Saturday 12th May 2018
Throughout my holiday in the Lake District I was trying to reach the summit of all the Wainwright fells that are more than two and a half thousand feet high. There are fifty-six such High Fells and by the start of the last day of my holiday I had completed fifty-one. Unfortunately I would not be able to complete the list because bad weather had prevented me from reaching three of the summits. This was always going to be likely in the Lake District where the weather is notoriously changeable and many other factors could also force a change of plans. Taking this into account it is astonishing that I managed to do as many as I did, so my goal should realistically have been as many of the High Fells as I could. The weather for this final day was amazing, virtually perfect, as I left the Patterdale Youth Hostel along the pavement beside the road heading south. I had never taken this route before having always assumed there was no pavement so I thought it was better, and safer, to cross the valley and follow the bridleway on the other side. To my surprise I was able to safely get to the turning for Deepdale onto the path that passes several houses on its way into a valley that I had never walked in before where I found I had been missing out on a quiet valley with a stunning surround of high fells and a fabulous array of cliffs at the end.
My first goal for this walk was St. Sunday Crag which is usually climbed from Patterdale via the lower fells of Arnison Crag, or more usually, Birks, however since I was focused just on the High Fells during this holiday I wanted to try a route that avoids these subsidiary tops and ascends straight for St. Sunday Crag. Therefore after walking along Deepdale for a while, just after crossing Coldcove Gill, I headed up the steep hillside on a wide path through dead bracken, beyond which an exceptionally faint path continues up the grassy fell. Slowly I made my way up the fellside in the glorious sunshine with some lovely, little wild flowers in the ground revealing a spellbinding display that you simply do not see in the more heavily trodden areas of the Lake District. I would like to return in the summer to these slopes when these flowers are at their best, though it is a shame that the sheep and popularity of the Lake District restricts displays such as these to such quiet locations. Further up, after weaving around rocks and in amongst heather and bilberry, I eventually reached Lord’s Seat where the ground levelled and afforded me with stunning views across the Far Eastern Fells and Birks, while a clear path now appeared directing me towards the striking conical point of Gavel Pike.
A steep climb, including a bit of a scramble, brought me to the top of the deliciously craggy Gavel Pike where the views in the fabulous sunshine were far-reaching and stunning. The top of St. Sunday Crag was now finally revealed, but the most picturesque views were over the top of Birks to the western tip of Ullswater nestled at the foot of Place Fell. It was now a simple matter for me to walk from Gavel Pike across the gently sloping terrain and up to the summit of St. Sunday Crag where the views continued to astound me in this tremendous weather. Fairfield still dominated the view at the head of Deepdale, but as I made my way down the glorious ridge it was the Helvellyn range that was drawing my eye. From Deepdale Hause I started the fantastic climb onto Cofa Pike that is very steep, involving some delicious scrambling and was great fun to keep to the top of the ridge over Cofa Pike and up the screes to Fairfield. I had passed over Fairfield a couple of days previously and I couldn’t count it twice, however since I had plenty of time I stood on the edge of the plateau gazing out towards the heart of the Lake District and enjoyed the view.
During the ascent the Eastern Fells had dominated the views, but now the rest of the Lake District was opened out before me. I could see the distinctive dome of Great Gable on the horizon and from there I started naming the peaks on either side. This is a great game to play when at the top of a High Fell in the Lake District in great weather and time is not important with the splendid array of fells spread out before you. Eventually I set off once more heading towards the ridge that gradually descends towards Great Rigg, the fifty-third and last High Fell of my holiday. Unfortunately just as I started making my way down from Fairfield I realised that I had left my cagoule in the Youth Hostel. Any other day of the holiday this would have been a disaster, however fortunately it was warm, I didn’t need the jacket at that moment, or for the rest of the holiday as this was the last day so I could get it back at a later date. With this cloud hanging over me I reached the top of Great Rigg and the culmination of my challenge on this holiday. While having my lunch gazing out over the stunning Lakeland scenery I noticed a few people at the top were setting up for some sort of race. I kept out of their way and just as I was finishing the first runners appeared soon followed by others.
I had originally planned on descending to Grasmere over Stone Arthur, but with the weather being so good, and since I had plenty of time and didn’t want the walk to end, I stayed high heading south towards Ambleside. As I made my way along the ridge from Great Rigg I was passed by hundreds of fell runners streaming past me on the Fairfield Horseshoe Fell Race while I slowly, dawdling, headed along the ridge trying to keep out of their way. By the time I reached Heron Pike all the runners had passed and I was able to enjoy the fabulous ridge in the glorious weather all the way to Nab Scar and steeply down to Rydal Hall where some of the runners were already passing the finishing line having ran all the way around the nine mile circuit that includes three thousand feet of climbing. By the time I was passing through the grounds of Rydal Hall only the stragglers were left to finish, who had just ran the gruelling course in two and a quarter hours, which is considerably faster than I could have managed. They had amazing weather for the run, and I felt like the Lake District was trying to convince me to stay and, frankly I didn’t need much persuasion, but unfortunately I had no choice.
Usually after a fortnights holiday I’m ready to come home, but not this time. The Lake District is a really special place and given half a chance I would go there every holiday I get. I have to force myself to go somewhere else, because there is nowhere better. In the right weather there is nothing better than being at the top of a Lakeland fell and this holiday reminded me of this fact and it is going to be even harder to stay away.
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