Loop Hike in the Lake District

*This post has been a long time coming – it’s been almost three weeks since we did this hike! The main reason for the delay is that my SD card mysteriously corrupted the majority of the pictures from our four day loop hike in the Lake District. Not only that, but the USB stick that I use for backups also went kaput. I’m pretty bummed about it, but I’ve got a new SD card and USB stick now and I’ll hopefully find a way to recover the photos eventually. Until then, I apologize for the lack of photos and abundance of crummy phone pictures in this post!*

Lake District, England

Ask anybody where to get some great views and do some great hiking in England and you’ll likely receive the answer of: oh that’s easy, the Lake District. We had already covered some ground in the Peak District, so it seemed silly not to try tackling a loop hike in the Lake District as well. Mac found a great hike online through the YHA website. To the uninitiated, YHA stands for Youth Hostel Association. There are hundreds of these hostels scattered throughout England, and they attract not only youths, but families and hikers/adventurers of all ages. The loop hike we did took us from Aria Force/Glenridding, all the way to Buttermere over the course of four days.

Loop Hike in the Lake District

Day 1: Aria force to Glenridding

We got a ride from a lovely woman who dropped us off at Aria Force – a 21m (70ft) waterfall to which we could get right up close and personal. There were various trails leading from the car park to and around the waterfalls making them very accessible to families and fellow hikers. From the falls, we followed the roadside trail out to Glenridding. The sun was shining and the temperatures were “soaring” (it was maybe 18C!!), and the easy 6km hike got us excited for our days to come.

We stopped briefly in Glenridding to check out the shops before making the 35 minute trudge up the hill to our lodging for the night – YHA Helvyllen. This hostel is at the very end of a seldom-used road, beside a gushing river, and in the shadows of some impressive hills – one of which we’d climb the next day!

Day 2: Glenridding to Langdale (Helvyllen Summit)

We started day two a little after 8am. Right from YHA Helvyllen, the trail takes you up, up, up towards the third highest peak in England – Helvyllen. Our excitement soon waned as we looked up to see the peaks covered in giant clouds and fog. Soon enough we entered the fog ourselves and visibility was reduced to a few metres!

There are two ways to get up to Helvyllen – Striding Edge, and Swirral Edge. Swirral Edge is more of a scamper up loose rocks, while Striding Edge is a technical climb over huge jagged boulders. We opted for Striding Edge and I’m not sure if the fog made it better or worse! We literally straddled the ridge line, and with no visibility to see the valleys and hills below, we essentially climbed blind. It was definitely an eerie experience! Eventually the jagged rocks gave way to a completely flat terrain. Soon we stumbled upon a primitive shelter and a pile of rocks denoting the summit. At 950m high, Helvyllen is the highest peak in the nearby area, but we honestly couldn’t tell!

By this point, the wind had picked up and the constant fog was making us brutally cold. Immediately after the summit, the fog was so bad that we could barely see the trail! Luckily some gracious soul had made a series of cairns (rock piles) to follow. We make the trek down, down, down the valley – stopping only to gawk at waterfalls, warn uphill hikers about the wind, and attempt to eat lunch with frozen fingers. Eventually we emerged from the biting cold and found ourselves in the small town of Grasmere. Here we stocked up on food here, and I bought a pair of hiking pants. (My only pair of hiking bottoms were shorts, and if the rest of the days were similar to this one, I had a feeling that I’d be needing more protection!)

From Grasmere, it was another hour hike to make it to YHA Langdale. This hostel is in a converted Victorian mansion and was a treat to roam the halls in search of endless rooms! The dorms had impressively high ceilings, and the lounge area, with it’s vaulted ceilings, wood details, and huge fireplace, was a great place to veg out and rest our tired legs.

Day 3: Langdale to Borrowdale

We had grand visions of doing a 25km hike that would send us up several summits – some of the highest in the park. But, Mother Nature had better ideas and the forecast called for a full day of rain. We edited our plan to a manageable 16km along the Cumbria Way (a trail that runs 112km (70 miles) through the Lake District). The day started off fairly uneventful and we were able to hike rain free for an hour or so.

The rain did start, and it just… didn’t stop! All day! One of the most memorable sections was hiking up and over Stake Pass. This hulking incline was certainly intimidating, but with rain pouring down, we just had to power through. We followed the trail alongside powerful waterfalls, and through gushing streams and springs. It took us about 45 minutes to reach the top, where we were engulfed in another cloud of fog. We didn’t stay long up here, and ate our lunch sandwiches on the go.

After Stake Pass, we switchbacked our way down the other side and hiked for a while in the valley beside the Langstrath Beck river. With socks and shoes hopelessly soaked at this point, we barely even bothered to sidestep streams and puddles. When we finally reached civilization, we nearly broke into a run to the hostel. After Stake Pass, the rain had subsided a bit to a light drizzle, but not 30 minutes after arriving at YHA Borrowdale, the taps turned on and it started pouring!! In our dry clothes and with our wet gear in the drying room, we counted our blessings that we weren’t stuck outside!

We spent the night in the cozy lounge of YHA Borrowdale plotting our next day of hiking alongside fellow hikers and travellers.

Day 4: Borrowdale to Buttermere

Like all of the other days thus far, Mac and I had great plans and visions for this day of hiking. We set out at 7:30am in the hopes of making it to the summit of Dale Head before the weather took a turn. Unfortunately for us, that still wasn’t early enough and we found ourselves in an open field about 30 minutes from the summit in a total downpour. We ditched all plans of reaching Dale Head and instead scampered all the way down to Honister Mine.

Honister Mine is a slate mine and we took shelter in the cafe as we plotted our next moves. By this point I was in a right state and only wanted to hitchhike to Buttermere. It was still raining, I was cold, tired, and soaked. Luckily, Mac was a voice of reason and convinced me to finish the hike. Begrudgingly, I tore my body away from the warmth of the cafe and joined Mac as we ascended yet another hill. Eventually the hill gave way to some of the most impressive views we had seen thus far (mostly due to the fog that prevented us from seeing anything!).

We stumbled upon two mountain bothys – primitive huts in the mountains for hikers in need. Dub’s Hut and Warnscale Head were really neat to visit. Warnscale Head was built in 1750 (!!!) for the slate mine. It was used until the early-1800’s before being abandoned. It was finally reroofed nearly 150 years later in 1985 and has seen renovations as recently as 2006.

From Warnscale Head, we continued down into the valley and after hiking beside Lake Buttermere before arriving at the YHA of the same name. This converted house was a welcomed haven after our four long days of hiking. The town of Buttermere has a few cafes and pubs, but nowhere to stock up on food – so plan ahead accordingly!

The next day we got a lift from a fellow hiker from Buttermere to Penrith, then another to Carlisle, then a final one to Newcastle. We had stayed in Newcastle after hiking the Cleveland Way and our host was kind enough to let us leave a bag of things we didn’t want to take hiking. (Things like the laptop, jeans, sandals, etc). Despite the less than ideal weather conditions, this loop hike in the Lake District was truly amazing. Even if you’re not a fan of multi-day hikes, I would definitely still recommend visiting the Lake District. There are plenty of day hikes and smaller loops available.

Would you ever do a loop hike in the Lake District? Have you ever gotten rained out on a hike?

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]

Never Miss a Post!

Enter your email address to subscribe to A Taste of Trace and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Email Address:

Sign Me Up!

[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]