A Write-off

Saturday 5th January 2008

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.

With a renewed vigour in my step I raced through the streets of Ambleside and up the road I remembered so well from 5½ years ago (although I seem to recall it was packed with cars back then, it was July). In the failing light of four o'clock in early January I turned onto a muddy path beside the river and climbed up to the impressive waterfall. Despite the poor light I took many pictures while attempting to keep my hands as still as I could; looking at the pictures I seem to have been successful, however the long exposure times hadn't brought the waterfall out well. Returning to the town centre I caught the bus to Windermere thence the train home. This wasn't a great day's walk but it's not been a great holiday in the Lake District with the weather being a factor as well as my cold and certain lapses in concentration on my part. The ideal weather for this time of the year would be icy cold and clear blue skies (as I got just before Christmas 2006), what I didn't want was wet and mild, which is what I got for this walk. To be fair, the rain stopped early and the rest of the day was almost sunny, so if I hadn't missed the bus (again), and if it hadn't been as windy as it was on Steel Fell ...