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This was a winter’s afternoon walk up to the top of St Sunday Crag, with an overnight stay planned, prior to a second short walk from Patterdale on the opposite side of the road to Place Fell. Both were single hills which I had missed whilst completing more significant end-to-ends over the Helvellyn and High Street ridges. The route was therefore a simple out-and-back up St Sunday.
I started from the car park at 2pm (pay in the hotel if you don’t have change for the machine) in mid-December using the path which heads around to the rear of the Patterdale Hotel. The route skirts above small tree plantations on the side of the hill, contouring to the right close to the minor road before striking directly up hill. I chose to keep right on a grass path rather than continuing up to Birks and the high top of St Sunday soon dominates the skyline ahead. From the ford the path again strikes steeply uphill before settling down for a great short walk across to the top. The Helvellyn ridge dominates the view of course but St Sunday is a good mountain in its own right.
A good circular continuing on to the tarn and back along the Grisedale valley floor would be an obvious extension. But, with darkness approaching, I chose the fast one-hour descent back the way I had come up with my intended peak for the morning, Place Fell, dominating the view all the way down. I made a simple variation in near darkness at the minor road down into Grisedale Bridge and then a short walk on pavement along the main road back to the car park.
