Eagle Crag and Helm Crag

Saturday 5th June 2021

I wasn’t sure how I was going to end my holiday in the Lake District, especially when there was a doubt over the weather. An early forecast of rain had me planning a walk beside Thirlmere Reservoir, but when I woke up there wasn’t a cloud in the sky so I thought I would do a copy of the walk that I had done at the end of a holiday from 2008. From 2006 to 2008 I spent three consecutive Spring Bank Holiday weekends in the Lake District and I now look back on those holidays with great fondness and regard them as being some of my happiest memories. Although this holiday was at a similar time of the year and covered similar ground, it will probably not be so greatly remembered. After five nights at the Burns Farm campsite I packed up my tent and walked all the way into Keswick where I caught a bus to Rosthwaite in Borrowdale. When I finally got there I set off on the route of the Coast to Coast Walk passing the turning to Stonethwaite while many fellrunners passed me coming the other way, but I left them behind when I turned onto the bridge that leads into Langstrath and immediately after crossing the bridge turned off the Langstrath path to climb towards Eagle Crag.

The ascent of Eagle Crag from Borrowdale seems to be impossible as it is defended by impenetrable crags, but Wainwright describes a line of weakness by which the rocks may be climbed by ordinary walking. After a short spell of walking through bracken and bluebells, beside the river, I turned right to climb steeply beside a broken wall, which was a tiring climb for me to do in the hot weather while carrying a heavy rucksack. Eventually, and with immense relief, I finally reached the stile above Bleak How and below the crags where things now became much more interesting. A short climb brought me to a gully that Wainwright describes as being the key to the ascent, but a right turn after the gully didn’t seem right so I checked the route with Wainwright, which I fortunately was able to do for this ascent. That revealed that I ought to keep straight on until I reached a terrace path below a crag and there I should turn right, but I could not find a clear path, so I turned right when I thought I was at the right point, even though there was not a consistent path through the heather. Whenever I was in doubt, I heading south around the crag and doing that I managed to negotiate a series of terraces and slowly made my way up to the summit of Eagle Crag for only the second time after my initial climb in 2008.

Just as in 2008, I made my way across to the close neighbour of Eagle Crag, Sergeant’s Crag, descending steeply to a wall and following it through heather and rocky terrain to the striking dome of Sergeant’s Crag. I had a bus in Grasmere to catch at three o’clock, so with this deadline on my mind I reluctantly turned my back on the fantastic views that I was getting from the top of Sergeant’s Crag towards Borrowdale and up Langstrath towards Bow Fell and Esk Pike. Instead, I turned towards the dreary grassy slopes of High Raise where a faint groove in the grass could be seen heading uphill and I followed this for a while before veering off to pass below Long Crag. In 2008, I had climbed above Long Crag before veering across and this is probably the easier option as the terrain below Long Crag is very steep and full of rocks. Eventually the terrain eased as I reached the vast, boggy expanse of Greenup Edge and when I was once again back on the route of the Coast to Coast Walk I followed this off Greenup Edge and down to the top of Far Easedale. I made such rapid progress down the path from Greenup Edge that I decided I would have plenty of time to do the Helm Crag ridge, so I turned left from the top of Far Easedale to climb to the top of Calf Crag, where I stopped to have my lunch.

In 2008, the weather had been poor with rain in the morning, but now I was basking in sunny weather that could not have been any better with stunning views down Easedale and along the ridge towards Helm Crag. Keeping to the clear footpath and ignoring the many tops on the ridge I walked along the ridge to Gibson Knott before crossing the gap of Bracken Hause I climbed up to Helm Crag. Wainwright famously failed to climb to the top of the large rock that sits at the top of Helm Crag and I also failed to do so in 2008 despite making the attempt. This time, I put down my rucksack and had another try and before I knew it I was slapping the top of the rock with my hand. I was ecstatic, but now I had to get down and that was considerably more difficult. This made me really nervous as I felt I was going to fall and seriously injure myself, but somehow I managed to carefully reverse every steps that I had so easily made in ascent, but now very slowly and deliberately in descent until I safely returned to my waiting rucksack. With an uneasy step from the rush of adrenaline, I made my way to the crowds at the end of the ridge and slowly made my way down the clear path swiftly descending into Easedale.

At the bottom, I had a doubt on where to go, the map indicates right, but a sign directed me left through the wooded grounds of Lancrigg Hotel where outside seating in front of the hotel was offering afternoon tea to tourists. I quickly passed through and onto the road through Easedale to finally reach Grasmere where I waited for the bus. This was a great walk to finish my holiday with stunning views in sensational weather crowned with a wonderful stroll along the ridge and triumphantly ended with a successful ascent of the rock summit of Helm Crag. This holiday had a lot of ups and downs. It was awesome to be back in the Lake District again and it was particularly great to be at the top of the high fells with Sca Fell being a notable mention as my first Munro-sized mountain since 2019. Another highlight was the campsite in Langdale mainly because of its setting amongst interesting scenery that provided me with great, relaxing strolls in the evening, even if they were mostly just to get high enough to get a mobile signal. The weather was a definite bonus, especially after the washout I had endured on the first Sunday, but after that the weather was sensational, notably in the second week. The walks on the last two days were particularly good with stunning views that made me feel fortunate to be given the opportunity to see them.

The negatives on this holiday start with the weather on the first Sunday that ruined all my plans and prompted me to completely change my approach to the whole holiday, though that was ultimately the right decision. I was distressed to see how much the Lake District has disintegrated with many footpaths now crumbling into slippery runs of loose stones that are difficult to walk on. It is unable to cope with the huge number of visitors and the heavy rain that we get these days, and that detracted from my enjoyment of the scenery. Finally, I didn’t enjoy staying in Burns Farm campsite, though this was nothing to do with the campsite, but with me. It was too crowded for me to be comfortable as it generated a lot of social anxiety in me. I missed staying in youth hostels and this was perhaps my biggest downer on the holiday as I consider staying in a youth hostel to be an intrinsic part of being in the Lake District as it is what I have always done and I love staying in youth hostels. I don’t like staying in campsites, even though it is cheaper. Despite the negatives, this was a fabulous fortnight in the Lake District when I was able to return to fells that I had not visited in fifteen years and as such it was an awesome holiday that I will remember with fondness for all the good moments.

Helvellyn and Sheffield Pike

Friday 4th June 2021

I was not in a good state at the start of this walk following a poor night’s sleep that had left me really drained both physically and mentally. I don’t know why I was having difficulty sleeping, but what I needed was a great walk to revive me and fortunately that is what I got. After the cloud and drizzle of the day before the sun was now out again, so I decided to head down St. John’s in the Vale and climb Helvellyn. I have only once before walked down this valley between High Rigg and Clough Head, in 2003, when poor weather had made Clough Head undesirable. Now I walked through the grassy fields past sheep and cows under bright sunshine until I reached the start of the path over Sticks Pass, but soon came off the path to follow the fell wall until after passing the many waterfalls in Fisherplace Gill I reached a signpost that points towards many paths in many directions. I wanted to take the White Stones route up Helvellyn, but I had difficulty finding a path as it is not very clear where the route goes through the young bracken at this point. The Wainwright guides indicate I should have headed south from the signpost for fifty paces before starting the climb and eventually I did find a path that crosses the hillside leaving the bracken behind, though this was little more than a groove in the grass.

Finally, after crossing Helvellyn Gill, I reached the very clear, paved path from Swirls that is now one of the most popular routes up the mountain and I was now no longer on my own as many people were climbing this path. Despite from the west being a very popular direction to climb Helvellyn from, I had never climbed from this direction before and I am not keen on doing it again as it is ridiculously steep, especially on this path. Even though I have climbed hundreds of mountains, I thought this was agonisingly steep and there are much better routes up Helvellyn as this way is just an unrelenting ascent all the way up to top of Browncove Crags. However, the view behind, looking over Thirlmere with Skiddaw in the distance, was stunning and always helped to alleviate the effort of the wearyingly steep climb all the way up to Browncove Crags. It wasn’t until the end of the day that I realised what was so good about the views on this climb: they were clear whereas throughout this holiday they had been hazy. The reason for this clarity was that it was cold, much colder than it had been earlier in the week, which prompted me to put on my windproof softshell and gloves once the gradient eased at the top of Browncove Crags.

When I reached the top of Helvellyn it was so packed with people I had wait for a while before I could get to the summit cairn to touch it, but the views were sensational and were especially gorgeous towards Ullswater, though my attention had already shifted towards Striding Edge. I have not traversed this narrow ridge since 2006 despite several attempts in recent years to do so. Therefore, I was surprised and distressed to discover badly eroded slopes leading down to the start of the ridge that I had no memory of previously, though this was the first time I was making the traverse in an easterly direction. After collapsing my poles I set off down the rocky terrain to the start of Striding Edge where I immediately discovered a problem: I was doing the traverse in the opposite direction to everyone else and there was a lot of everyone else. After passing over the Castle, I had to wait a long time while many people very slowly descended the rock chimney that is the most difficult point on the ridge. On two previous occasions that I have been over Striding Edge I have been able to avoid the crowds by going outside of peak times, but now I could only wait while people struggled to get down the rock chimney including one person who was trying to get down while holding a small dog.

There was such a long queue behind this person I eventually decided to try climbing beside the rock chimney and succeeded, but this just moved my waiting position to the top of the chimney rather than at the bottom as dozens of people slowly filed past. Eventually I was able to get past the queuing people and onto the top of the ridge, though I still often had to wait for people to pass as I made my way along the glorious ridge. Apart from the rock chimney, Striding Edge is not technically difficult and even the rock chimney is relatively tame and is only made more difficult by being a descent in the usual direction. As the crowds eased, I stayed at the top of the ridge striding confidently along the top. After passing over the summit of Striding Edge, known as High Spying How, I gradually descended the widening ridge to the Hole-in-the-Wall, but I did not go through as I continued along the ridge beside the wall to Birkhouse Moor. I visited this nondescript fell in 2006 and did so again before starting my descent into Glenridding beside Mires Beck, which is a path I had never taken before and I now had tremendous views into Patterdale and Glenridding as I took many photos while slowly descending. Looking towards Caudale Moor, I was reminded of my first night of this holiday spent camped near the top and was thankful that I now had good weather and was seeing the Lake District at its best.

When I eventually reached the bottom of the valley I immediately started climbing again onto Greenside Road, before branching onto the path that climbs steeply through bracken to the col between Glenridding Dodd and Sheffield Pike. Since I had climbed Glenridding Dodd in 2016, I ignored that and turned left to climb the south-east ridge of Sheffield Pike, which I had last descended at the beginning of 2009. There is a fabulous path that slowly climbs up a heather-covered ridge while behind me I had stunning views of Glenridding, but having already climbed Helvellyn on this walk I was now feeling rather tired. The interesting climb continued after the ridge ends with the path continuing across a broad, undulating terrain until eventually I reached the top of Sheffield Pike. A relatively short descent then brought me down to Nick Head where steep grassy slopes led me up to Glencoyne Head from where a featureless grassy ridge led me to the top of Hart Side. I climbed this fell in 2008 while hurrying to catch a bus in Threlkeld, which I missed. Now, I had the time and the weather to appreciate the broad grassy fell whose best feature was its distant views of the Pennines. I was amazed by the great views I was getting on this walk and I was enjoying every moment of it.

A long descent down broad grassy slopes brought me into Dowthwaitehead where I took a path that climbs over a low ridge before slowly descending through very wet ground onto the track known as the Old Coach Road. A long, but relaxing walk along this track took me across the northern slopes of Great Dodd and Clough Head until eventually I returned to St. John's in the Vale. This was an awesome, fantastic walk with views that were easily the best that I had enjoyed on this holiday. It was wonderful to finally be able to do Striding Edge again after such a long time and with such fabulous weather, this walk succeeded in lifting my spirits. There were many ups and downs on this holiday, but this walk was a definite highlight.

High Tove and High Seat

Thursday 3rd June 2021

After enjoying fabulous weather in the Lake District since the weekend, the usual conditions exerted themselves again with clouds covering the skies and promised rain. I was suffering from the consequences of many days of strenuous walking, so I was happy to do an easier, shorter walk that would allow me to recover. Setting off from the Burns Farm Campsite where I had been staying, I followed a similar route to that I had taken in 2006 when I came off the fells in diminishing light past Tewet Tarn and Low Rigg. There had been so little light I have no memory of the surroundings then, so it was great to finally be able to see and appreciate the scenery around Tewet Tarn on this path that took me to the church of St. John’s in the Vale where a short, sharp climb leads up to the top of High Rigg, but that wasn’t necessary and wasn’t my target for the day. Instead, I turned right at the church and followed the track down and around the fell to Rough How Bridge, and was now being reminded of a walk from 2016 when I had returned to Legburthwaite by this path after a traverse of High Rigg. Passing Shoulthwaite Farm I entered the wood that lines the western slopes of Thirlmere Reservoir and found there has been some tree-felling there in recent years that has left this northern tip cleared of trees. After climbing through the desolate scenery I reached a weir on Shoulthwaite Gill that is a point I have passed several times in recent years where I have looked longingly up the valley, but only now did I head up the valley.

I came down this secluded valley in December 2006 and found it to be a delightful place, but had only previously been back as far as the weir. Wainwright enthused about the Shoulthwaite Gill valley saying it “should find a place in every walker’s itinerary” and I whole-heartedly agree, though it is still not very popular. There are mighty crags to the west and the conifers of the Raven Crag ridge are to the east with a rock-filled stream at the bottom and a slender path that climbs the narrow valley. The path is very rough and craggy in places but has spectacular views up and down the valley especially towards the narrow tree-filled gorge near the top. After a tricky crossing of Mere Gill, the path climbs steeply above the gorge and only after that does the valley widen with the view opening out to reveal the broad Central Fells ridge. When the Shoulthwaite Gill eventually turns away from the woodland edge I crossed the stream and found a track that comes out of the plantation keeping to a very shallow ridge on relatively dry ground that climbs towards the main ridge. Despite dark, overcast skies, the rain had held off so far, though with very hazy distant views, as I followed this track uphill until eventually I reached a fence on the main ridge at a point that is marked on Ordnance Survey maps as Eddy Grave Stake.

There, I found gravel and flag-stoned paths that provided me with a dry route up to the top of High Tove while not far from there is the totally insignificant Wainwright of Armboth Fell. At the beginning of 2008, I climbed both these fells for my only previous visit, but now I couldn’t see the point in doing Armboth Fell, so I turned around and headed back beside the fence along a beautifully constructed footpath. There are signs of works to aid water-retention in these boggy gathering grounds for Shoulthwaite Gill while the recently made path provided me with an easy walk through the water-logged moorland. Eventually, the flag-stoned path ended as the gradient steepened and I climbed up to the top of High Seat where the clouds dropped enveloping me while I had my lunch. A rocky knoll, not far from the trig point that marks the summit, seemed to me to be almost as high, if not higher, than the summit, so after eating I made my way across to Man to stand on its height before following the fence north. This, however, proved to be a bad idea as the path beside the fence soon deteriorates in a quagmire. Just as I was wondering where the path goes from here I noticed some people a distance away to the west seemingly oblivious to any difficulty and a check on my map showed that the right path doesn’t follow the fence.

This path starts from the trig point on High Tove and keeps away from the worst bogs, so I hopped across to this better path that is still a bit sketchy in places and not the driest in the Lake District, especially after it started raining heavily. Slowly, I made my way along the path and up to the top of Bleaberry Fell, which, unlike High Tove and High Seat, I have visited a couple of times in the last ten years. The low clouds made this a forgettable visit so I quickly passed over and down a crumbly path onto the excellent flag-stones that cross Low Moss to the popular vantage point of Walla Crag, though not on this occasion as the clouds were low and it was still raining. Undeterred I took the excellent cliff-top path that I always enjoy before returning to the open fell and the descent to Castlerigg. It was still quite early at this point and I could have continued the descent into Keswick, but I didn’t need to do that, so I turned right to head straight back to the campsite where I could rest my aching legs. Even though this was a short walk with pretty miserable weather, I couldn’t really complain too much about the weather as it had waited until I was nearly finished before raining. The highlight was definitely Shoulthwaite Gill that I have waited fifteen years to visit again and the rest of the walk was simply an excuse to do that valley.

Skiddaw and the Edge

Wednesday 2nd June 2021

The weather during the second week of my holiday in the Lake District was really good, which was just amazing as I have seen bad weather so many times. I was very fortunate. However, the wind that had been negligible over the weekend had now picked up into a brisk, strong wind on the high tops. First, I dealt with the lack of power in my phone by leaving the campsite where I had been staying very early, without having breakfast, and headed into Keswick to the youth hostel where I had my breakfast. It was great to be back in the Keswick Youth Hostel and I enjoyed a full English breakfast while my phone was on charge. After eating I walked to the bus station where I caught a bus to Bassenthwaite and walked along quiet roads including a short section through the wooded gorge of Chapel Beck. Coming off the road, I took a bridleway that climbs steeply beside grassy fields to the fell wall while the hill of Cockup dominated my view. I am very familiar with cockups having done Great Cockup in 2015, which is the fell the other side of the Dash Valley, but I had never done this cockup before. Beyond the fell wall I took the obvious path that climbs up the grassy hillside to the col at the top of Cockup Gill.

The top of Cockup was bypassed as my eyes were on Bakestall, a northern top of Skiddaw that I had previously visited just once before on a descent from Skiddaw, in 2008. After crossing Dead Beck the terrain changed with grass now being replaced by heather all the way up to a prominent cairn, however, after turning right and heading towards Skiddaw, I soon reached another, less significant, cairn beside a fence corner, which is the highest point on the fell, but the Wainwright summit of Bakestall is the prominent cairn where there are great views over the Dash Valley. Climbing the ridge towards Skiddaw, I now had a severe crosswind to handle as well as loose stones underfoot on the path. I had been up Skiddaw three times in the last ten years, but another visit of this Munro-sized mountain would not hurt and I was rewarded for my effort with stunning views across the Lake District, though they were increasingly hazy with distance as they had been since the weekend. I feel as if the weather is often poor, for me, on Skiddaw with snow on several occasions and on this occasion I had a strong wind to contend with, which I was easily able to shelter from on the western slopes looking over the Edge to Bassenthwaite Lake where I had an early lunch before pressing on down steep, stony slopes to Carlside col.

I was mindful of what I had recently read about the potential damage that walking poles can do to hills and realised that the poles were forcing me to stand unnaturally for such a descent. They force you to stand upright whereas it would be better to bend your knees bringing your centre of balance down as low of possible, so I tried to minimise using my poles during my descent of the screes. When I eventually reached the bottom beside Carlside Tarn, I ignored Carl Side, taking the path that heads towards the Edge. I had climbed Carl Side in 2018 so I felt justified in bypassing it on my way to the Edge. My first traverse of the Edge was in 2004 when I descended along the ridge and now I was echoing that walk that starts on the narrowing ridge of Longside Edge to the highest point, dubbed Long Side by Wainwright, where a grand promenade proceeds along the narrow ridge with fabulous views towards the northern plains of Cumbria. Longside Edge ends far too soon at the summit of Ullock Pike beyond which the ridge widens as it descends along the Edge undulating along an interesting ridge that was a joy to traverse where the terrain was not so steep.

Before the final rise on the ridge up to Watches, a clear path veers off to the left and I took this down to a fence that led me into the woodland near the Ravenstone Hotel. Although it was still very early, I had a long walk back to my campsite and I was happy with an early finish after several long days recently. Yellow-topped posts marked a path through the wood that brought me to the Dodd Wood car park where I found a sign for a permissive path to Keswick, but this eventually brought me onto the busy road with no further sign of a path. Therefore, after a short walk beside the road, I branched off onto the minor road through Millbeck and Applethwaite where I took a path across grassy fields back into Keswick where I needed to buy some more food. This was a great walk in stunning weather, particularly when out of the strong winds that were in force on the top of Skiddaw. I enjoyed the sunshine during the long walk back to Keswick and eventually the campsite, but I also appreciated the opportunity to revisit some fells that I had not done in over ten years including the fabulous ridges of Longside Edge and the Edge.