I was relieved to have packed my dry merino base layers. It was an unremarkable camp, with the tent simply acting as a basic shelter from the relentless rain.

Ling Fell

Ling Fell was an awesome summer bivvy. After walking up Sale Fell, James and I ascended Ling Fell and bivvied overlooking a firework display in the valley. It’s amazing how small fireworks appear when you view them from above! We woke to one of the best sunrises I’ve ever seen, before leaving to hike on to Graystones.

Lingmell

Lingmell was my 34th birthday camp. The day began with an ascent of Kirk Fell, bagging Green Gable, Base Brown, Brandreth and Grey Knotts before the long walk to Lingmell. We stopped to eat birthday cake close to Sty Head Tarn before settling on a camp spot close to Lingmell. The group size was bigger than I was comfortable with for wild camping, but we spread our tents out and were fast asleep by 10pm. The following morning we bagged Scafell Pike, Scafell and Slight Side before descending back down into Wasdale Head.

Low Fell

Low Fell is a Wainwright that means a lot to me. James and I had been together a couple of months but we hadn’t dropped the ‘L’ bomb yet. He chose the summit of Low Fell to tell me how he felt about me and I’ll never forget it. With views down to Crummock Water, the romantic camp spot was as near to perfection as I would have thought possible.

Place Fell

Place Fell – the location of my first ever bivvy wild camp! James and I hiked up Place Fell from Patterdale one evening in the late spring. After touching the summit trig pillar we set our bivvy bags down for the night. The sunset was unremarkable and the skies were cloudy. But during the night and into the morning it cleared and we experienced one of the best sunrises. I was hooked on bivvying after this.

Sheffield Pike

Sheffield Pike – symbolically it meant a lot to me to climb this mountain. I was born and bred in Sheffield, South Yorkshire you see! First bagging Glenridding Dodd on the way up to Sheffield Pike, most of my group of friends bivvied on the hillside overlooking Ullswater before waking to a glorious sunrise. A wonderful silky cloud inversion rolled off the nearby hills, the skies were a rich orange and it was magical. The next day we bagged 4 more Wainwrights before descending back into Glenridding.

Watson’s Dodd

I always chuckle when I think of Watson’s Dodd because I wild camped with two friends there in 2018. The first – Matt Watson and the second Adam Dodsworth… get it?! It was an unremarkable pitch location and the conditions were dry but overcast, so we experienced neither a cracking sunset nor a beautiful sunrise. The next day we walked Great Dodd, Clough Head and High Rigg. High Rigg was the last of my Central Fells as I was close to completion.

Whiteside

Whiteside is the only camp amongst the 18 that wasn’t above the highest boundary line. It was a long way from any dwellings though and it wasn’t safe to camp higher due to the thunderstorm that passed through during the evening. My friend Adam and I hunkered down. I had a sleepless night wondering if a) the tent was going to be struck by lightening or b) if we’d be woken and moved on by a farmer. Neither of those things happened though and we hit the summit of Whiteside the following morning.

Wild Camping Lake District Notes

It’s important to read up on the following guidance if you’re considering wild camping in the Lake District. This article from the Lake District National Park Authority is very helpful. The National Park encourages responsible wild camping. It’s important that all guidance on leaving no trace and being respectful is adhered to, for the benefit of all wild campers and hikers.

About the Author

Photo of Adventurer Nic on a Loch in the Scottish Highlands

Adventurer Nic is a Wainwright ‘Compleater’ and a Munroist. Let her know what you thought of this post by dropping her a comment.