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Peak Bagging: Wainwrights: 45 routes designed to complete all 214 of Wainwright's Lake District fells in the most efficient way

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A classic Lakeland day outing, starting with a boat ride across Derwentwater before a hike to the top of Cat Bells and peek at Peter Rabbit’s scrumping ground Peak Bagging’ is a term that describes walkers trying to summit as many hills or mountains on a list as possible. Therefore Wainwright Bagging is trying to summit all 214 Wainwrights. For some people, completing the Wainwrights can take a matter of weeks whereas other people will take years.

My method of Wainwright Bagging is being methodical and geographical. I aim to complete my Wainwrights a book at a time, focussing on an area. You can find all my walks below. Who Should Walk The Wainwrights We usually take the route straight from our house,” says Dan. “That's from the east side; the Askham/Bampton side. There are several ridges that lead up. The central ridge is nice and gentle and it takes you to the top. There's a trig point at the top, but actually the trig point wasn't there when Wainwright wrote his books, so the Wainwright summit is about 50 metres south of there. Then to come down we would normally go north to Bonscale Pike. That's another interesting hill. There are some cairns, and towers, and good views out over Ullswater.” Wainwright Four: Fairfield (873m) Always a welcome sight; sunshine breaking through the clouds and shining on the fells of the Lake District. Photo: Getty Stuart is a Scottish travel writer, and editor of the Much Better Adventures Magazine. 2022 Travel Media Awards Finalist: 'Young Travel Writer of the Year', 'Sustainability Feature of the Year'. Our favourite hikes in Spain will take you up volcanic peaks, across snowcapped mountains and deep into the rainforest... Southern Fells18 The Coniston Fells 17.8km19 Langdale West 17.5km20 The Scafells 13.1km21 Langdale South 13.8km22 Borrowdale Fells 16.3km23 Hardknott Round 17.6km24 Encircling Elter Water 20.0km25 Tilberthwaite Round 13.6km26 Above & Below Wasdale Screes 17.1kmThere are 214 Wainwrights that range from small hills to major mountains (Image credit: Alexander W Helin) Alfred Wainwright completed a seven-volume series called A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells , in which he detailed the 214 Lake District Fells now known as The Wainwrights. What is interesting about this selection of Fells is that they were not chosen for their scale or grandeur… they were chosen because they were his favourites. What Are The Wainwrights Note the there are no qualification criteria for Wainwrights, the author sometimes gives a summit location that is not the highest point of the fell. Our policy is to take the location intended by Wainwright. The list is not subject to revision.) North-Western Fells32 Wythop Wanderings 19.9km33 Grasmoor & More 15.7km 34 Dale Head Horseshoe 15.4km 35 Coledale Horseshoe 14.5km 36 A Newlands Round 15.9km

Possibly the Lake District’s finest horseshoe hike, this rugged ramble takes in a handful of Wainwrights

A hiker descending from the highest Nuttall, Snowdon in Wales' Snowdonia National Park (Image credit: Getty) Peak-bagging the Munros – the one for those who love remote, rugged, wild terrain It's one of the quieter hills,” says Dan. “Even though it's in the heart of Lakeland, south of Ullswater and Borrowdale. So many people set off from Seathwaite and head up Scafell Pike, and don't really consider other options. You come up Thorneythwaite Fell from Seathwaite, and then you do a bit of a scramble up to the top. The descent, over Rosthwaite Fell, is also great. Again, it's a knobbly ridge.” It differs in format from Wainwright's Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells (which comprises seven volumes listing 214 mountains and tops - each with its own chapter) in that each of its 56 chapters describes a walk rather than a single fell - often taking in several minor tops along the way. Start with the smaller peaks such as Castle Crag, Latrigg and Loughrigg and work you way up to the big ones.

Born in 1907, Wainwright spent much of his life in the Lake District of North West England, which inspired his detailed guides and meticulous hand-drawn maps. Over fifty years ago, renowned British hillwalker and guidebook author Alfred Wainwright described 214 peaks in the English Lake District in his seven-volume illustrated Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells. Wansfell is a popular peak, just make sure you climb it the right way (Image credit: James Forrest)There were no specific criteria to select the 214 distinctive peaks that would be (intimately) chronicled in Alfred Wainwright's seven-volume pictorial guide. Rather, their inclusion was based on Wainwright's appreciation for their prominence and character within the landscape. You've also got Aira Force at the bottom, which is one of the most popular waterfalls in the Lake District. So it's a great place to go, both as a short walk, or as part of a longer trek. In the book we do Gowbarrow and then a couple of the other, adjacent lower hills - Great Mell Fell and Little Mell Fell. But Gowbarrow is the nicest in the area.

Like the Munros in Scotland, bagging all the Wainwrights has become a popular and significant challenge for walkers and runners, often taking many years in fits and starts because of the absence of a clear plan for how to link them together. With this problem in mind, Peak Bagging: Wainwrights by Karen and Dan Parker features forty-five routes designed to link up these iconic fells so you can enjoy the challenge of completing them at your own pace - over years, months or even just a few weeks. Wainwright eventually settled in Kendal, in the southern Lake District, where he worked as an accountant. He spent countless hours exploring the fells in his spare time, mapping out routes and writing about his adventures in his famous guidebooks. Wainwright's writing style is distinctive and charming, and his books have become enduring classics, loved by walkers and outdoor enthusiasts worldwide. It's no wonder so many have been inspired to follow in the writer’s footsteps, and that Wainwright bagging - in similar style to Scotland's munros - has taken off. The Wainwrights don’t necessarily have distinguishing characteristics such as all being above a certain height, however they are all mountains and they are all within Lake District National Park (Image credit: fotoVoyager)Compiled in the 1890s by peak surveyor extraordinaire Sir Hugh Munro, the ‘ Munros’ are an iconic list of Scottish mountains over 3,000ft. There are 282, including many of the UK’s most dramatic and remote mountains, and completing the list is a lifelong ambition of all self-respecting British peak-baggers. For the truly intrepid, you can also combine the Munros with the Corbetts (Scottish peaks between 2,500ft and 3,000ft, with 500ft of drop on all sides), and the Grahams (Scottish peaks between 2,000ft to 2,500ft, with 150m of drop). Karen adds: "And you can run along the main ridge, the east-west ridge, and take a gentle route down. So it's a really good route." Peak Bagging the Wainwrights is a way of discovering and experiencing new mountains, peaks, tops and hills that you might have not otherwise thought of walking on - often in glorious solitude well away from the crowded honeypots.

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