Lanthwaite Hill to the Kirkstile Inn

Kirkstile Inn

Western Lake District

Route: The Kirkstile Inn from Lanthwaite Wood

Area: Western Lake District

Date of walk: 28th January 2015

Walkers: Andrew and Gilly

Distance: 4.7 miles

Weather: Overcast with sleet snow and hail, windy, cold

We parked in the National Trust car park at Scale Bridge and, instead of heading along the wide track to the foot of Crummock Water, turned uphill and climbed up the rocky staircase which leads to the top of Lanthwaite Hill (or Brackenthwaite Hows as the OS calls it)

The views from the top are wonderful – in all directions – though it was overcast and rather dull at the time. We walked round the back of Lanthwaite Wood and then down to the boathouse on the shore of Crummock Water. At this point there was a blizzard, horizontal sleet/snow borne on a ferocious wind, and I had to put the camera away for a while

Taking photos remained difficult for the rest of the walk and at certain times was impossible. We’d planned a slightly longer walk, but in these conditions we decided to seek refuge in the Kirkstile Inn as fast as we could get there. Steak and ale pie and Loweswater Gold, plus the roaring fire, soon warmed us up and recharged our batteries for the return leg

In view of the awful conditions we changed our planned route and walked back to the start the shortest possible way – along the road

For other walks here, visit my Find Walks page and enter the name in the ‘Search site’ box

Click on the icon below for the route map (subscribers to OS Maps can view detailed maps of the route, visualise it in aerial 3D, and download the GPX file. Non-subscribers will see a base map)

Scroll down – or click on any photo to enlarge it and you can then view as a slideshow

Previous walk: « | Next walk: »