Round and round

The Gable Girdle is unusual in that it’s a high-level path around a mountain; airy circuits of other peaks will likely involve long, possibly tricky, sections without a trail. If you lower your sights slightly though, you can often link beautiful valley paths into a loop around various big lumps of rock. Kirk Fell, (pictured below), right next to Great Gable, can be walked around; it could even be part of a figure of eight with the Gable Girdle. Skiddaw and Blencathra both work (the latter with a short section off path). Then there’s Snowdon, or you could choose a peak that has special meaning for you. It can be particularly special if it’s a mountain you already know, as it deepens that relationship.

Of course, you need to be looking for stand-alone mountains, rather than ones that are part of a protracted range. Some hills have paths on the ground that don’t appear on maps, so check satellite imagery for possible routes, even if it’s just a well-defined sheep trod. And keep in mind any tricky sections when choosing which way to circumambulate; you usually want to be going up those rather than down them.