The Lakes, days 8 and 9 – Hindscarth and Ullswater

Monday 22nd July 2002

After the excellent walk that I did the day before I now had a couple of days of poor weather that left me in despair and thinking that the good walking days were over. It had started raining with no sign of it ending before the end of the week, but I reflected that I had been fortunate with the weather over the weekend and during the previous week. My second ever week in the Lake District started with wet and windy weather on a day when I had planned on travelling half way across the national park. Rather than walking all the way from Buttermere to Patterdale, which would have been a ridiculously long walk, even if I’d attempted it now, I had planned to walk along the ridges around Dale Head to Keswick where I would catch a bus to Patterdale. As I set off the weather forecast predicted that it would improve later in the day so I climbed the path out of Borrowdale hopeful that the rain wouldn’t last long and I’d be able to complete the walk as planned.

After climbing up to High Snockrigg I crossed the exceptionally wet Buttermere Moss. I have since crossed this gently sloping plain several times and found it not to be particularly boggy, but with all the rain that had fallen recently the fell was like a quagmire that I, due to my inexperience, blundered across and succeeded in getting my feet very wet. At one point I stepped into a deep bog that went half way up my leg so I was relieved to finally reach the foot of Robinson where the terrain started to steepen and a short climb brought me up to the wind-swept summit of Robinson. The weather at the top was so bad I didn’t linger but made my way south to a fence at the top of Robinson Crag where I made my way along the ridge to Hindscarth. By now the wind was so strong and the was rain so heavy I decided I had to get off the fell as quickly as possible with conditions that were worse than I'd ever known on a walk. Up to this point I’d never really been at the top of a hill when the weather was throwing its full works of wind and rain at me; it was quite a scary experience, so it was a good idea to descend even though the rain stopped before I got to the bottom.

As I came down the excellent path at the top of High Crags I dropped below the clouds to the stunning view of the Newlands valley below, but I was already soaked. My cagoule wasn't particularly waterproof and my t-shirt underneath was soaked, which made me feel very cold. I knew even then that if I’d had a better cagoule, such as I use now, I would have been able to continue along the ridge in that weather. I have never subsequently done the walk that I planned to do that day, which involved walking from Buttermere to Keswick via Dale Head, but I’m sure it would have been possible in that weather, maybe even exciting, if I was wearing the right clothing. Once down in the valley I passed through the village of Little Town and skirted the side of Cat Bells on my way to Keswick. From Hawse End, for the first time I walked along a path that I have taken many times since, past Lingholm and through Fawe Park. On this occasion (and only on this occasion) I turned right as I approached Fawe Park and took the track around Fawe Park past Nichol End. All subsequent occasions I have gone straight on over the low wooded hill, which is a far superior route.

After passing through Portinscale and over the small suspension bridge over the River Derwent I reached Keswick where I had an hour to wait until the bus to Patterdale. I spent most of the hour just wandering around and exploring this delightful town that I have subsequently visited many times, and of all the towns in the Lake District this is my favourite. The towns around Windermere seem tourist-ridden but Keswick, despite the tourists, seems to have retained a charm all of its own. Eventually I left Keswick for another day and caught the bus to Patterdale.

Tuesday 23rd July 2002

This was another wet day so my wet weather plan was once again put into action. I walked along an excellent path beside the shore of Ullswater at the foot of Place Fell and Hallin Fell all the way to Howtown where I caught the steamer back to Glenridding. This was a nice walk, but it only took me half the day so in the afternoon I did a walk along Grisedale as far as Nethermostcove Beck and back. I had started to walk from Glenridding with an idea of going up to Helvellyn but soon abandoned the idea. I lost the path up the ridge and found myself passing Lanty’s Tarn into Grisedale so I consoled myself with the walk along Grisedale, but I wasn’t really in favour of anything else while it refused to stop raining. I was not enjoying walking in the rain while wearing a cagoule that didn't seem to have heard of the concept of "Breathability". I was missing the good walks that I’d done the previous week when the weather was better. Once again I was learning that I needed to improve my gear if I was going to do any proper walking when the weather is bad.

The Lakes, day 7 – Grasmoor and Grisedale Pike

Sunday 21st July 2002

This was a good day's walk and unexpectantly I had company for some of the day. I started off by walking up into the hills to the north of Buttermere onto the developing ridge of Whiteless Breast (I had a chuckle about the name at the time) and up to Whiteless Pike where I happened to meet Keith Smith who I'd had dinner with the day before in the youth hostel. Since we were both going in the same direction we went up the hill together but I soon nipped off to visit the broad grassy top of Wandope. The weather was fantastic for this walk and I remember the views at this point being particularly impressive as I looked from the summit across the valley of Sail Beck towards Robinson, Hindscarth and Dale Head. The deep valleys that flow into the Newlands Beck made this a stunning sight with range after range of hills stretching all the way to Helvellyn on the Horizon. From the summit cairn I rounded the edge of the hanging valley of Addacomb Hole and up to the top of Crag Hill where I met up with Keith again whose older legs had forced him to take the easier, direct route from Whiteless Pike.

Wainwright called this fell Eel Crag, which is actually the name of the rocks to the north of the summit, but the Ordnance Survey map calls it Crag Hill and that’s how I’ve always thought of it. Wainwright acknowledged that Crag Hill would be a better name for the fell but he said that walkers are conservative folk and don’t like change. He had become used to calling this old favourite Eel Crag and couldn’t change now, but for me, fortunately I have never thought of it as anything other than Crag Hill so that is what it’s called. From the top of Crag Hill Keith and I walked down the long slopes to the col before slowly climbing the long grassy ridge up to the top of Grasmoor. Once again I left Keith behind as my younger legs sprinted on ahead enabling me to reach the summit first and see the truly astounding view that can be seen from this fell on a good day that stretches across the Solway Firth all the way to Scotland and the hills of the Southern Uplands. After returning to the col Keith decided to head back to Buttermere on the path beside the Liza Beck which left me free to climb Grisedale Pike on my own.

After crossing Coledale Hause I traversed the eastern slopes of Sand Hill to the top of the ridge that leads to Grisedale Pike. I enjoyed the fabulous weather that was giving me stunning views east across the Vale of Keswick while stopped for a rest at the summit and to have something to eat. Turning around I proceeded along the ridge above Hobcarton Crag to Hopegill Head and onto the narrow ridge that leads to Whiteside. I remember this as being an exciting traverse along a narrow, high ridge with plenty of rock to negotiate. Unfortunately I have never returned to this ridge since even though all the other fells in the walk have been visited again, except for Whiteside. I had planned on a return in 2011 on the day of William & Kate’s wedding, but high winds encouraged me to change my plans. Now I am longing for a return to a ridge that I probably remember as being a lot more exciting than it actually is compared with others that I have done since, nevertheless I’d still love to return. There is nothing more exciting than walking along a narrow ridge and this was one of my first.

After passing the top of Whiteside I descended through heather and bracken to the road at Lanthwaite. Rather than follow the road back to Buttermere I decided to go around Crummock Water along the western shore of the lake. After passing through Lanthwaite Wood I reached the lake shore where I was stopped by two dogs and their owners. One dog was chasing another while both owners were trying to get a hold of their dogs. Eventually one dog got trapped beside the water’s edge which let the other dog get behind it and satisfy the urges that had been driving it. For this brief moment the dogs were not moving and the bitch's owner was able to rescue their dog while the other owner grabbed their randy canine. I was then able to continue my journey much amused by an incident that has stayed with me ever since. It has taught me to be careful if I get what I want as it might be just the opportunity someone needs to take everything away from me.

The remaining walk beside Crummock Water was pretty uneventful until after I crossed Scale Beck where I had tremendous problems trying to get to Scale Bridge. The path was not clear and I had to walk through a lot of very boggy ground. Eventually I spotted what was probably the proper path down the hillside near the lake's edge, so hurtling through the bog I dropped down the hill onto the path. Maybe my error was moving away from the lake edge, but I don’t think there was much I could have done about it. Wainwright describes this as being “One of the wettest paths in the district.” Despite the boggy end this was a fabulous walk over great mountains, in wonderful weather and with tremendous views. The Lake District was continuing to enthral me as I continued my first ever visit. My legs and ankles may have been aching afterwards from all the strenuous walking that I wasn’t used to, but I was enjoying every moment of it.