Striding Edge

A photo diary of Lake District fell walks

  • Walks
  • Fells
    • Wainwrights
      • Eastern Fells
      • Far Eastern Fells
      • Central Fells
      • Southern Fells
      • Northern Fells
      • North Western Fells
      • Western Fells
      • Outlying Fells
    • Birketts
  • Dogs
  • Love The Lakes
  • Contact

Helvellyn Sunrise

Walked on 17/12/2021

Start point: Wythburn (NY 324 136)

Wythburn – Birk Side – Nethermost Pike – High Crag – Dollywaggon Pike  – Seat Sandal – Wythburn

Distance: 8 miles    Total Ascent: 1042 metres     Time Taken: 5 hours 30 minutes     Start Time: 06:30

Clear                 
Temperature      5 ℃ 
Felt like        5 ℃
Wind Speed       1.3 mi/h
Wind Direction   ENE

Regular followers of this site over the years will know I like a sunrise walk and particularly at this time of year up to Helvellyn. All the conditions looked to be good for a decent sunrise today so I felt compelled to go for it, and I am mighty glad I did as it was absolutely fantastic up there. Previously all my December walks up there have been memorably cold but this time it was not so bad. Of course you never know what the conditions are really going to be like walking up in the dark but the view of the inversion to the east when nearing the top was fabulous and I knew I was in for a treat from that moment.

DSC8820

Pre-sunrise and it is shaping up to be a fantastic day ahead.

DSC8826

Ghostly Striding Edge is completely enveloped in cloud.

DSC8829

I had time for a walk along the summit plateau before the sunrise proper - there were another couple of people there to witness the spectacle as well.

DSC8834

DSC8836

DSC8839

Here we go, the first glimpse of sunrise - it is, of course, relatively late at this time of year at around 08:30.

DSC8842

Catstycam looking solitary.

DSC8850

Well worth the wait...

DSC8853

...and well worth a photo or two.

DSC8863

Helvellyn sunrise.

DSC8865

It is absolutely superb this morning.

DSC8866

The clouds look like you could jump from the edge into them. Perhaps you could swim to Catstycam?

DSC8872

Striding Edge looking fantastic, like some sort of prehistoric beast emerging from the clouds.

DSC8876

No man is an island.

DSC8877

Fletcher leads the way from Helvellyn.

DSC8879

Striding Edge is constantly changing with more - or less - being revealed by the clouds as they ebb and flow.

DSC8884

Acres of fluffy clouds as far as the eye can see to the east.

DSC8885

Looking great from every angle.

DSC8893

Fletcher is oblivious to the magnificence behind him.

DSC8894

I did hang around on Helvellyn for a good while (for me anyway) and walked along the ridge a couple of time before heading south to Nethermost Pike, here looking to the west with Bowfell to Great Gable in view through the inversion.

DSC8896

The inversion clouds are sinking away from Striding Edge and Catstycam now.

DSC8899

A penny for them Fletcher.

DSC8904

Heading for High Crag.

DSC8908-Pano

A panorama to the west. The central part if the lakes along Thirlmere was clear of cloud.

DSC8922

Fairfield and the Ill Bell ridge beyond.

DSC8926

Seat Sandal under a cloud cap. I stopped on Dollywaggon Pike and had a coffee and watched the fascinating cloud movements unfold. The cloud was pouring from Grisedale Tarn and down Raise Beck and began to fill up the Thirlmere valley.

DSC8927

Looking along The Tongue from Dollywaggon Pike summit, a good place to sit for a while. Amazingly I never saw anyone along this ridge after I left Helvellyn.

DSC8928

...and looking back the other way.

DSC8930

At the old gatepost that marks the start of the steep descent to Grisedale Tarn, Seat Sandal summit is out of the clouds now so let's go for it!

DSC8935

More thoughts for Fletcher on the way down. Oh my, I had forgotten how steep this was!

DSC8937

We're going in!

DSC8940

Then, as if by magic, the cloud has all but gone looking to Fairfield and St Sunday Crag from the steep climb to Seat Sandal.

DSC8941

DSC8944

Grasmere, Windermere and Coniston from Seat Sandal summit.

DSC8945

A brocken spectre? Nearly....sort of...not quite. If the clouds were a bit thicker it would have been a cert from that position but not to worry.

DSC8949

The view from Low Wood on the way home - rarely is Winderemere this calm.

Share this…
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Messenger
  • Whatsapp
  • Email
Previous walk Next walk

Comments

  1. Jan Mašek says

    19/12/2021 at 6:50 am

    Whoa, I’ve never seen so amazing one morning’s haul. One theme, still great diversity, every picture is exquisite. Unbelievable.
    Thanks, Honza

    Reply
    • Sean says

      22/12/2021 at 4:02 pm

      Thanks Jan, it was a perfect morning on the fells 🙂

      Reply
  2. Steve Bailey says

    20/12/2021 at 2:03 pm

    Wow! Some amazing pictures there, thanks for sharing them

    Reply
    • Sean says

      22/12/2021 at 4:02 pm

      Thank you Steve, fabulous conditions – I could have stayed up there all day!

      Reply
  3. Jeanie Lazenby says

    22/12/2021 at 9:04 am

    Magical! What a treat to be there and see that inversion. Love the images, especially the peak of Catstycam and Striding Edge peeking out. The first of the two images of Fletcher sat watching the view pulled at the heart strings 🙂

    Reply
    • Sean says

      22/12/2021 at 4:04 pm

      Thanks Jeanie, yes it was a special treat indeed to witness that sunrise and inversion. It’s a big world for little Fletcher!

      Reply
  4. Nigel Wilkins says

    27/12/2021 at 4:29 pm

    Fantastic conditions! I’m only a little bit jealous…

    Reply
    • Sean says

      29/12/2021 at 9:33 am

      Hi Nigel, thanks – I struck lucky this time!

      Sean

      Reply
  5. Angela Haworth/Clarke says

    04/01/2022 at 1:04 pm

    Catching up post Christmas – great walk and lovely views. Whilst you in the north were all enjoying cloud inversions and blue sky pre-Christmas we here in the Peak District were stuck in a grey fog for days on end. Finally saw blue sky and sun post Christmas

    Looking forward to us both getting our websites full with many more walks in 2022.

    Reply
  6. Mitchell says

    31/10/2022 at 2:41 pm

    Insane pictures!

    I think I was there on the same day, topped out of striding as the sun was rising.
    Looking forward to some nice inversions this year, fingers crossed!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Walking Diary

  • The Mosedale Horseshoe 01/03/2022
  • Caw 18/01/2022
  • Coniston sunset 17/01/2022
  • Blencathra 15/01/2022
  • Scafell Pike 14/01/2022

Social

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Information

  • Striding Edge
  • T&C’s
  • Privacy
  • Links