One Step Forward, Two Steps Down

Wintery morning skies

Snow is exhausting! I still love it though. With a blue sky or textured clouds acting as a back drop to brilliant white mountains, it is better than on a clear blue and warm summer day (sometimes). There is no doubt it is much more tiring though! A recent walk up to the Helvellyn ridge (specifically aiming for Whiteside initially) reminded me of this very quickly....

Skiddaw & Blencathra

I started from Thirlspot near Thirlmere with the wintery morning sun peering over the slopes of Helvellyn Lower Man promising some good views and I chose this ridge specifically to see into both the Ullswater and Thirlmere valleys as it is spectacular. With a real sense of anticipation I started at a fair pace (for me that is – speed is never my strong point) very optimistic about the walk. I had hardly walked a few hundred yards though before I knew my microspikes were going to be essential on the icy path. I stopped to put them on (it is really easy to do) and kept going along the quite gentle path stopping constantly to take photos of Skiddaw and Blencathra.

Before long the path takes you up a steep section that would be tiring at the best of times but sinking ankle-deep in snow each step it was a real challenge and tracking the path rather tricky. I was full of energy at that point though so as the views along St John’s in the Vale towards Keswick and across the valley to Thirlmere got better and better, there was plenty to distract me. Eventually the path levelled out and I thought I must be near the ridge. Sadly not. Looking very far away and very steep was Raise, which is the fell next to Whiteside. The summit I was aiming for was still not in view with the crags of Brown Cove in the way. 

Silky smooth snow on the Dodds

The ground was flatter now and I could see a path up the side of Brown Cove so I pressed on confidently. I was still sinking to above my ankles though so having to lift each foot higher each step. I took off my microspikes at this point as they were just collecting snow and making my feet even heavier. The ridge of Brown Cove seemed to take forever to get to but I knew once I was there, it would be a milestone and I would feel enthused about being so much closer to my goal.

Waves of snow

How wrong can you be? The summit was still out of sight from there. Raise still looked a very long way away. The snow was still soft and worse, deeper! As I started the ascent to Whiteside, it was a case of one step forward, two steps down as I regularly sank up to my knees in snow, sometimes staying upright and other times propelling forwards and landing in a sprawled heap on the snow and taking a breath before hauling myself up time after time.

With the deep snow unremitting and Whiteside not seeming to be getting any closer and having landed in a heap for what must have been the fifth or sixth time, I seriously contemplated giving up. I was really not sure I could make it as it was so exhausting. But at that moment, as I lay on the snow propped up on one elbow with one leg buried up to my knee, I saw a couple walking the ridge towards Raise. I reminded myself it was the view from the ridge I was after and summits did not matter so I changed direction and headed for the ridge. The great thing was that having spent so much of the ascent sitting down, I could really appreciate the textures of the snow that went from being as smooth as silk on Stybarrow Dodd to looking like waves as it covered the grassy tufts where I was.

The eastern fells

I made it to the ridge and as ever, the moment I did (just like reaching a summit) the pain of ascent was forgotten and I just revelled in the views towards Swiral and Striding Edges, Catsycam and the eastern fells and in the opposite direction to the fells beyond Thirlmere and towards Coniston. Breathtaking and worth every tumble and every breath.

Catsycam

With summits not being important, I ditched Whiteside and headed towards Raise instead as it was in sunshine and looked more inviting (and less steep!) The views from the summit were beautiful and the icy patterns and textures on the rocks and cairn were superb. The wind was a bitter chill so my stay on the summit was brief and I decided to head down via Sticks Pass and see the skiing area (yes – Raise has a ski lift) and admire the silky smooth Dodds beyond.

The walk down was long and microspikes were again essential but it was amazing. There were a few snowboarders about and it looked a much faster and more fun way to get back down whereas I was still wading thorough deep snow. It was less tiring on a downward slope than upwards and the views remained a distracting sight, particularly the pinks and wisps of clouds in the sky around Skiddaw and Blencathra.

Always a Herdy around....

I walked back along the lower slopes to Thirlspot crossing becks and streams and watching the sun set over the fells behind Thirlmere. It was a lovely walk but I think the ascent was possibly the most tiring I have ever done and comparable to the Grasmoor screes (although I think the screes edge the contest!) Entirely worth it though. I love walking in snow.

See more photos from this walk on my Facebook page.

Contact Me

The Knight & the Water

Place Fell from Glenridding

Regular readers of my blog will know I often drive up early morning from the Kent/Sussex border to the Lake District and then launch straight into a fell walk - usually a lower fell.  Friends and family have not decided whether this is dedicated or crazy.  I am not sure I have the answer but for me it is about making the most of my time in the Lakes.  So in May 2011, I arrived in Patterdale near Ullswater ready to climb Place Fell and Beda Fell.  Place Fell lies on the shoreline of Ullswater, an impressive fell that overlooks and guards the valley.

It was a beautiful day with glorious sunshine and a deep blue sky and I leapt out the car full of energy for the walk and in love with life.  My rucksack was already packed and I had stopped on the way to buy some water so I put that on the roof whilst I got my rucksack from the boot.  A couple in a car across the car-park were also getting ready for a walk and we exchanged smiles and hellos then the woman came over and asked if I had change for the pay machine so we exchanged coins and off I went humming a merry tune (sometimes I forget I am not in my own bubble and other people can hear me!)

Looking back from the slopes of Place Fell

The first part of the walk took me along a little lane, across a bridge and then started the slope up the side of the mountain.  As I got above the trees, the views across Patterdale and Ullswater and across to the heights of St Sunday Crag and Arnison Crag started to open up and it was exhilarating.  After about a mile or so I reached a crossroad of paths at Boredale Hause and had my first proper view stop (yes you are right, I was out of breath and needed a break but it is always worth stopping to look at the views) and decided to have some water.  As I had that thought a vision suddenly came into my head of two bottles of water sitting on top of my car.  Oh surely I had not left my water behind?  I could not have been that daft?  With a sinking feeling I took my rucksack off and lo and behold there was no water.  Oh dear.  Not good at all on any day let alone a sunny one like this and it was so unlike me – I usually take far too much water.  I sat down on a rock and reviewed my options.  

View to Brothers Water from the slopes of Place Fell

I could either go back to the car and get it (not tempting given how much height I had gained already) or I could keep going and hope I did not get too thirsty (which would be foolhardy).  The only other alternative was to just call it a day and start again tomorrow (which filled me with disappointment).  As I sat on my rock a group of walkers were coming up the same path towards me, chatting and happy to be out on the fells.  I must have looked a picture of abject misery as after we had exchanged hellos (theirs cheery, mine less so) one of them asked me if I was ok.  I explained my problem and like a knight in shining armour, he produced from his rucksack a sealed bottle of water and said “Here you go. I could not possibly leave you looking so unhappy and we have more than enough between us”.  Oh joy!  What a lovely man!  I resisted my immediate urge to give him a big hug and kept to a profusion of thanks.  People can be so kind.

Path to Place Fell

So full of the joys of spring and humanity I fairly skipped up Place Fell (well I skipped about two metres and then my legs reminded me I was on a mountain and it was steep).  From Boredale Hause the path looks daunting to the top of Place Fell but I got to the ridge and then it was a delightful stroll to the cairn on the summit.  The views all around were superb to the High Street fells, St Sunday Crag, the length of Ullswater and some of the lower summits, including the next fell on the journey – Beda Fell.

I retraced my steps to Boredale Hause and then took the route towards Beda Fell.  Most other people were heading straight on to get to the more popular Angeltarn Pikes (another fell closely associated with the views at Ullswater) so I had the path to myself to Beda Fell.  It was a pleasant grassy route with no serious gradients to climb and several little streams to cross.  The summit was delightful and the views to the High Street range were in their full glory.  Place Fell cut off the view to the fells on the left but it was an excellent vantage point to see the whole side of Place Fell and I could see several other walkers like tiny ants making their way across the fell (when walkers stand still on surrounding fells it is hard to tell if they are trees or people and on occasion, I have been thinking someone is taking a really long break only to realise the person is a tree – is it just me that does that?)

View from Beda Fell

I retraced my steps again to Boredale Hause (I am becoming quite a fan of that spot) and then back down to Patterdale.  It was easy to spot my car in the car-park as it was the one with two bottles of water on the roof!  A new design feature perhaps?  Place and Beda Fells will always have fond memories for me as the walk was lovely.  I have never forgotten my water since then that is for sure but it was also lovely meeting such a kind stranger.  Thank you to whoever you were.

My Top Six Ridge Routes: Part Two

My first three ridge routes featured walks around Buttermere, Wastwater and Grasmere.  The final three cover Haweswater, Helvellyn and Ennerdale.  Whilst all in the Lake District, they are very different areas with Haweswater and Ennerdale being quite remote in the far east and far west of the Lakes and Helvellyn being very central and popular.  These ridge routes continue again the wonderful feeling of being on top of the world with ever changing views that are stunning in any season and (in my view) whatever the weather (although clearly there are less views to be had on misty and cloudy days!)

Rolling mountains and ridges under a beautiful sky

So the fourth ridge route is from Mardale Head and up Kidsty Pike and then a glorious tramp across High Raise and Rampsgill Head.  Mardale Head is at the end of a no-through road and it feels like the end of the world...you get to the car-park at the end and are faced with the imposing massif of Mardale Ill Bell, Harter Fell and High Street and you would think there was no way to scale those heights.  I have conquered those fells but this route took me around The Rigg at the foot of High Street and the edge of Haweswater Reservoir and up the grassy slopes of Kidsty Pike.  It was another beautifully sunny day and the view down to Haweswater was superb with the sun catching the water as it lapped the lake edge, making it look like champagne bubbles (but then I have champagne on the brain!)  All the hard work was in the ascent of Kidsty Pike and as it is part of the Coast to Coast walk from St Bees in the west to Robin Hood Bay in the east, I met several people doing that route.

View along Haweswater Reservoir

Kidsty Pike in snowy December

Once on top of Kidsty Pike, it was just a wonderful stroll around the summits of Rampsgill Head and High Raise (not to be confused with the High Raise of the Langdale Pikes) with beautiful views towards High Street and the fells beyond and out towards the Pennines to the east.  On this occasion, I walked back down Kidsty Pike the way I had come but next time I do this route I will continue to High Street and descend the ridge back to Haweswater or continue even further over Mardale Ill Bell and down beside Small Water.  I have not climbed High Street since I was eight years old so I am sure it would be a nicer experience as an adult!

Helvellyn & Catsycam from Hartside

The Helvellyn range is not for the faint-hearted!  I did the range in the summer of 2010 with my husband from Dollywagon Pike to Clough Head – that includes the 10 peaks of Dollywagon Pike, Nethermost Pike, Helvellyn, Helvellyn Lower Man, Raise, White Side, Stybarrow Dodd, Great Dodd, Watson’s Dodd and Clough Head.  It is about 13 miles all told from end to end.  We went up from Dunmail Raise ascending the beautiful Raise Beck with the cascades and waterfalls crystal clear and certainly not as frozen as in the Seat Sandal episode!  Helvellyn was busy in spite of the mist and it was the first time I saw the plaque marking where a light aeroplane landed in 1926. Rather them than me and really not to be recommended!  The views were not the best for the first three fells owing to the mist but after we left Helvellyn, the mist cleared and Striding Edge looked striking and the views opened out to Thirlmere and the towards Keswick with each glorious step.  All the hard work is in the first fell and there is never more than a few hundred feet of ascent for any of the others – just a happy grassy stroll.  

My parents were on holiday in the Lakes the same week and fortunately, they picked us up from the bottom of Clough Head and drove us back to Dunmail Raise.  This was fortunate as after about 13 miles and over 4,000 feet of ascent, the thought of walking the six or seven miles back to the car was not appealing!  I confess this was not the first or the last time I have prevailed upon their taxi services in the Lake District!  I have also climbed Helvellyn via Striding Edge but that story is for another day and whilst I am glad I completed that challenge, is not one I would rush back to do again so has not made it into my top six ridge routes!

Ennerdale Water

The final ridge is a new one for me that I only did at the end of March in the amazing warm sunshine that engulfed the Lake District (and pretty much the rest of the UK) all week.  This was the first of two days I walked to complete the 214 Wainwrights.  I started at Bowness Point on the shores of Ennerdale Water.  I had not been to Ennerdale for many years and had forgotten how beautiful it is.  The walk took me along the lake shore for about two wonderful miles with woods on one side and the blue still lake backed by Crag Fell and Caw Fell on the other.  My mission was Caw Fell and Haycock.  It took me longer than usual to reach the foot of Haycock as I kept stopping to take photos (honestly, it is becoming an obsession) but the path up through the woods and across streams and then up a heathery path to the ridge was delightful.  The fells of Steeple (one of my favourites) and Pillar and the Buttermere fells (including the ridge route of High Crag, High Stile and Red Pike from Part One) were surrounding me on the ascent and I marvelled again how close everything is in the Lake District!

Looking back to the Haycock ridge

I reached the summit of Caw Fell first and the views to the Wastwater fells were stunning and you could see out to sea for miles towards the mountains of Scotland and the Isle of Man with a thin wisp of cloud between the base and the summits.  Inland, miles and miles of rugged and grassy mountains stretched out like a painter’s canvas.  The ridge to Haycock was wonderful with the views of the Wastwater fells (including my favourite Yewbarrow) becoming more magnificent with each step and the Scafells were basking in the sunshine.  The top of Haycock was one of the best views I have seen from a mountain top and given it is not one of the most popular fells by any stretch of the imagination, this was unexpected.  I would go back to that ridge route again and again however.  Seriously breathtaking and with the summit of Haycock reached, I had only three fells to go to complete the 214 Wainwright’s so I was euphoric!

Sunshine in the woods - just  because I like it!

These are my personal favourites.  Some of you will wonder why some of the most popular ridge routes do not feature here.  Until I climbed Haycock, the route from Arnison, St Sunday Crag and Birks was going to appear but Haycock has overtaken that one now.  I had a disaster climbing Crinkle Crags and Bowfell (a story for another occasion but let’s just say it was before I had GPS and anyone can confuse mountains in the mist in the early days of walking...!) so that has not made it and whilst it was marvellous being on Scafell Pike and the highest point in England, I would not rush back to it over others.  I like the Fairfield Horseshoe, the Coledale Horseshoe and the Coniston fells and the ridge route from Middle Fell, Seatallen and Buckbarrow from Wastwater.  It is all about personal preferences and choices and probably more importantly, the emotions you remember at the time of climbing.  I love hearing about the favourites other people have so do please share them....