Great Gable cannot fail to stir a mountaineer’s blood: just murmuring the name will quicken the pulse. Lakeland’s seventh highest summit throws unmistakeable but completely different profiles to the points of the compass. From the southwest it presents the beautiful diamond emblematic of the National Park Authority. From Kirk Fell, it appears as a twisted cylindrical tower, as if a cake has slightly melted in a shop window. From the north, it shows as a supercilious eyebrow raised in disdain for the puny mortal aiming to climb it. You may be mortal but are far from puny, so climb it you must. This route scores over the usual Wasdale Head and Seathwaite approaches in several regards: it is generally quieter, wheeled transport will hoist you to 350 metres, it is rich in history and the views are sensational. The sight of Pillar from Brin Crag has to be in any Lakeland mountaineer’s Top Ten. The Moses in question is a rather hazy figure: Moses Rigg may have been an 18th century quarryman who may have transported cargos legal and not-so-legal of stone, graphite and moonshine along this route. Or he may be myth.
Detailed description
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Difficulty: ModerateDistance: 5.50 miles (8.85 km)
Total ascent: 705m
Time: 2:30 hours (Trail running);
4 hours (Walking)
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Additional Information
Start/Finish:Honister Pass, NY224136
Nearest town:
Keswick
Terrain:
Easy walking as far as the northwest ridge, where things get significantly spicier. Loose down to Windy Gap, then easygoing again for the rollercoaster descent over Brandreth and Grey Knotts
Seasonal variations:
Any icing will turn Gable into an axe-and-crampons outing.
Weather and Hill Conditions: mwis: Lake District – Met Office: Lake District
Public transport:
Check out the Honister Rambler service 77
Guidebooks:
Wainwright Western Fells
Maps:
OS Explorer OL4 (1:25,000), OS Explorer OL6 (1:25,000), Harvey/BMC Lake District (1:40,000), OS Landranger 89 (1:50,000) Directory Listings:
Find more Listings near this route Tourist info:
Seatoller (017687 77294); Keswick (017687 72645); Grasmere (015394 35245)
Further Routes
by Norman Hadley
- Bannisdale Horseshoe 6 Apr
- Sallows and Sour Howes 20 Mar
- Kinder Downfall and the Reservoir Round 14 Feb
- Buttermere Horseshoe 3 Jan
- Brock Crags and Angletarn Pikes 12 Dec, 2023