Skiddaw and the Helvellyn ridge
Date: 18/02/12
Distance: 15.0 miles
Ascent: 4500ft
Saturday looked crap as I stared out the window of the hall. The clag was down and the rain looked set in. So Jack and I decided to form a splinter group and run/walk the Helvellyn ridge as 4 Inns training.
As we pulled into Patterdale the rain stopped and the clag lifted, showing the snow covered tops all around. Only I’d purposefully left my camera back at base. Sod. We could have decided for a gentler walk for the day, but my mind was geared for a challenge, so we decided to do it anyway.
The path up Grisedale, was as ever, delightful. The route climbs gently and soon we were at the edge of Grisedale Tarn. We made quick progress up Dollywagon Pike, passing over the snow line in the process. Taking a couple of breathers we admired the frankly astonishing views down to Windermere and across to Langdale. This was not the day to be without a camera.
Two hours into the day and we were on Helvellyn. We had a brief chat with some climbers about the chances of those trying to cross Striding Edge. It was incredibly windy by this point. On the decent off Lower Man I almost came a cropper as I was caught by the wind on a steep patch of ice and almost blown clean over the edge. I took the remaining section down the pass very slowly indeed.
Up and down we went, getting blown over once or twice all the way to Great Dodd. Then the weather turned and in came the cloud and the hail. Quickly we sheltered in the summit shelter, before covering our faces and braving the elements to somehow navigate off the correct side of the hill (using a compass with a buff completely covering your face is rather tricky). The mist lifted as we neared the summit of Clough Head, before a thrilling and speedy decent all the way to the A66. Four hours fifty in total. Then we went to the pub.
Date: 19/02/12
Distance: 5.7 miles
Ascent: 3000ft
Sunday was a beautiful day, one of those where words just won’t do my experiences justice. It was quite possibly the best days walking I’ve ever had in Lakeland. So I’ve skimped on words and just added lots of pictures. This time I made sure I had my camera.
The northern fells seemed to have the most of the snow, and so we had Skiddaw in our sights before heading back to London.
As we walked up through the woods around Dodd we were all in base layers in the strong sun. Winter is losing its grip to spring at last.
It stayed warm even out of the woods until upon cresting Carl Side we were forced into fleeces and waterproofs to keep off the wind.
The final stretch of hillside then presented itself to us, and I had to kick steps in the ice in one or two places to stop myself slipping. It was a good job I’d opted for my boots unlike the day before.
We had lunch just off the summit, and I spied one or two likely looking wild camp spots in the depths of the northern fells. The views in all directions were amazing, in the distance we could see the snow capped Pennines and to the north the snow covered Galloway hills. We then took a quick detour to Little Man before following the tourist track back to the road.
A beautiful day on the Sunday – I bet that made the whole round trip worth it!
It sure did. Although I was so desperate to be out of London by that point I’d have been happy with two days of rain.
Love it when you get that blue winter sky. Looks like a cracking day out on the Sunday.
Saturday was fantastic too (lots of quite moody skies), although I have no proof of my claims
But Sunday more than made up for all that. It was just one of those days.