The Helvellyn Range

Tuesday 7th April 2015

I started this walk in the same way that I had ended the previous day's walk, which was on the excellent Keswick Railway Footpath through gorgeous woodland scenery beside the River Greta. However, my mind was troubled as I had been really tired when I got to the youth hostel the day before, I was completely drained of energy, my legs were really aching and my feet were suffering from blisters. I didn’t feel much better in the morning as I left the youth hostel, still drained of energy despite a good breakfast, so I was reconsidering my plans for the day as I was walking along the footpath. When planning this day’s walk I’d calculated that this would the longest, toughest day of the whole week. On reaching the last bridge over the river before Threlkeld I took a path to the right that follows the riverbank under the main road to Threlkeld Bridge on the old road. I had noticed this path the day before and wondered where it went, but in fact this path is marked on OS maps, I just wasn’t using them on this holiday.

Beyond Threlkeld Bridge the Keswick Railway Footpath continues away from the River Greta, but I had never been on this section before having only previously used the footpath to go between Threlkeld and Keswick, however the surroundings were now less interesting as it passes farmland, a depot for the National Park and a mining museum. Just before reaching a golf course the footpath ends though I could see a digger in the distance that I thought could be clearing the route of the old railway for an extension to the Keswick Railway Footpath. The footpath had ended at just the right place for me, so I climbed over the old railway and onto the open pasture where a prolonged ascent up the grassy slope eventually brought me to Hausewell Brow on the Old Coach Road. A cold wind was blowing as I climbed prompting me keep my cagoule on despite the sunshine and was a hint of the weather to come.

My plan had been to walk along the Old Coach Road for a considerable way until I reached the bridge over Groove Beck and there climb onto the ridge over High Brow in order to rejoin the Derwent-Eden watershed that I had been following throughout this holiday and follow this ridge all the way up to the top of Great Dodd. Since Mungrisdale, the watershed had been following a low, indeterminate course  with little or no public access and I was feeling so tired I felt no compunction about postponing my reunion with it so I could take a more natural, easier route to Great Dodd. When I reached the highest point on the road, near Hause Well, I turned up the steep, grassy slope towards Clough Head. I came down by this route many years ago but I’ve never made an ascent, and it is much better as a descent with the only point of interest on the ascent being the outcrop, White Pike.

By the time I reached these rocks the weather had turned cloudier with hazy distant views and a strong, cold wind. When I reached Clough Head I got out my gloves and other warm clothing against the cold wind with the hot, sunny weather of the Easter weekend now a distant memory. Wrapped up against the cold weather I made my way along the ridge making a point to stop at the delightful collection of rocks known as Calfhow Pike on the way before climbing the long, steep slopes of Great Dodd while the wind blew a gale across the top. This was not a place that you would want to linger at, however as at many fells in the Lake District there is a shelter, a wind break constructed of large stones, at the summit, so I collapsed behind this and had my lunch. Despite the poor weather I was enjoying being up there and actually thought that this was somehow more appropriate weather for the top of a mountain.

Setting off again I followed the ridge, and the watershed between the River Derwent and the River Eden, stopping off at the top of Watson’s Dodd and Stybarrow Dodd before passing over Sticks Pass and climbing a clearly manufactured path up to the gloriously rock-covered summit of Raise. After the grassy domes on the Dodds, the top of Raise was a welcome sight and the delights continued as I passed over White Side and climbed a narrow, craggy ridge to the top of Lower Man. As I was climbing this ridge I noticed that the cold wind seemed to be dying down, which I at first assumed was because I was in the shelter of Helvellyn, however I was pleasantly surprised to find very little wind when I reached the top of Lower Man or as I crossed the short distance to the top of the ever popular Helvellyn. The sun had continued shining for most of the day, but with the cold wind now gone the prospect for the rest of the day was very good.

While writing on this blog a couple of months ago I realised that it was nine years since I’d last been along Striding Edge so at that point I decided that at this point I would come off the Helvellyn Range and descend along Striding Edge. However, when I got to the start of Striding Edge I found a bank of snow blocking the entrance so prudently decided not to attempt the traverse, and instead continued along the Helvellyn Range. This proved to be an inspired decision as I had an enormously satisfying time as the weather got even better and the views improved even more with stunning sights to be seen back towards Helvellyn and along the ridge towards Fairfield and St Sunday Crag. The Helvellyn Range is a massive ridge that consistently maintains a height of over two and a half thousand feet almost all the way from Great Dodd to Dollywaggon Pike. I had never walked along its entire length before now and I was thrilled to be finally completing the traverse of what Wainwright described as the greatest area of high fells in Lakeland.

I stopped at every cairn and every top that I could see on the ridge rarely walking along the main path which bypasses each and every one on its single-minded course to Helvellyn. The views from Dollywaggon Pike, at the end of the range, are without doubt the best and I lingered there long before finally following the path down the steep, heavily manufactured zigzags all the way down to Grisedale Tarn. This well-made path was a sure guide to the tarn and the path from the tarn into Grisedale was even better as it passed through stunningly awesome rock scenery. This is an excellent path that I’ve enjoyed every time I’ve been on it, no matter the weather, with high crags above and a thrilling, rock-strewn route under my feet that had me jumping and skipping all the way down. After passing Ruthwaite Lodge I elected to take the path on the southern side of Grisedale that would take me all the way to the youth hostel in Patterdale.

After my weary start to the day this walk ended tremendously with all thoughts of fatigue gone from my mind. The weather played a big part in this with reassuringly typical mountain weather, cold and windy, for most of my walk along the Helvellyn Range. When I did get warm, sunny weather, south of Helvellyn I embraced it whole-heartedly and all my aches and pains disappeared. Near the end of this walk someone on the radio that I was listening to asked: “How would you spend today if you knew tomorrow was the end of the world?” My answer to that was unequivocally that I would be doing exactly what I was doing: walking in the Lake District along the Helvellyn Range.