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This glorious weekend was meant to see me head up to Scotland, but following a few weekends of walking in the Lake District and feeling chuffed that my Wainwright tally was now above 50, I succumbed to the Cumbrian Mountains yet again and so found myself near Grasmere. I had fancied doing the Fairfield Horseshoe, but this would have put me back at Ambleside when I really want to explore some Central Fells, too. Given my reliance on public transport and reluctance to get yet another bus once I'd actually started walking, I had to get creative.
Once off the bus at Rydal Mount, I headed up the popular and steep path to Nab Scar, as if to walk the horseshoe, and indeed continued along to Heron Pike and up to Great Rigg. The weather was absolutely glorious, and I felt I was on a roll lately - two weekends in a row of amazing views and crystal clear skies - unheard of for me
The views back across Rydal Fell made me reluctant to even continue at times, I could have sat there, well, all weekend and never tired of the view.
Nab Scar by
Christopher Watson, on Flickr
Rydal Fell by
Christopher Watson, on Flickr
After Great Rigg I turned back on myself and headed down to Stone Arthur, and down towards Grasmere. Fairfield and its mighty neighbours would have to wait for another time.
Stone Arthur by
Christopher Watson, on Flickr
After a break in Grasmere, I made my way up towards Easdale Tarn, where I had set my heart on a wild camp. And what a perfect camp site it was! There were three other tents discretely tucked-away around the tarn, and I made my camp near the large boulder on the near shore when approached from the path.
Easdale Tarn by
Christopher Watson, on Flickr
It was so warm that evening, I began to wish I'd left the tent at home and just taken a bivvy bag - and was indeed tempted to just lay out in the open anyway. But the pesky flying insects reminded me that a tent is welcome at times
As I looked at my maps, I worked-out which fells would be good to do next, and which would work as part of longer routes in the future. I decided Blea Rigg would be a good shout this time, but didn't fancy adding it to the morning's round of fells and so having to do more backtracking, so popped the head torch on and did my first night walk. From the tarn it was an easy climb up to the summit, and it never quite got fully dark, which added to the atmosphere.
Blea Rigg by
Christopher Watson, on Flickr
Untitled by
Christopher Watson, on Flickr
Next morning, it was up the steep path to Tarn Crag, then across the boggy ground towards the county boundary, with its helpful old iron fence posts to follow.
Ascending Tarn Crag by
Christopher Watson, on Flickr
Steel Fell was something of an outlier I fancied climbing today, so I followed the path all the way around and then backtracked to rejoin the original path at Calf Crag.
Steel Fell by
Christopher Watson, on Flickr
Calf Crag by
Christopher Watson, on Flickr
The path along from Calf Crag to Gibson Knott and of course Helm Crag was busy, as one might expect, and the views were amazing given the modest altitude. It was with some sadness that I arrived at Helm Crag, scrambled up to the top of the summit rocks, and realised another trip was coming to an end. I walked down the steep path from Helm Crag slower than my usual pace, and cursed that it would be at least two weeks before I would be back in the hills
Gibson Knott by
Christopher Watson, on Flickr
Helm Crag by
Christopher Watson, on Flickr
