Hiking The Bob Graham Round

Hiking The Bob Graham Round Challenge

How it all started!

We thought it would be a good idea to hike the Bob Graham Round after deciding to hike the GR5 Trail. Apart from a few wild camping nights over the years in the Lake District we had not actually done more than one night at a time and then only covering between 15-20 miles. Our kit was heavy and essentials like red wine seemed a good idea at the time until we tried lifting our ruck sacks!  We realised we would need to get a serious long distance hike in and so decided on doing The Bob Graham Round. 

The Bob Graham Round is a 66 mile circuit covering 42 Lake District peaks with 26,900 feet (8,200 m) ascent- a great way to do some wainwright bagging! The route was finished by Bob Graham in under 24 hours in 1932. The current record is now 12hrs 52 mins set by Kilian Jornet in 2018, the ladies record is 15hr 24m set by Jasmin Paris in 2016. Nikki Spinks ran the fastest Double Bob Graham Round recently in 45 hours and 30 minutes, 10 years after having had cancer! Amazing.

The Bob Graham Round on Film 

We watched a number of videos on YouTube about the Bob Graham Round as part of our research. The following video by Wild Leopard Films which documents Tony Holt's attempt was one of the ones we enjoyed the most as it's not all about record breaking- it's about enjoying your time on the fells with good company. 

Hiking the Bob Graham Round

Now we were not aiming for any records except getting round the route without any mis-haps. We split the route into six sections to keep daily distances shorter than our usual day hikes with light packs. We were carrying full kit with 5days of food so our kit with water was around 14-15 kilos. It felt a lot heavier than this and the first couple of days were tough until our bodies got used to the extra weight and we ate the heaviest foods. 

The Bob Graham Round Day Planner

Day 1 - Keswick to Scales Tarn Blencathra, Wild Camp

Day 2 - Scales Tarn to Nethermost Pike, Wild Camp

Day 3 - Nethermost Pike to Harrison Stickle, Wild Camp

Day 4 - Harrison Stickle to Wasdale Head, Campsite

Day 5 - Wasdale Head to Brandreth, Wildcamp

Day 6 - Brandreth to Keswick

By day three we settled into the trek and it became a little easier but still tough going with full packs and our total ascent was over 8,000 metres so not a bad challenge to test ourselves with. It helped us refine our kit selection for the GR5 Trail and we figured if we could manage six days trek we'd manage 32. How hard could it be!

The Bob Graham Round is a great longer distance hike taking in some of the best areas in the Lake District. If you've only done a night wild camping give it a go but pack light!

Essential Reading:

The Big Round  by Paddy Buckley & Charlie Ramsey Rounds

The Bob Graham Round Map  (Harvey Maps)

The Round: In Bob Graham’s Footsteps

If you have any questions following reading this blog or any general adventure questions then please do  contact us we are always happy to help. 

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