Helvellyn, Pikes and Dodds

[andy63]

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This was a traverse of the long ridge of the Helvellyn range, using public transport to get back to the car. I started from the top of Dunmail Raise pass on the A591, where there's a short section of dual carriageway. Parking on the verge at the side of the road, I crossed the road and went over a stile to join the path which runs up the side of Raise Beck towards Grisedale Tarn.

Raise Beck

Grisedale Tarn

A path around the side of the tarn leads on to the stone staircase which climbs up Dollywagon Pike.

Dollywaggon Pike ascent

The main path heads straight to the top of Helvellyn. To visit the lesser summits you take a detour to the right.There are good views of the craggy side of the range.

Dollywaggon Pike summit

Nethermost Pike summit

Helvellyn summit

Red Tarn

Lower Man

After Helvellyn summit and its slightly smaller neighbor Lower Man, the hills get rounder and grassier as you head along the ridge towards Clough Head.

Raise summit

Sticks Pass

Stybarrow Dodd summit

Watson's Dodd ascent

Thirlmere from Watson's Dodd

Great Dodd summit

Calfhow Pike

Clough Head summit

From the top of Clough Head, I followed the ridge down to the east.There's a narrow path leading down past White Pike and on to an old coach road.According to the OS map, there ought to be a path from the coach road down towards Threlkeld, but I didn't see any sign of it, so it was a pathless descent down the hillside This was dry and heathery at first, and got wetter lower down. I eventually got to the house at Newlands, from which a tarmac road leads into the village., where I got a bus into Keswick and then another bus back to the car.

Descent to White Pike

Back on dry land

Waiting for the bus

[dav2930]

Nice report on a grand high level traverse. Good idea using public transport to facilitate a linear walk. Apparently Wordsworth and Coleridge used to walk from Grasmere to Keswick via Helvellyn quite regularly to post letters. By 'eck they must have been tough in those days!

Re the path from the coach road towards Threlkeld; I've never been able to find it either. OS is notorious for showing paths that don't exist and not showing ones that do!

[ChrisW]

Lovely stuff Andy, covered some ground there...as an aside I once spent a good 30 mins trying to locate a bridge on an OS map...I'm pretty sure they add the odd thing just to test us