Hi folks

I’m looking for some local knowledge re the Western Lakes.

What’s the trail like off of Fleetwith Pike? Good descent?

Also, if one was doing a cheeky portage climb up from the top of Honister towards High Spy or Robinson / Hindscarth, what would be the favoured route off? It’s been years since I last did a circuit involving an ascent of Cat Bells and round the horseshoe with a bike (1997 to be precise with my first generation Santa Cruz Heckler) and I was wondering if anyone has ridden round there more recently? 😀

Cheers

Sanny

I’m sure I’ve done the descent of Fleetwith Pike but can’t remember much about it…I’ll get in touch with anc and find out!

Just found out that I haven’t done it…to quote anc, “riding down will defo involve getting off at times, some big penalty points in places, parts of it are a scramble going up”. It will be right coming from him.
(I think he’s talking about when he has walked up what you’d be doing as the descent).

Rode, some of it :-), this summer.
Not really sure about it to be honest we had a fair few problems coming down two offs and a broken mech may have had something to do with it.
Its pretty much as described above A fair bit of it is rideable but it can be exposed, theres a pretty severe drop to your left, which I managed to go over with scared the shite out of me. I reckon though on a dry day and the right frame of mind it would be grand.

I know a few guys who love it.

Ayup, Sanny. Not sure if this is the descent you mean, but….freewheel for around 30 seconds down from the slate quarry high above Honister visitor centre, then just after a stone building on your right, turn right off the wide track and onto the bridleway that goes all the way down to Buttermere. The hill is on your right hand side, all the way down. For me it’s possibly the best descent in England – 100% rideable, but rough and with a couple of tricky bits. I did it on Saturday and conditions were mint.

A quick google suggests there’s a super-steep option that comes down the spine of Fleetwith Pike – maybe that’s the one you meant?

WL- that is the Warnscale Beck descent.

Warnscale Beck………………thats what I ment as well SORRY

d45yth – that’s the one, yes – cracking descent. So is there another good one off Fleetwith Pike? Can you recommend any more Lakes descents that are similar? I’ve done a few but there must be way more that I haven’t.

This is part of the Fleetwith Pike descent, Warnscale Beck although quite tough, is tame in comparison!!!

As soon as you go past the point you can see, it gets a whole lot steeper. I’d confused it with Whiteless when I thought I’d done it…you can see the Fleetwith path when you’re coming down Whiteless…I remember thinking FT! I thought something was amiss when folk where saying they’ve done it or know folk who think it’s good. 🙄

Hi Will

Fleetwith is on your left when you are looking towards Buttermere.

For Fleetwith, there appears to be a footpath along the top and a bridleway heading west. Is it the Bridleway you mean as that’s the one that interests me. I’ve wondered about that for a while. Anyone got any pics?

So what about Robison and Hinscarth then?

Cheers

Sanny

It’s a good ride. Nice to mix it in with High Stiles and Red Pike.

Nice. Is that BW then or footpath, not that it really matters? And do you get to it by just carrying straight on when you reach the quarry climbing from Honister, instead of turning left like you do to reach Warnscale? And is it actually rideable? Not bothered if it’s super-steep, but it needs to be actually possible. Thanks v much.

The one I was originally on about is a BW. From that photo above, it would be down on your left as you look to Buttermere (white area at the very top of the photo). It’s a great descent. Not suicidal by any means, but quite testing to ride it all clean.

WL – I really enjoyed the descent I did from Styhead Tarn down to Stockley Bridge (Nr Seathwaite) the other week, as part of the 4 passes route. It was the first time I’d done it.
Here’s the map: Strava link.
I think the main part is known as Mondo. 😉

d45yth – done that one (and enjoyed it) a couple of times, but thanks. Don’t suppose you know the trail that seems to run parallel to the climb up from Sprinkling Tarn – it’s on the other side of a little gorge with a stream in it as you walk up from Sprinkling Tarn as though you were heading to Scafell Pike. It’s visible on your left after around 15 minutes of walking up from Sprinkling Tarn.

Sorry, no, I’ve never been down that way.

Just looked – think it’s called Grains Gill. Footpath, goes down towards Seathwaite. No idea if it’s any good though. So is that Fleetwith one in your photo mostly/all rideable, or not really worth the effort? Ta.

WL – that pic of Fleetwith isn’t mine, I’ve just realised that it isn’t what I was thinking of when coming down Whiteless either…I’m blaming it on lack of sleep, I’ve hardly had any all weekend. Between having to take some night shots the other night and having to get up before dawn the same night/morning for some time lapse stuff, I don’t know whether I’m coming or going! 😕
I’d take Anc’s advice to be honest…if he can’t ride it, I don’t think many/any other folk could.

Sanny

The Bridleway is ace as mentioned above….4 passes is the best legit day you can have on a day out in Englandshire if the sun is shining 8)

So what about the other side of the valley with regards to Robinsons and Hindscarth? What is the best way to ride them?

I know a few guys who love it

You sure that’s fleetwith?
The Warnscale BW is a good challenge, but the pic below shows how steep the front of Fleetwith is:

The BW next to the waterfall heading down to Buttermere is ace – I rode it on Saturday. Best thing to do with it, is tack it onto the Borrowdale Bash. Once in Buttermere, just head back over Honister and rejoin the main route.
Sprinkling tarn – Styhead tarn – Seathwaite is just as good, if not better and is 100% ridable.

So who here can ride all of warnscale bottom? There is a steep bit just before the trail goes round to the right with the beck and a cliff to your left which failure may lead to death. Then on the rest of the way down the path has some points where it has been totally eroded that looked impossible to ride unless you had some pretty impressive trials skills and could hop over the gaps. Any films of it all being done?

I did the granns gill path last year and the sty head bridleway this year. Except for the boulder field in the middle I liked the bridleway better. The bw was more varied and the path was more steppy.

Pics from 4 pass epic, Honister-Wanscale bridleway section earlier this year:

P3140005 by ir_bandito, on Flickr

P3140006 by ir_bandito, on Flickr

P3140008 by ir_bandito, on Flickr

IMG_0284 by ir_bandito, on Flickr

Route:

4-pass epic by ir_bandito, on Flickr

Personally, I preferred the Black Sail Pass descent of the route.

I had trouble walking up the first bit of Fleetwith direct from Gatesgarth without using hands, so it would be mighty spicy coming down.

Bizarre strava segments on the link up the page. Three things labelled as ‘Honister Pass’ when none of them are anywhere near it!

Morning Sanny. Robinson and Hindscarth are very similar descents. I’d say Hindscarth is the better – there are a few less carry-downs. The best route up is to carry up Dale Head from Honister.

As other’s have said, I’d avoid the footpath down the front of Fleetwith – it’s mostly a carry-down with a brief ride towards the bottom.

d45yth – no worries, cheers for that.
GEDA – it’s 100% rideable. I’ve ridden it all, but never in one go because it’s knackering. I’m sure others on here will have nailed every bit. The section that gets most people walking is almost immediately after the main right-hand bend halfway down. It’s a steep little drop with a bit of exposure on the left, but it’s good if you’re careful. There’s also a bit near the bottom with a tree on the left – very tight and tricky, but doable on a good day. A decent bike with biggish forks helps.

GEDA, is this the bit you mean?

Last time I rode the descent, I cleared 95% of it. As you say, there were a few big gaps towards the bottom, but bizarrely, I found the steep stuff at the top manageable!

WL- I think i did the trail you’re on about on Sunday – Gains Ghyl. I’d say its slightly better that the BW down to Stockley as its all down. The BW (from memory) has that middle water logged section which i cant be doing with. Its a bit “stepy” in places but there are some nice techie feature thrown in to keep you interested. There are alos some fairly sketchy exposed bits to be minful of. I say give it a go. I had a quick look at the footpath down Fleetwith and it looked unridable in places.
This is the route i did – 😀
http://app.strava.com/rides/25021163
Mark

No. I put some pins in the maps link below.

Warnscale descent

Point 2 on the map seemed doable but with a potential very high price for failure. The others were just a maze of rocks so maybe if you picked the right line it might be doable. I did not stay around long enough to session it. Respect if you can do it all.

Who can get up the zigzags up to the quarry? I managed up to the first bend and then had enough.

With a plan to head up to Spinking Tarn/Sty Head and down the BW to Stockley Bridge, I was thinking of riding up Langstrath and carrying up the FP at the back of the combe (Allencrags gill) to Esk Hause area – is this a reasonable way up? (Hoping to ride most of the way until the steep climb).

Cheers

The two guys I was riding with on Saturday cleaned the whole climb from the cafe to the quarry at the top. Very impressive.

On your map, I agree 2 is doable (pretty sure I did it last time), not sure about 1 or 3 though. Would be very impressive/demoralising/inspiring* to watch someone ride the whole thing.

*delete as appropriate

Warnscale. Wouldn’t bother attempting Fleetwith to Gategarth… It would be a carry most of the way down.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMbGJw7CBc4&list=UUe8c-qmgi_WmQkHSycQsZog&index=1&feature=plcp[/video]

Scary – thanks for that, sounds good. I reckon I’l check that descent sometime – always looking for new ways to string exciting loops together. I’ve wild camped at Sprinkling before, and that’s always an option too.

GEDA – it’s a rock maze alright, but there are ways through. Might take a bit of looking and a couple of goes though. I reckon it would be virtually impossible to ride it all ‘blind’ in one go.

Edit: double post