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.