A lovely walk to end the years walks
I had walked the ridge that takes in Calf Crag, Gibson Knott and Helm Crag before on a Coast To Coast walk but I decided to do them as a circular walk from Grasmere on a lovely sunny Winters day. The car park was free on Sundays leading up to Christmas so I parked up about 10am after driving from East Yorkshire and got ready.
I headed out of the village past the YHA and along the road and track that also takes you to Easedale Tarn, after a while the road ends and you're on a stoney track and come to a junction of paths, straight on to Borrowdale or turn right to head up to Helm Crag. I headed straight on as I wanted to do Helm Crag last of the 3 hills and enjoy the views back down to Grasmere at the end.
The path was mainly dry but icy in places, the sun which shone all day up high wouldn't shine in the valley but it was still reasonably warm and no wind, the wind would appear once I reached the ridge to Calf Crag and beyond. It was a gradual climb and not too difficult and the views up to the right of the ridge shining in the sun were nice as was the view ahead and it was all very peaceful, hardly a person around and no wind, just the sound of water trickling downhill.
Eventually I reached the point on the Coast To Coast path where I turned off to the right and headed off towards Calf Crag which didn't take long from here, the hills in the distance speckled with snowy patches, including Fairfield which I hoped to walk the next day, the view along the ridge was worth the climb.
The next hill was Gibson Knott which was a pleasant walk along the ridge with a few up's and down's, the sun meant no icy patches but I was still wary on rocks. After Gibson Knott, Helm Crag is reached quite quickly with a little steep section just before the summit. It was busy here so I didn't hang around here long. The views over the hills on the Fairfield Horseshoe and down to Grasmere and beyond to Rydal Water were fantastic.
It's quite a steep descent from the summit and I think I missed my turn off and kept on an alternative path down the hill beside a wall and back to join the path I probably should have taken. Very soon I was back at the track where I turned off towards Borrowdale a little earlier in the day. Soon I was on the road leading back into the village and back to the car park.
Although this was a shorter walk than normal, I still enjoyed the day very much in perfect conditions and would certainly do this walk again. The mileage and other statistics for this walk were not recorded as the App on my mobile phone decided not to work for some reason on this day.
