Friday 2nd January 2026
I had nothing planned for the time I spent in the Lake District over the New Year and even more so for my penultimate day because I didn’t have the forced structure imposed by having to walk to another youth hostel since on this day I was staying at the Grasmere Youth Hostel for two days, so I would be going back to where I had started the walk. The evening before I finally had to come up with something and it came into my mind to walk up the Wythburn Valley and to get there from Grasmere I had to go over the pass of Dunmail Raise, which I’d never done before, is the lowest point between the north and south of the Lakes and carries the main road. I kept to the quiet country lanes north of Grasmere for as long as possible to delay joining the main road, and when I eventually did I kept to the grassy verge that eventually brought me to the top of the pass where a cyclepath begins down the other side. I previously came down this track in 2016 when there was no traffic on the road due to a landslip and that was the only time I had previously been in the Wythburn Valley, which is notoriously boggy. I was hopeful that the bogs would now be frozen solid so I could better appreciate a valley that Wainwright said has many geological and geographical features of unusual interest. At Steel End I turned left and soon entered a conifer plantation where I lost all trace of the path as it disappeared into a swamp. Eventually I retraced my steps and found a broken gate that I had ignored which brought me to the Wyth Burn.
With the ground under my feet mostly frozen hard I had an enjoyable walk beside the stream with views ahead of me towards the shadowed Rake Crags and Black Crag while behind me the western slopes of Helvellyn were picking up the morning sunshine that I was sheltered from. The path took me past a scenically delightful stretch of valley with the burn tumbling steeply through a narrow wooded ravine until eventually I emerged to a levelling of the terrain around ‘The Bog’. Fortunately the path skirted the edge of the Bog and so I was able to keep my feet dry before rising again to Wythburn Head where I emerged into the sunshine and turned south heading into bitterly cold winds. It was difficult to stay warm in these conditions unless I kept moving so I did what I could with extra layers and pressed on, briefly joining the Coast to Coast path until I reached Far Easedale Head where I turned right to follow an unreliable line of old fence posts up the hillside. I came up this way just a year earlier but this is such a great, quiet route I was more than happy to take it again before branching left to cross the slopes. There was a lot of ice on the ground which had to be avoided, making the walking tricky, but soon I was on the ridge that gradually descends from High Raise with stunning views before me towards Grasmere until I reached the end of the ridge at the top of Tarn Crag where the views were even more impressive.
Turning around, I headed back up the ridge, branching left to descend onto the shelf that contains Codale Tarn, where I was blessedly sheltered from the cold winds. After passing the partially frozen lake I joined the clear path from Easedale Tarn which was very rocky and icy underfoot, so great care was needed until I reached the top where I turned left, ignoring the Langdale Pikes, to head towards Blea Rigg. The 1:50,000 scale Ordnance Survey map indicates that I was on Blea Rigg, a ridge that comes south east down from High Raise, past Sergeant Man and terminating above Blea Crag. However, in practice Blea Rigg is understood to be the peak above Blea Crag, so that is where I was now headed, gradually descending with fantastic views down the complex, undulating ridge with Windermere in the distance. I have had many enjoyable walks down this ridge and despite the familiarity I thoroughly enjoyed the descent again. Eventually I descended to the top of Blea Crag, i.e. Blea Rigg, with higher ground behind me a short distance back up the ridge. A steep descent from the top was necessary before I could continue the traverse of the ridge and, as is my usual practice, I diverted off the clear path many times to visit the summit of the many minor tops along the way.
Great Castle How was followed by Little Castle How before another steep descent brought me away the outcrop-rich part of the ridge into an area that was predominately grassy, sometimes boggy, and less interesting. Before reaching Lang How I branched left to descend across the northern slopes of the ridge, but with no trace of a path I had to follow the route that the O.S. Maps app claimed was the route down, keeping constant careful attention on my location. Eventually I reached a clearer path amongst juniper so from there I was more confidently able to descend into Grasmere. This walk was at its best when I was sheltered from the strong cold winds and it was enjoyable ascending the Wythburn Valley through stunning scenery. It is remarkable that both Wainwright tops that I visited on this walk were descended to down ridges where the tops are at the end of the ridge and so only look like a top when seen from the other direction. The following day I walked from Grasmere to the railway station at Windermere with no attempt to create a notable walk out of it, except near the end when I stopped off at the crowded summit of Orrest Head where I had good views back to the fells of the Lake District before saying goodbye to them until next time.
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