England - Lake District - Easedale Blea Rigg Gig

Walk Summary

Easy walk up to the beautiful Easedale Tarn from Grasmere. Harder climb up to Blea Rigg where there are excellent views down on to Easedale Tarn and also over to Pavey Ark and Harrison Stickle. Descend back down into Grasmere whilst enjoying great views across to Helm Crag and Fairfield.

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Date: 02/05/2023

Length: 7.59 miles

Height Gain: 525 m

Terrain: Stone tracks, muddy tracks, stone steps, grass tracks, trackless fell, lightly used roads

Navigation: Map, compass and gps required. The terrain between Blea Rigg and Silver How can be confusing, especially in bad weather.

Start: A591 Grasmere Carpark

Route: A591 Grasmere Carpark, Easdale Road, Easedale Tarn, Blea Rigg, Lang How, Allan Bank

Map: OL7 South Eastern Lake District, OL6 South Western Lake District

Weather: Grey with mist on the tops

Walkers: Nun, Cabin Boy, Kapitan Mo

Captain's Log

Disturbed Night

My sleep was disturbed last night and I was feeling a bit groggy this morning. Around 03:00 am I'd been woken up by the sound of an electric buzzer. It came from downstairs at our base in Grasmere. I waited five minutes to see if the Cabin Boy or Kapitan Mo would get up to investigate, but I could only heard the Kapitan snoring like a pig with a sore throat. It was no good, I'd have to sort it out. It turned out to be a radio-clock in the kitchen; the alarm had been set to go off at 03:00 am. I wondered whether the Cabin Boy or the Kapitan had set it as a little joke, but they feigned surprise when I instigated an investigation in the morning. I told them that there would be repercussions if it happened again tonight.

I was yawning and trying to keep my eyes open as me made our way along Easedale Road and then followed Easedale beck towards the tarn. It was a grey day and the high tops disappeared into mist. We caught up with what like a group of students before we started climbing to the tarn. They just seemed to be standing around chatting. One of the group had an expensive looking film camera and microphone. I'm sure they'd have got a better film higher on the fells, but none of them looked enthusiastic for a walk.

If there had been any wild campers up at Easedale Tarn then they'd packed up and left by the time we got there. The mist hadn't reached down as far as Tarn Crag and Slapestone Edge. We'd been up there a couple of weeks ago (see Captain Mo's Sergeant Challenge) when it was thick mist and couldn't see a thing. It would be a great view from up there today though. Looking westwards we could see the imposing Eagle Crag. Our path would go up the right side of it and we started making our way towards it.

Follow The Stone Road To Easedale Tarn

Hello, do you have an appointment?

Looking Down To Easedale Tarn From 'Pillary Stones'

Blea Rigg

The path followed the left of the beck that runs between Eagle Crag and Belles Knott. It was a damp approach and then a little bit scrambly in the early stages. It was nothing serious though and it soon became easier as we got higher. Halfway up the climb we could see a track branching off, on the other side of the beck, that leads up to Codale Tarn. We continued upwards eventually reaching a broad ridge. On our walk a couple of weeks ago we'd reached this point and Kapitan Mo had looked at his map and said we were at the Pillary Stones. I'd never heard of the Pillary Stones and so I got my map out to check. The only thing on the OS map in this area was a 'Pile Of Stones.' Even the Cabin Boy raised her eyebrows at that one. Forever more I'll always remember this point as Pillary Stones.

The mist hung like a low ceiling about a hundred metres above us. It may have been grey but at least we wouldn't lose the views today. It was easy enough to see where we were going but the Kapitan set a bearing to Blea Rigg in case the mist had a different idea. I'd already completed Blea Rigg for my Wainwright Venture almost a year ago, but the Cabin Boy and Kapitan Mo still had to tick it. Although the track is reasonably obvious the terrain to Blea Rigg can be confusing, especially when misty. There are lots of crags and alternate paths to lead you astray. Blea Rigg's summit was fairly easy to navigate to today though, primarily because somebody had sat down and was eating his lunch near to the summit cairn. It was that time of day, and so we found a spot nearby too and tucked into our sarnies.

Blea Rigg's East Face

Return To Grasmere

The east face of Blea Rigg is a little bit craggy and I've found it easier to backtrack west from the summit by a hundred metres or so, and pick up the alternative path that contours around its southern flank. The path then meandered eastwards along the fell side before turning south eastwards at Little Castle How. There is a large tarn shown on the OS map near to Lang How. This has become a bit overgrown with grass making it look a bit smaller than implied on the map. The OS map shows a footpath heading directly to Grasmere. There didn't seem to be a definite track in reality but the fell was quite easy to traverse even without a path. As we progressed downwards a barrier of gorse made my heart sink a tad, but it didn't offer much resistance and eventually we found a good track to continue our descent. Despite the grey day, the views across the Grasmere Valley were amazing. The track led us to a tarmacked road that descended to the National Trust's Allan Bank.

It had been a grey day, but we were always below the mist and so kept the excellent views. The fresh air had blown away my early morning tiredness. I made sure that the kitchen radio-clock was unplugged before I went to bed later that evening.

Grasmere Descent

Helm Crag

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