2025 - A Year in Review

This blog has been rather neglected of late. Next year I aim to redress this. For now, though, let me run you through some of last year's escapades. It has been a decent year of walking. The Wainwrights tally has beefed up somewhat, I paid another visit to the Welsh mountains, and I ticked off my first 75 mile bike ride. So buckle up my fine fellows, for an accounting of 2025's rambles.  

Wainwrights

This year's Wainwrights tally stands at 34. An underwhelming number perhaps. Expectations always run high in those early months. Circumstances, some of my own origination, others in the lap of the Gods, have a tendency to conspire against the ideal. Still, it's several up on last year's tally. And as the list of unbagged peaks dwindles, the harder it is to bag them. I've done most of the big rounds, where peaks are-a-plenty, and a day could see close to double figures. It won't be long till I'm living off scraps.

In February, I made my start at Brother's Water. I started in the car park by the lake. It was a wintry day with deep snow. I summitted four in total: Hartsop Above How, Little Hart Crag, High Hartsop Dodd, and Middle Dodd. In March, I went home to County Durham to attend my cousin's wedding. I managed to swoop into the North Lakes, on route, to tick off the miniature Binsey. 

Then to my first solo camp of the year, documented in a previous post, on a campsite in Borrowdale. Aspirations were high, but not quite satisfied, owing to difficult conditions, poor route planning, and frankly, inadequate fitness. On the first day, I was met with a barrage of rain. By the end of the day, I was rather weary and sodden. I also made a poor decision, fooled by the mountains, when instead of proceeding on my pre-planned route, I made a dart out of Borrowdale toward the Scafell Range, for no reason other than that it appeared more proximal than it actually was. Day 1's summits included: Eagle Crag, Sergeant Crag, Esk Pike, Allen Crags, and Glaramara. 

By day two I was quite exhausted, and as such, did not make the most of the fine conditions. I started the morning with a short, gentle walk up the smallest Wainwright, Castle Crag. I had originally planned a long circular walk for the remainder of the day, in which I hoped to complete the Newlands round, but I did not achieve this. After summitting Maiden Moor and High Spy, I bailed out at Dale Head Tarn, descending by the fascinating Rigghead Quarries, back toward Castle Crag. A nice saunter was had along the river Derwent, then into the woods, followed by a look around Millican Dalton's cave. 

During my second solo trip, I sought to rectify having not completed the big Newlands fells. I parked on a layby of the Honister Pass, just before the slate mine. This day's route turned into a fine circular walk, which included one of the most iconic views in the Lakes. First, I proceeded from the pass up to Dale Head, which had fine views over the Newlands Valley. Hindscarth and Robinson were next. The descent of Robinson down toward Buttermere was a high point. The views were beautiful over Buttermere and Crummock water, and it was just a fine mountainside from which to descent, albeit rather tricky in parts. I proceeded along the main road back toward the Honister Pass, departing it too climb up Fleetwith Pike, whose summit view over Buttermere is rather iconic. On route back to the starting point, I summitted a further two Wainwrights, as well as a Nuttall (Honister Crag): Brandreth and Grey Knotts. 

The following day was quite the wash out. My big plans for heading up Haystacks, and the other fells along that line, were scuppered. The morning was spent in my tent, drinking coffee and watching old films. In the afternoon, I seized upon a break in the weather to head up to Newlands Hause, then proceeded on a linear walk taking in Knott Rigg and Ard Craggs. 

Later in summer, I returned to Hartsop. I conducted a walk taking in four fells: Gray Crag, Rest Dodd, The Nab, and Brock Crags. My next outing was on a misty, drizzly day in late Autumn. My starting point was Whinlatter Forest. An interesting place, with a fine shop, whose cafe served delicious pastries. It seems like a popular area for walkers and mountain bikers. I also took a trip to Glennridding, taking a walk up to Birkhouse Moor. I should have summitted this on one of my previous expeditions up Hellvellyn, but for whatever reason didn't. 

I thought this would be my fill for the year. I did take a day off work, just before Christmas, with the intention of visiting the Lakes, but alas, the weather was not amenable. But, as 2025 drew to a close, a window opened up on the 29th of December, with decent conditions for this time of year. I visited Haweswater and ticked off another four Wainwrights: Branstree, Selside Pike, Tarn Crag, Great Crag.

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The others

I focused primarily on the Wainwrights this year. I summitted some non-Wainwright Nuttalls on some of the aforementioned walks. On the 1st March, I took a trip to the Eden Valley with my Mam, where we went on a very pleasant walk taking in two Nuttalls, Swarth Fell and Wild Boar Fell. 

I took another trip to Wales this year. We stayed in Anglesey, in a pleasant cottage close to the sea. Early in the holiday, I walked up a small hill, Mynydd y Garn. A little later in the week, I embarked on one of my most, perhaps the most, challenging walk; no, not walk - climb - in the mountains. The first of the four mountains was the legendary Tryfan. My route was the north face. There are so many ways up this tremendous mountain. Some of them require ropes and technical expertise. My route up the north face didn't require ropes but it was a difficult scramble, especially for some one more accustomed to rambling. The weather was reasonable, dryish, but with some mist, the rocks and crags a little damp. This was a proper scramble, with a smidge of danger involved. 

At the top, there are two rocks standing close to one another, with a gap in between them, known as Adam and Eve. Folklore has it that those brave, or foolhardy enough, to jump from one to the other, gains the freedom of the mountain. At the foot of the rocks, I peered up to see that a seagull occupied the top. It's presence there perhaps signified the generosity of ramblers, who spared it some of their bait. It certainly wasn't perturbed by my presence, evidently, as I had to use a piece of my sandwich to lure it away. With some difficulty, I managed to haul myself up onto the rock. Due to the slippiness, the jump from Adam to Eve, or visa versa, was a little dicey. Once I got down, I felt bad for the seagull, so I lured it back to its perch with another morsel of my slowly fading sandwich. After Tryfan, my walk covered two more Welsh Mountains: Glyder Fach and Glyder Fawr. 

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The final noteworthy mention was a bike ride I did. For the first time, I cycled over 75 miles in a trip from my home in Langho to Morecambe. Like I did when I did a half century east bound from Spennymoor to Seaton Carew and back, I engaged in the obligatory dip in the sea. I hope to surpass 100 miles in 2026. 

2026 - A Year in Preview

When thinking about which Wainwright I'd save until last, I had what can only be described as a sound notion. My first solo camp in the Lakes was in Wasdale. For me, it remains my favourite part of the Lake District. Undoubtedly home to its grandest mountains, the valley itself has a remoteness unmatched anywhere within the national park. It contains an old inn, one full of character and mountain climbing heritage, and notable as marking the terminus of the road through the village. I may have bagged most of the peaks in Wasdale, such as Scafell Pike, Great Gable, Kirk Fell and Lingmell. One notable omission from this list is Great End. And what a Great End it would be for this to mark the end of my Wainwright journey. 

That will not be until 2027 though. Having ticked off Place Fell on a wild camp in January, I now have 55 left before I reach the magic number of 214. My main focus this year will be ticking off the remaining Wainwrights. Happy (belated) happy new year to all you ramblers!