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In June 2014 I walked the Coast to Coast from St Bee's to Robin Hood's Bay. I had four fantastic days in the Lakes and I remember being a bit disappointed arriving in Shap and realising that section of the walk was over. I'm not sure why but the climb up to Grisedale Tarn and then from the tarn looking around at all the dramatic hills just felt a bit special. From the tarn it seemed like a long walk down to Patterdale and I spent most of it looking around me and promising that I would come back and climb some of these hills.
So, 20 months later and with the alarm set for 3am the time had come. I was on the road for 3.45am, arriving in Patterdale at about 7.40am. The layby by the church (between Glenridding and Patterdale) has a 2 hour limit and the lay by beyond The White Lion was already full so opted for the car park at the Patterdale Hotel (£4.50 for the day).
Walking by 7.50am I was off in to the gloom of the promised foggy start and heading along the path by the side of the road to Glenridding. After just a few minutes I left the road behind and walked up the path with the camp site on my left and the river on my right. A busy campsite with everybody getting prepared for the day ahead. I surprised myself by walking past the little café doing a roaring trade with all the hungry campers - on reflection it would probably have made sense to grab some hot food as I had already been on the go for 5.5hrs but I was keen to gain height and get out of the gloom.
I reached the road, turned right over the bridge and picked up the road going up to the YHA which was initially quite steep but levelled off and made for a good quick start. Just beyond the YHA I followed the signs for the Sticks Pass (I had considered all the different approaches to Helvellyn but went for this one as it would bring me out further along the ridge and give me more opportunities to climb some extra hills), the initial climb was steep and after about fifteen minutes I was out of the fog.
- 1st view of the day
The path is really good, easy on the feet and after the initial climb away from the YHA it's on a steady and easy gradient with Sheffield Pike on my right.
- The final part of the climb on the Sticks Pass
- Looking back down the path
I had heard stories about how busy the hills were in this part of the world, I must be on a much quieter route as so far I have only passed one lone walker and two couples. Once up on the wide ridge my first planned summit was off to my left (Raise) but Stybarrow Dodd off to my right was tempting me and I gave in and headed off.
I wasn't timing it but it didn't take long to get to the top with the views west opening up. With low cloud over Thirlmere the distant hills were just popping their heads up out of the sea of white.
- The path up Raise and beyond
After taking in the views I dropped down to the Stick Pass and climbed up to Raise.
- From Raise looking back to Stybarrow Dodd
From the top of Raise I now get a good view over to White Side and Helvellyn and so I have a good idea of what lies ahead (a steep climb up White Side followed by what looks like an easier walk over to the top of Helvellyn).
Sometimes from a distance hills can look steep but then when you are up close they aren't that bad, White Side was steep but short lived.
- White Rise on the right with Helvellyn to the left
- The final bit of the climb up White Side
- View west at the top of White Side
- Looking back to Raise
I could see people coming up the hill from my west and was expecting to see a few people at the top of White Side but I was on my own, six people had walked straight past with their sights set on Helvellyn.
The walk over from White Side to Helvellyn was really straight forward with little climbing involved. Now things are different, the top is busy and if feels like the English equivalent of Ben Lomond or Ben Nevis.
- Looking back
- Helvellyn ahead
After a few quick photos I was keen to get on my way.
- Looking down to Red Tarn
- Swirral Edge
- Swirral Edge again
I think I'll need to come back and do Striding Edge and Catstye Cam - it looked stunning.
Next targets, Nethermost Pike followed by Dollywagon Pike are both in view and I follow the path towards them. Again there seems to be by-pass paths and I'm still amazed that people are ignoring these hills and the views on offer but on the plus side, they're both quiet.
- Still misty lower down
- Looking over to Dollywagon Pike
- Dollywagon Pike zoomed
Both Nethermost Pike and Dollywagon Pike were easy summits with very little effort involved. I knew from my C2C last year that there would be a fair drop off Dollywagon Pike down to Grisedale Tarn (from the tarn the zig zag path up DP looked very steep). Starting the descent it was noticeable that there was now a lot of cloud around on the tops and the conditions seemed to be changing.
- Grisedale Tarn
My next hill should have been Seat Sandal but for reasons I can't explain I didn't fancy it. I continued down to the tarn and walked round it to the point where I would start the climb up Fairfield. I could see a couple coming down off Seat Sandal and they seemed to be struggling with the steepness and their footing and so with the hill clag bound I turned off for Fairfield and started the climb.
This quickly felt like hard work and for the first time since the climb up White Side I had to engage my tried and trusted trudge gear which got me to the top slowly without stopping. Wow, for the first time since Helvellyn (if you don't include Grisedale Tarn) there are a lot of peeps about. I can't be bothered hanging about waiting for the chance to get a photo of the cairn at the top so just grab a bit of chocolate and head off. There's also nothing to photograph now as the clag has set in and the surrounding hills have disappeared.
At this point things turned to mush (polite version). I carry a map and compass (that I can use!) and also have my trusted Garmin which comes in to it's own in clag but hey, I don't need any of that there is a great big wide track to follow so off I trot. After a fair amount of undulation and 45 - 50 minutes walking the brain finally clicks that St Sunday Crag is taking a hell of a time to reach so I stop to check my position, I'm beyond Dove Crag and heading for Ambleside
I've turned a fairly long day into a very long day (and unbeknown to me picked up an extra couple of Wainwrights along the way
) and start to retrace my steps back to Fairfield. I had been starting to feel my legs but suddenly I had some impetus and was much quicker getting back to the top of Fairfield where although still clag bound my mistake was obvious and glaring.
It's now decision time, take in St Sunday Crag and Birks or head back down to Grisedale Tarn and head down the valley floor to Patterdale. I decide I have enough daylight and I have my head torch with me if I need it. At this point I took a break to get some food down me and hope the clag might clear, I know this is a great route over to St Sunday Crag and I want to see something but it turned out the views were gone for the day and the camera could have been put in the rucksack.
- View of the route over to St Sunday Crag before it disappeared completely
The descent off Fairfield was steep and the climb up St Sunday Crag felt equally steep but with an element of uncertainty over how long this route would take me compared to how much daylight was left I seemed to gain some extra oomph.
After St Sunday Crag, Birks was straight forward but the drop down to pick up the Patterdale path felt hard on the legs and feet. Back on flatish terrain it was a nice finish on a good path as it slowly descended down through the woods and into Patterdale arriving back at the car at 5.50pm giving me a 10 hour day in the hills (and a bit more daylight left over than I expected).
In summary, this was a great round of hills (albeit some of them were not planned) and was just as good as I hoped it would be. It would have been better if the tops had remained clear all day (as MWIS suggested) but the views I had before the clag set in made the effort worthwhile.
All that was left now was the three and a half hour drive home....................
PS I asked for advice on the forum a couple of months ago and got some great help with both hills to include and parking in Patterdale so thanks to those who responded.
