Author Topic: Walk from Grasmere  (Read 3837 times)

Ridge

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Walk from Grasmere
« on: 14:45:48, 01/09/11 »
Grasmere – Helm Crag – Gibson Knott – Calf Crag – High Raise – Steel Fell – Grasmere
 
11.5 miles  2900ft of assent
 
Another walk with my son in the Lakes.
 
 
From Grasmere village we walked up Easedale Road past YHA Butharlyp Howe, now the only YHA hostel in Grasmere. You can cut off the road for a short way on a permissive path in the field on the left of the road, thank you National Trust.
 
After the road has crossed an open field we took the path to the right signed Helm Crag. The path here has been rerouted to control erosion so it is not quite as show on the OS map but ends up in the same place.
 
 
Looking back towards Grasmere with Loughrigg Fell behind.


 
 
Looking over to Sourmilk Gill.


 
 
Famously AW did not make it to the top of Helm Crag as to do so you have a bit of a climb up the Howitzer.


 
From the top of Helm Crag there is an easy to follow path which takes you along the left (SW) of the ridge. If you are Wainwright bagging make sure you pick up the tops of Gibson Knott and Calf Crag as you pass.
 
The path then meets another path coming up from the valley at a cross roads where we paused for lunch. We headed straight on, on a path that became more and more indistinct as we headed up towards Codale Head.
 
We were now completely immersed in the cloud and set off to try to locate the trig point that marks the top of High Raise. Not being quite sure where we had hit the edge of the plateau this was micro-navigation that I did not want to get in to so I decided that we would head back to the edge and follow it north to our path off at Greenup Edge. Of course as soon as I took the decision we found the path we had originally been looking for with no trouble and then followed it to the trig point.
While we found this tricky in poor visibility if you took this route on a clear day you would have no problems.
 
 
High Raise


 
 
From the top of High Raise we followed the obvious path North to Low White Stones and then North East to Greenup Edge. Here we took a path that starts off heading just South of East before it swings South East heading back towards where we had had lunch. On the way we crossed and sometimes re-crossed numerous streams and bogs.
Just before we got to where we had lunch we headed of North East to pick up a path along a fence to Brownrigg Moss.
 
Though both ‘path’ and ‘fence’ are overstating what is actually there.
 

 
 
This is a long section to walk and the skirting round bogs both here and earlier in the day was beginning to make this walk take longer than I had planned. For once I had actually left our route with someone in case anything happened as I thought, correctly, we would see very few people. I did wish I had told them we would be later back and wondered about phoning them but as it turned out we had plenty of time.
 
We continued following the fence posts and then an actual fence along the top past a number of small tarns across sodden ground.
Apparently it is not funny if someone else sinks in to the mud up to their calves and you should not laugh, at least that is what I was told.
 
From the top of Steel Fell we looked over to Helm Crag where we had been in the morning.
 


 
 
We then headed off the end of the fell on a knee-jarringly steep path to the scattering of houses at Helmside before following the minor roads back to Grasmere.

amnesiacjimmy

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Re: Walk from Grasmere
« Reply #1 on: 14:32:24, 15/09/11 »
Good stuff  O0
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glovepuppet

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Re: Walk from Grasmere
« Reply #2 on: 14:52:02, 15/09/11 »
Nice report and pics.  O0
 
Pity the weather wasn't a bit kinder to you, though!

Sprout

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Re: Walk from Grasmere
« Reply #3 on: 15:16:38, 15/09/11 »
Looks photos.  I haven't done the high bits but walked to Calf Crag once and then returned along Easedale.  it was a good day out. :)

Ridge

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Re: Walk from Grasmere
« Reply #4 on: 16:12:20, 15/09/11 »
Thanks.
 
It wasn't the best weather ever but we had a good time, did some hills we'd not done before and didn't see too many other people
 
and spent quite a while at the end of the day just watching the clouds speed down the valley.

footix2

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Re: Walk from Grasmere
« Reply #5 on: 16:48:56, 15/09/11 »
Did you climb the Howitzer. It's the stuff of nightmare's for me so I am going to have to tackle it sooner rather than later before I bottle it.
82/214

Ridge

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Re: Walk from Grasmere
« Reply #6 on: 16:59:05, 15/09/11 »
Did you climb the Howitzer. It's the stuff of nightmare's for me so I am going to have to tackle it sooner rather than later before I bottle it.

I did climb it, if your 13 year old son has gone up you can not chicken out. If it is the height you are worried about it does not feel that high when you go up as you are not on the cliff side of it.
 
This, like the one in the report, is a picture of my son on the top, I try to stay behind the camera but I did go up honest.

amnesiacjimmy

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Re: Walk from Grasmere
« Reply #7 on: 18:43:12, 15/09/11 »
 O0 O0

I fancy havig a go at that meself now  :)
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ScreeScaredy

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Re: Walk from Grasmere
« Reply #8 on: 19:40:25, 15/09/11 »
great TR thanks for posting O0 O0 - did the horsehoe from Steel Fell to Helm Crag  earlier this year - but without High Raise - that'd would have made it a bit of a long one for me!! It started off really cloudy for us too but then opened out and the views were brilliant.
Havin done High Raise on a clear day - I don't fancy it in the cloud and after all the rain we've had! There's not much up there to navigate visually and I can only imaine how boggy it was!!! :o
Wowee and well done to you and your son for conquering the Howitzer!  O0 O0  I wasn't as brave (the OH was) I probably could have got up there but probably couldn't have got back down!  ;D
Love the pic you posted of the cloud after the main TR. I could watch them all day when it's like that!
 

Ridge

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Re: Walk from Grasmere
« Reply #9 on: 09:36:54, 16/09/11 »
O0 O0

I fancy havig a go at that meself now  :)
AJ you should it is a lovely walk. The truncated version, as described by ScreeScaredy, would be great on a day when the clouds are down a bit as it only goes up to about 1800'
 
 
Havin done High Raise on a clear day - I don't fancy it in the cloud and after all the rain we've had! There's not much up there to navigate visually and I can only imaine how boggy it was!!! :o
It was a bit moist under foot and I definitely didn't know where we were, though I did know how to get to a known place so we were not entirely lost just slightly misplaced.
 
I can honestly say even with the weather, the lack of views at times and the bogs there is nowhere I would have rather been.

gary m

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Re: Walk from Grasmere
« Reply #10 on: 09:57:30, 16/09/11 »
not the best weather, still i bet you had a great day
 
you have 1 life live it

Diplomatic

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Re: Walk from Grasmere
« Reply #11 on: 22:57:43, 16/09/11 »
Nice TR Ridge, like it. Helm crag was my very first Wainwright, loved it but that was the only one we did that day. We should have bagged more but you live and learn. Thanks for sharing.

wildCAMPER

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Re: Walk from Grasmere
« Reply #12 on: 17:05:26, 05/03/21 »
Nice TR - going to tackle that Howitzer  O0

Ridge

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Re: Walk from Grasmere
« Reply #13 on: 18:56:38, 05/03/21 »
Thanks wC. I can't believe it is nearly 10 years ago now.

Skip

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Re: Walk from Grasmere
« Reply #14 on: 15:16:35, 06/03/21 »
It's a good walk, that circuit. Thanks for posting Ridge. Your trip report brings back some great memories.

Steel Fell is knee-jarring down the nose right enough - and it's a steep so-and-so to walk up as well!

The summit of High Raise in clag and rain - ahhhh, such happy memories (or, perhaps, not). In fact I think the wettest day's walking of my life included that trig!

Below is Dave's photo of that walk on a September Saturday in 2013. Our mate Mike is on the left and I'm the one in blue:


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