Saturday 22nd June – Grasmere Round

Weekend away in the Lakes. Unfortunately , the (accurate) weather forecast was for wind and persistent showers. I am not a big fan for walking in waterproofs, especially in summer.

I have never been to Grasmere before so this area of the Lakes is new to me. Took me a while in the car to figure out where to park and where to pick up the path out of Grasmere.

In the end I parked at the pay and display just out side the centre of the village and then walked down through the village to Easedale Road. After just over half a mile I took the right hand turn just after Goody Bridge. This is a beautiful country lane with Helm Crag on one side and Seat Sandal , Dollywagon Pike towering to the other side.


on the way to Steel Fell. Seat Sandal on the horizon

 After just over a mile the road becomes a footpath at Helm side, and this is where I made my navigation error (after reviewing what happened). I headed on the obvious footpath down to Green burn which is a beautiful fast flowing river / gyll with small waterfalls. I headed along this path looking for the footpath up to Steel Fell. I couldn’t find it and in the end I started on up the side of the fell. Fairly soon I had to make a decision – head straight for the summit which looked quite steep near the top or bear right and head for the ridge which I should have been on. I chose the latter and was soon wading through a steep slope covered in bracken. Bloody hell....that was hard work. At last I got to the ridge and headed on for the summit....wet and exhausted. From there great view back to Grasmere and my return route, Seat Sandal and Thirlmere.

As Wainwright correctly describes it the path across from Steel Fell to Calf Crag is very boggy and swampy, so I added wet feet to the rest of wet me ! The views down to Green Burn valley and Grasmere were (as usual in the Lakes) stunning. Eventually , after a tiring journey across, with lots of zig zagging to avoid the really wet bits I got to Calf Crag, and had the added fantastic view of Grasmere common to the right. The path then was an undulating one sometimes dropping slightly from the high ground over to Gibsons Knott. It is not really a ridge path that I was expecting but an up and down path along high ground. The showers kept whipping in from the East – quite spectacular to watch as the came in across the valleys – at one point by the time it hit me the rain was horizontal.

                                                The return ridge with Helm Crag a the end

                                                       Looking back down to Grasmere


The path up to Helm Crag was a good one finishing in some steps up to the summit. The summit is an interesting place with the rocky outcrops of the howitzer and the ‘Lion and the Lamb’, with great views all around.

                                                Middle of June ....are you having a laugh

                                                  Path up to Helm Crag

The Howitzer

 

 

 

As this is such a popular Fell the path down to Grasmere is well defined and maintained.

Really enjoyed this first visit to the Lakes , although this seemed a lot harder than I expected.

Distance : 8.5 miles

Ascent : 2,135 ft

OS OL 5