I had 4 days off so what better way to spend them than some time in the Lake District. I set off about 6am from a sunny East Yorkshire and arrived in Glenridding, still in sunshine not long after 8am and parked up along one of the roads rather than pay (I'm Scottish and living in Yorkshire means I'm twice as tight) O0
I started off through the village and it wasn't long before I reached Helvellyn Youth Hostel (now I know where it is) and the not so steep walk up Glenridding Dodd, pausing every so often to admire the views to the side of me of Birkhouse Moor, Catstye Cam and Helvellyn which was covered in cloud.
It was blue skys all around and I was hoping the cloud would clear by the time I got there later on in the day. The higher I got, the better the views and Ullswater appeared in the hazy distance.
It was t-shirt weather and when I reached the summit of Glenridding Dodd, I was thinking about applying the sun-cream. 5 minutes later I was no longer sheltered by the wind and glad that I hadn't put the sun-cream on as I put the layers back on to protect against the bitter wind. The walk between Glenridding Dodd and Sheffield Pike and then Hart Side was straight forward enough and quick but I noticed that the cloud over Helvellyn wasn't clearing, it was actually getting cloudier and the sun soon disappeared for the day as I approached Stybarrow Dodd.
From here on, the views were only occasional and the temperature dropped dramatically. I hadn't seen a single walker so far but for the next 20 minutes or so, I could hear voices ahead of me somewhere in the cloud. The voices soon disappeared as I got higher and the full force of the wind took effect as I got closer to the summit of Helvellyn and I was looking forward to getting into the shelter near the summit for a break from the conditions.
My initial plan was to descend Swirral Edge and head up to Catstye Cam and then back (just to bag another Wainwright) but when I reached the big cairn at the top of Swirral Edge, I only saw about 20 metres or so of Swirral Edge and decided that it was sensible to forget this plan and do Catstye Cam another day. I soon was in the "comfort" of the shelter at the summit beside a few other brave souls and had my lunch. I was in no hurry to leave the shelter and out into the bitter wind again as I knew that I would be descending eventually to Grisedale Tarn after Nethermost Pike and Dollywagon Pike but there would be no shelter from this wind. The camera was basically put away for the day after Nethermost Pike and it was a case of head down and get on with it.
I can't say I enjoyed the descent down from Dollywagon Pike but then again I'm glad that I was going down it and not up. I didn't even see the tarn until I was nearly at the same level. When I got to the Tarn, I turned and headed towards the other end of the Tarn and the foot of Seat Sandal where I took shelter behind the wall for a break and contemplated the steep scree path that headed into the cloud, not exactly looking forward to it. However, after a short time the path improved and it wasn't long before I was at the summit and heading back down, today wasn't a day for hanging about at summits plus there was nothing to see but cloud.
The plan originally was to then climb up Fairfield and along the ridge taking in St. Sunday Crag and 2 more Wainwrights but as I had already done them and the fact there would be no view, I decided just to head straight down to Patterdale from Grisedale Tarn, a walk I did twice last year on the Coast to Coast and I found myself wanting to do the walk again as it brought back memories. At least now I was quite sheltered and it was an enjoyable stroll down into the village and then along to Glenridding to pick up the car and drive to Coniston where I would be camping for 2 nights at the Youth Hostel.
A few more pics...
