Today was a choice of walk for 14 year old James; as he’s wanted to climb Jack’s Rake (sorry Angus, not a walk for dogs!) and Helm Crag (commonly known as ‘The Lion and the Lamb’) for a while, we killed two birds with one stone today and did a long round from Grasmere. The weather started somewhat dull but by the time we reached Easedale Tarn, the sun shone and it turned into a glorious day with memorable, superb views from our lunch stop on High Raise.
Today’s walk is a long, high level circuit of the beautiful Ennerdale Valley with virtually the whole route being completed at an elevation in excess of 500m. I have had this one on my list of ‘to do’ walks for a while so it was satisfying to complete the walk on a mainly clear day. The photo’s here actually belie the conditions somewhat as the clouds came in when I was crossing from Haystacks to Pillar and there was an icy blizzard. The snow showers continued to come and go throughout the rest of the walk and conditions remained very cold.
The cloud was lying heavily on the higher tops today, so I knew there wouldn’t be any views from my round of Grasmoor. The wind was howling and quite cold, there was a great moment descending to Whiteless Pike when the mist cleared all of a sudden and I was rewarded with great views; five minutes later the mist and drizzle closed back in. I descended Rannerdale Knotts into Rannerdale to see the famous Bluebells, now in bloom and well worth a visit.
Stephenson Ground – Green Pikes (OF) – Pikes (40) – Caw (41) (OF) – Brock Barrow (42) – Fox Haw (43) – Raven’s Crag (44) – Carter Ground – Stephenson Ground
Grasmere – Steel Fell (186) – Calf Crag – Greenup Edge – Ullscarf (187) – Long Crag – Sergeant’s Crag (188) – Eagle Crag (189) – Sergeant’s Crag – Low White Stones – High Raise – Thunacar Knott (190) – Sergeant Man – Blea Rigg (191) – Silver How (192) – Grasmere
