It is a long time since I did my last Unfrequented Wainwright Route so I put that correct today and climbed raise from Stanah via Fisherplace Gill.

As anyone who has walked the ridge between Clough Head and the Dodds knows, it is a flat whale back of a ridge covered in peat.  Many of the settlements in the valley below date from Norse times (1,000 years ago) as witnessed by the names.  For example Fornside, Legburthwaite and Lowthwaite are all of Norse origin.  So peat will have been an important fuel for at least since those settlements were created.  Fornside and Lowthwaite have their peat tracks on which peat was brought down from the ridge above on wooden hand sleds.

With rain forecast for this evening (which has duly arrived) I headed south over Dunmail Raise early this morning for a route I have had my eye on for a while.  I parked in the carpark at the Walna Scar fell gate and headed off up the tourist route up Coniston Old Man.

Today Ann, Roger, Jo and myself did a walk from Seathwaite which contained not one but two Unfrequented Wainwright Routes and we enjoyed it immensely in mostly hot and humid conditions.

After a wet and windy dog walk along the old railway track this morning, the weather cleared and by 2:30 a watery sun came out and tempted me to do a walk I had first thought about doing almost ten years ago when I bought my cottage.  I climbed Bleaberry Fell from Shoulthwaite Farm on the A591.  Not one but two Unfrequented Wainwright routes!!!

Like everyone else on the fells today I had wonderful walking conditions with not a cloud in the sky.  I had planned to park at Cowbridge carpark near Hartsop but it was full (the weather had seen to that) so I parked at Deepdale Bridge instead.  Deepdale is easy walking and eventually leads up to Deepdale Hause between Cofa Pike and St Sunday Crag - but I turned off the main path a mile below the hause.

Today's Unfrequented Wainwright Route was an ascent of Great Dodd via Mill Gill, returning to Fornside via Calfhow Pike and the peat track down Beckthorns Rib.

Yet another Unfrequented Wainwright Route today. I can see Blease Fell and Blease Gill on Blencathra from the end of my drive but I had never climbed it, or the "canyon" Wainwright describes at the top of the gill, until today.

Today was cloudy and cooler than the past few days so I thought it would be a good day to do Helvellyn via the steep Mines Gill route which heads straight for the summit from just above the shores of Thirlmere. This is another of AW's routes which has never found favour with many walkers.

Not one but two unfrequented Wainwright routes in one day - does it get any better than this? I think it was Andrew Mason who suggested that I climb Dollywaggon Pike via the Tongue and descend Nethermost Pike via its East Ridge - from Ruthwaite Lodge at the top of Grisedale. So - with a decent day forecast today, that is what I did.