Today's walk,
Rothswaite to Grasmere was a short walk of just 9 miles. We had decided to
drive to Grasmere and park up, then get a bus round to Rosthwaite to start the
walk. This should be an interesting walk through the beautiful Borrowdale
Valley, the wettest spot in the country and also to do a ridge walk across to
Helm Crag. So with my new support team in tow we started the steady ascent up
the valley. The weather forecast suggested that we needed to be off the top by
4pm as a weather front would be closing in at that time. We soon picked up a
group of Americans average age 65 to 70'ish, one lady I found out later was on her
9th Coast to Coast, so I've got a bit of catching up to do. I stopped at a gate
and chatted to one of the American’s who was fascinated by the dry stone walls.
He was still chatting about them later in the walk. The Coast to Coast walking
bubble was working the three ladies were on route and slowly we made our way
upwards but, the weather was starting to close in. The drizzle made the going
tough with the wet rocks. Then the realisation, when we arrived at Lining Crag,
that getting out of the valley was not going to be as easy as expected. Lining
Crag was in our way and we joined the train of Americans up the steep side gully
eventually reaching the top. At this point the misty rain and wind, combined
with the boggy conditions, made walking progress very slow. Some shelter and a
fresh pasty were the order of the day, the rainbow that suddenly appeared a
bonus. Onward we went along Greenup edge until we came to the junction where we
would turn left to do the ridge walk. All the other groups were going to take
the valley path down to Grasmere. Checking our position, our aches and pains
and the latest weather forecast we decided to proceed along the ridge. It was
tough with the tight paths across the ridge edges and scrambling up and down
rocks and picking our way through the boggy areas, the path not always obvious.
Eventually with a last climb the top of Helm Crag was reached. The mist and
rain subsided with the evening sun breaking through. By the time we got down
the light was beginning to go but we made it. So, a second note to oneself, a 9
mile walk in the Lake District can take 8 hours.
The path down from Helm Crag should be looked at, steps must be put in and not flat faced rocks which were lethal especially when wet.
The path down from Helm Crag should be looked at, steps must be put in and not flat faced rocks which were lethal especially when wet.