This walk was a series of upsets and disappointments that ruined the entire day and resulted in my not getting to the top of a single Wainwright, but I did try, honest. Let's just write the whole day off as one-of-those-days and get on with something fun instead. But I mustn't be too hasty, so I didn't mange to do the walks I had planned, however I still enjoyed myself, once or twice. I'll start at the beginning of the day when I arrived at the bus station with plenty of time before the bus was due to leave for Borrowdale, that is until I put my sandwiches in my rucksack. The rest of my packed lunch was missing as I had left them at the hostel. I seriously considered abandoning them but it was raining so I wasn't looking forward to the walk ahead. The snow had melted on all but the highest fells and I was anticipating a muddy walk over Greenup Edge, so instead I walked away from the bus station with all my plans for the day in tatters.
After retrieving my lunch I caught the next bus heading south, which was the Lancaster bus, and got off in Grasmere. Hastily, I was forming new plans for the day and headed up the road towards Helm Crag thinking that I could at least go up there. Soon, however, I remembered a walk that I had once thought of doing, going up Steel Fell, returning over Helm Crag. This sounded like a great idea and I quickly headed up the road to the bottom of the fell and began the ascent. And then my jinx struck again, this time with the wind. Trying to walk up the ridge became a real battle against the strong winds and I wasn't in the mood or have the energy for it. If I didn't have a cold or a heavy rucksack and felt fresher, more invigorated, I may have kept going, but not on this day.
Returning to the bottom of the ridge I considered going up Helm Crag on it's own, but soon I realised that it would be just as hostile up there as it was half way up Steel Fell. It just wasn't fun up there and, believe it or not, I am supposed to be finding this enjoyable. When I saw it was past noon I decided to just walk to Ambleside, which would be easy and I would be able to stay out of the strong wind. Actually this was a very enjoyable walk and reminded me of my first time in the Lake District. On that occasion I had walked from Rydal to Grasmere and gazed across at Loughrigg wondering if I could find my glasses that I had lost there at the beginning of the holiday (no I didn't!), and this walk from Rydal to Ambleside, following the old coffin route, reminded me of that day and the very first day I spent in the Lake District when I had lost my glasses.
Aside from the nostalgia this was a fun little walk that passed through woodland for much of the way following a rugged course in open country. Paths like this show that there is a lot more to the Lake District than the summits of the fells often with better walks possible lower down. Unfortunately I soon arrived in Ambleside and this is where the gloom quickly set in as I had another 1½ hours to wait for the bus with nothing to do. Wandering the streets I eventually arrived in Rothay Park and thought morosely on previous visits to the Lake District when I had enjoyed myself (as opposed to this day). As my thoughts strayed onto the first day I had ever spent in the Lake District I remembered that before walking to Rydal I had visited Stockghyll Force. This suddenly struck me as an excellent idea for me to do especially since I hadn't been back.
2 comments:
This is an absolutely beautiful photograph. And a wonderful post, too. All was not lost after all.
It was a nice walk from Grasmere to Ambleside, but it was just too short. The day could have been so much better. Now I'm feeling that the New Year was such a let down that I want to get back up there as soon as possible. When my knee gets better I'll be back up there for the weekend, I hope.
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