David Pickering - 477593

From parking lot at Honister Pass/Honister Slate Mine. Ascended due north to Dale Head (753m). At summit, turned west and continued to Hindscarth (727m). Continued west to the summit of Robinson (737m). From Robinson, descended south (precipitously) to the valley floor at Buttermere (102m) at Hastness/Crag Wood. Turned east and continued to Gategarth Farm (and the parking lot for tomorrow mornings walk) and then began the ascent of Fleetwith Pike (648m). Questioned my sanity in including this additional ascent at the end of the day, but made the summit and continued east passing over Honister Crag/Black Star (633m) and ended back at Honister Slate Mine parking lot (the cafe has coffee and cake). I had a later than originally planned start due to issues getting out of Manchester, so I ended the walk at dark. Started at 11am and ended at 5pm.

Total Time: 6 hours; Total Distance: 15.1km; Total Ascent: 1,630m; Five (5) Wainwrights

Route selection was conducted using OS Maps App on computer and printing and laminating map sections. Though partially clouding, visibility was good and the trail well marked. Obviously a popular walk with views of Keswick and Derwent Water to the north, and Buttermere (Lake) and Buttermere Fells to the south.

Weather was tracked during the week with MWIS updates, and watching the 'Fleeting View' videos, and also the Met Office Special Forecast for Mountains/Lake District- Dale Head. The weather was accurate for today. Though it was raining when I arrived at Honister Slate Mine that only last about 15 minutes, and the rest of the day was dry. The primary challenge was the winds on the summits and the ridgeline between Dale Head, Hindscarth, and Robinson, and again at the summit of Fleetwith Pike. Though the range of 25-35mph, with occational gusts to 40mph, was only not seriously impacting.

I had my SATMAP GPS back and used it to create the .gtx file for this report.

This was a two day trip to the Lake District. Camped at the Borrowdale YHA on this night (Thursday), and made a second walk in the next DLog report (Friday).