Grasmoor and Grisedale Pike

Monday 7th May 2018

Enjoying good weather once again in the Lake District, I set off under hot blue skies from the Buttermere Youth Hostel down to the village and through the lovely, wooded gorge of Mill Beck and onto the path that goes through the pass above Sail Beck. This was a long walk on a narrow path perched above the slender stream below the steep grassy slopes of Whiteless Pike and Wandope. Grass dominated the landscape with the occasional sheep revealing the reason for this desolation. Before reaching the top of the pass I came off the path to climb steep heather covered slopes up to Sail Pass and the abomination that is the footpath either side of the pass, where completely unnecessary, raised zigzags have been created on the gently sloping hillside that once had a straight path. I remember climbing this path in 2004 and I don’t recall there being much erosion at this point and it certainly didn’t warrant such heavy handed footpath manufacture now. Beyond the zigzags the original path continues over the top of Sail though it fails to reach the small cairn a short distance away that marks the summit. having moved off the path to bag the summit I had now reached my twenty-fourth High Fell of this holiday.

After the summit the ridge narrows spectacularly as it makes a short, steep descent that was agony for me. Over the past couple of days my knees had begun to hurt during the descents until by the end of the previous day's walk while descending into Buttermere my right knee was really painful. Up to this point on this walk my knees had been quiet, but on this short, rocky descent my right knee startled me by its angry complaining. This probably detracted from my enjoyment of this fantastic, craggy ridge that spans the gap between Sail and Crag Hill as I dropped down to the col before climbing delicious rock-covered slopes where hands are needed as much as feet all the way up to the top of the hill. Ordnance Survey call this fell Crag Hill, but Wainwright called it Eel Crag even though he acknowledged that the name was inaccurate and defended himself simply by claiming long usage of the name and conservatism, but for me it is my twenty-fifth High Fell. While extending my walking pole I took a look at the fantastic views that can be seen from the top of Crag Hill, especially the view down Coledale towards the northern fells of Skiddaw and Blencathra that was increasingly hazy into the distance.

With my pole extended I was able to ease the pain in my knee for the descent around the top of Addacomb Hole and up to Wandope where there are also good views especially south and east with the Scafell Pikes on the horizon taking pride of place. It is astonishing that such a minor top among giants should afford such great views that surpass even those of its neighbours. Crossing the pass I climbed the broad slopes of Grasmoor to reach a cairn at the head of Rannerdale where I paused to once again take in the view on this glorious day. Although the terrain had levelled, the actual summit of Grasmoor was still quite a distance away across the long plateau past several cairns, but it was such a lovely day it was just a sheer pleasure to walk across the top of Grasmoor until finally I reached the large cairn that marks the summit of Grasmoor, the highest point in the north-western fells and my twenty-seventh High Fell. Stunning views were revealed from the summit looking west across the Solway Firth towards Scotland, but I didn’t linger long and turning around I crossed to the northern edge of the plateau to walk around the top of the stunning Dove Crags before starting the descent towards Coledale Hause.

The great views continued during the descent with Grisedale Pike dominating the view and once I reached the pass I stopped to have my lunch while gazing down the length of Coledale sitting under the shadow of Eel Crag. After eating I slowly climbed the steep, loose stones of Sand Hill, a top that seems misnamed as it’s not sandy at all and is rather a dull mound. It isn’t high enough to be on my list of High Fells (and it’s also not listed by Wainwright), but all that effort was not for nothing as hidden just beyond the top is the much more satisfying High Fell of Hopegill Head. From this point fantastic views suddenly opened up before me in many directions such as north along the ridge over Ladyside Pike while west a stunning narrow ridge extends all the way to Whiteside, but the best views were round the top of Hobcarton Crag and round to the top of Grisedale Pike, and all this from a tiny eagle’s nest of a summit. Following the cliff-edge above Hobcarton Crag I slowly and painfully hobbled down to the depression before climbing all the way up to Grisedale Pike, my sixth High Fell of the day and matching my record from the first day of my holiday in the Lake District.

The most direct route down is along the east ridge over Sleep How, but for many years I have been interested in taking the north ridge over Hobcarton End. I had intended on climbing that way in 2007 only to find myself on the shorter and steeper north-east ridge. Ever since I have wanted to take the north ridge and preferably in descent, and now, finally, I have satisfied that desire despite the pain in my knee on the steep descent. Eventually I entered the Whinlatter Forest where the path became rather muddy and chaotic weaving amongst the trees, and then split with one path leading to a fallen tree which prompted me to take the other path. However, this path began descending very steeply through the trees zigzagging down on a narrow track that looked rather like a mountain bike trail despite not being official. Nevertheless, I had tremendous fun on this trail as I ignored the pain in my knees and zoomed down the path weaving amongst the trees until eventually I came down to the wide forestry track at the bottom that brought me to the Whinlatter Pass road. Crossing the road I entered the complex of buildings and car parks for the Whinlatter Forest Park visitor centre where, after a little difficulty, I found the bridleway that I wanted and set off along the wide track.

After a while I saw a sign for Comb Beck Trail down a narrow footpath that seemed better than the track I was on, so I took that path down to a delightful stream past several ponds until the trail started to ascend once more at a delightful spot beside an old dam. There I discovered the bridlepath that I had abandoned earlier that follows Comb Beck through lovely woodland scenery and shows you don’t have go up high fells to have a good walk in the Lake District. Eventually I came into the village of Thornthwaite where I had intended on catching a bus to Keswick, however it was still early and the next bus was in forty-five minutes, so I decided to start walking following a path along the side of a wood into Braithwaite and ultimately walked all the way into Keswick. The weather was fantastic on this walk being really warm with gorgeous views that enabled me to climb six High Fells and still walk along a woodland trail at the end. Fortunately after the initial complaint my knee didn’t hurt too much for the rest of the walk, though I would have to do something about it for the rest of the holiday.