Grasmere to Langdale in the snow!

31.1.14/1.2.14
Walking with; Gareth and Lawrence

Gareth and Lawrence had travelled up from the balmy South to see what Winter weather the Lakes could throw at them and, luckily, the weekend didn't disappoint. We rolled into Grasmere about 7pm and headed out straightaway  on a night nav. In spite of the cloud cover the snow was reflecting the ambient light which made things a bit easier as we picked our way around Wray Gill and the edge of Brigstone Moss. Even with the snow it was warm work and by the time we headed back to the YHA Lawrence was stripped down to his t-shirt!
YHA Grasmere has the best staff in the Lakes and buoyed by a good night's kip and a solid breakfast we kitted up and headed down Easedale taking in the snowy views that had been denied us the night before. It was slippery underfoot but we followed Blindtarn Gill up towards Swinescar Pike and skirted Lang How to the three tarns area where the snow really hit. We were looking down into Langdale but the snow was blowing upwards and we were being blown about pretty severely as we traversed across the slopes before slip-sliding our way down to the valley floor. In Langdale the snow turned to a steady drizzle and the Pikes themselves winked in and out of the clouds as we followed the Cumbria Way through Baysbrown. Once "The Wainwrights Inn" http://www.langdale.co.uk/dine/wainwrights/ loomed into view it was a no brainer and we took shelter, dried out a bit of kit in front of the fire and made the most of a restorative pint!
Fortified by this we carried on along Great Langdale Beck before cutting across Walthwaite Bottom and skirting Huntingstile Crag on our way to Loughrigg Terrace. As we started the ascent of Loughrigg we met a couple of walkers who'd decided the wind was too strong and had turned back but undeterred we pressed onwards. When the wind did hit it hit hard, given we were at little more than 300 metres at that stage I can't imagine what it must have been like on the tops....we took the buffeting for a little while before dropping down towards Rydal Water and Grasmere and meandering back along the shoreline with great views of Goosander and Tufted Ducks. A night in "Tweedie's bar" http://www.langdale.co.uk/dine/wainwrights/ consisted of great food, a log fire, live music and plenty of good beer, just what the Doctor ordered after a Wintery day on the hill!

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More walks in and around Grasmere

4/5.12.13
Walking with; Nobody

I'd only been in Grasmere a couple of weeks earlier, but the great deals the YHA are currently offering on accommodation meant I could get a room to myself for roughly the price of a dorm bed. Butharlyp House (Butterlip is the pronunciation apparently) is an excellent hostel, well appointed, attractive and staffed by cheerful and helpful team members, an ideal location for a couple of nights. Since I'd read Hunter Davies's excellent "A walk around the Lakes" I felt better educated about the life of Wordsworth and, even in early December, there were still tour buses disgorging Japanese tourists outside the "Sarah Nelson Gingerbread shop" and "Dove Cottage". "Tweedies" is far and away the best option for a post walk pint by the fire, a choice of eight real ales and plenty of other options and some impressive looking food, I stuck to the beer on this occasion!
Anyway, enough of the tourist information. Loughrigg is exactly the kind of lumpy, bumpy, path criss-crossed, tarn dotted fell that I imagine has ML assessors salivating. I decided to head up mid-afternoon and play around for a bit before making my way back via the light of my head torch. I scrambled up stream beds, located tarns and trickles, watched Jackdaws playing on the thermals and listened to the insistent "cronk" of the Ravens. I found my way to Scartufts and as I ploughed through the boggy mire the light dropped and the headlights of the cars below skirted Rydal Water. In the darkness I located Lanty Scar, dropped down into Loughrigg Holme and ended up handrailing the wall above the slightly smutty sounding Rough Intake until I found myself back safe and sound in Rydal. I find Night Nav on my own can still be a bit intimidating but as my confidence and ability slowly increases I feel the immense satisfaction that comes from a skill being honed.
The forecast for the next day was apocalyptic and I as readied myself I could feel the glances upon me and the implicit, "You're going out in this.....?" Twenty minutes into my ascent to Alcock Tarn I wondered why I hadn't listened. The rain was torrential and unrelenting, trees bucked and bent in the wind and even the hardy Herdwicks huddled in the lee of stone walls and chewed the grass in miserable silence. A couple of gusts nearly had me off my feet but I continued to climb bent into the wind until I reached the beautifully appointed tarn on the lower slopes of Heron Pike with views of Grasmere and beyond. Rain turned to stinging sleet, the wind continued to blow and I trudged towards the village, then the wind continued to blow, the clouds scudded by and I ascended smiling to Stone Arthur under blue skies! I had a sandwich sheltering between two rocks out of the teeth of the gale and then contoured round below Great Rigg to reach Grizedale Tarn, one of Lakeland's best. Last time I'd been here was on my C2C route and the false summit as you climb up Great Tongue had crushed me, this time I at least knew what to expect.....I saw the only two other walkers of the day at the Tarn and then slipped and clambered up the screey slope of Seat Sandal affording spectacular views down Patterdale to Ullswater. The unusual name is, apparently, a derivation of the old Norse for "Sandulf's Hill Pasture", but it's a rare, old spot with views to match. Leaving the summit it was a knee crunching descent down the Southern slopes before following Great Tongue back down to "Tweedies" and a welcome pint by the fire! Sometimes the inclemency of the weather is the only way to get some of the more popular fells to yourself!

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A Grasmere overnighter

14/15.2.13
Walking with; Nobody

Last time I stopped in Grasmere was a couple of years ago on my Coast to Coast walk and my impression of the village was of a shrine to Wordsworth that lacked a decent Lakeland pub. I'd stayed in the Thorney How Hostel which at that time was owned by the YHA but is now operating on an independent basis. I stayed on this visit at the Butharlyp Howe hostel (pronounced Butterlip) and have nothing but praise for it, a beautiful building in an excellent location with Goldcrests in the garden. I arrived later than intended after too much wine the night before and fish and chips in Ambleside, so decided on something gentle to stretch the legs and stimulate the mind with thoughts of "lonesome wandering".
Leaving Grasmere I headed out past Dove Cottage (Wordsworth's home from 1799-1808 when he sold it to Thomas de Quincy) and started ascending on the old coffin route across to Rydal and Rydal Mount where Wordsworth lived later in his life. The coffin route is so named as before Rydal and Ambleside had churches of their own, bodies used to be carried (in coffins) to St Oswald's church in Grasmere for burial. As I climbed out of the village I passed one of the coffin stones that was used to  rest coffins on in order to provide the bearers with a break. The path was very slushy underfoot, the dump of snow on Wednesday was already thawing and there was water everywhere, but the views across to Rydal Water were beautiful with the water reflecting Loughrigg Terrace. Passing Rydal Mount I continued through the village and after crossing the River Rothay meandered out onto the slopes of Loughrigg and the impressive caves caused by quarrying on the fell.  The walk along Loughrigg Terrace back towards Redbank Wood was breathtaking with views across Grasmere, Helm Crag and back to Nab Scar. Bags dropped off at the YHA I decided to try "Tweedies" bar and am very glad I did, there's not much better after an afternoon on the fells than a log fire, some locally brewed real ale and a steak and kidney pudding!
Day two, I headed off from the hostel and took the path away from the village and onto the lower slopes of Helm Crag. Whilst I couldn't really see any sign of the lion or the lamb, it's a handsome hill and from the summit there was some fantastic views back to the lakes I'd trawled round the previous day. Wainwright wrote of it, ""The virtues of Helm Crag have not been lauded enough. It gives an exhilarating little climb, a brief essay in real mountaineering, and, in a region where all is beautiful, it makes a notable contribution to the natural charms and attractions of Grasmere" and I'd be hard pressed to disagree. Leaving the summit, I followed the ridge along to Gibson Knott and continued over the Pike of Carr and Calf Crag. It was warm work even with the snow still lying thick on some parts of the path. Reaching the head of Far Easdale I began the descent into the valley stopping for a beautiful sunlit lunch at the foot of one of the many waterfalls where the sun shining through the spray created some beautiful rainbows. Following Far Easdale Gill back towards the village I took the permissive path through the grounds of the Lancrigg where I was lucky enough to come face to face with a beautiful Roe Deer standing in the woodland at the hotel entrance......a perfect end to a very good day of walking.

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