The HikeTheLakes Blog
Lake District Fell Walking: Written From the Inside
Route guides, practical tips, and fell walking advice. Written by Damian Roche, founder of HikeTheLakes and a regular Lake District visitor for decades.
Striding Edge: What No One Tells You Before You Go
Striding Edge gets talked about like it is a near-death experience. It is not. But there are a few things the guidebooks gloss over that are worth knowing before you set off from Glenridding.
Scafell Pike via Wasdale: The Honest Account
Three routes up England's highest mountain. Wasdale is the shortest. It is also the hardest. Here is what the distance figures do not tell you.
Sharp Edge on Blencathra: The Most Underrated Ridge in the Lakes
Striding Edge gets all the attention. Sharp Edge on Blencathra is narrower, more exposed, and better. Most people who have done both agree.
How to Start the Wainwrights: A Practical Guide
There are 214 of them. The question is not whether you can do them all, it is where to start. Not with Scafell Pike.
The Far Eastern Fells: Why Serious Baggers End Up Here
Book Two is the quietest corner of the Wainwrights. High Street, Ill Bell, and a Roman road running across the top of England. If you have not been, you are missing something.
Reading the Fell Forecast: MWIS, Met Office, and What to Actually Trust
A Met Office forecast of light cloud and 14 degrees means nothing at 900 metres. Here is how to read the forecasts that actually matter.
Winter Fell Walking in the Lake District: What Changes
Shorter days, colder temperatures, ice on the paths, and almost no one else up there. Winter in the Lakes is worth it if you prepare properly.
Tarn Fishing in the Lake District: Still Water Is a Different Game
I fish the coast a lot. The tarns are something else. Different pace, different technique, different kind of morning. Here is what I have learned.
The Fell Kit List That Actually Works
The outdoor industry would like you to spend a lot of money. Some of it is worth spending. Here is the honest version of what you actually need.
Where to Stay for Fell Walking: Keswick, Ambleside, or Wasdale
Your base determines which fells are realistic for a day walk. Three honest assessments of the main options.
Damian Roche
Founder, Churchtown Media & HikeTheLakes.com
Damian has been walking the Lake District fells for decades. Ex-army, self-taught in SEO, and based in Southport. He's fished the tarns, walked Helvellyn more times than he can count, and built HikeTheLakes because he couldn't find a guide that was honest about conditions and effort. He founded Churchtown Media and runs the Lakes Network.
About Damian