Captain's Log

Early Start

It had been another uncomfortably hot night. Despite having my  door wide open, it had felt like I was laying inside a fan-oven in the tent. I woke up at 05:45 and decided that I might as well get moving since the day was only going to get warmer. I missed having breakfast, with the promise that I would make myself a brew in the breeze on the summit of St Sunday Crag. Yesterday evening I’d managed to drag myself up to a small grassy area on Thornhow End, next to the path from Patterdale to Birk Fell and St Sunday Crag. It wasn’t an ideal pitch being next to the path, but I was desperate. I figured walkers wouldn’t be around late at night and early in the morning. As I was tightening up the final straps on my rucksack, it was approaching 6:30 am and I was surprised to hear some voices. A middle aged couple appeared on the path heading upwards.
‘We wanted to summit St Sunday Crag and so made an early start, since the heat yesterday was suffocating," the woman informed me. I told them that I had the same idea. I followed them up the path, but they were unencumbered by a heavy pack and soon steamed ahead. 

Today’s first task was to get to the top of St Sunday Crag before the heat became unbearable. I would then drop down to Grisedale Tarn, before heading southwards to Grasmere. I guess I’d reach the village around lunch time and so I planned spending some time there, eating, restocking and recovering. The C2C again splits into a high and low level route from Grasmere. You can either take the low valley route along Far Easedale to Greenup Edge, or the high level route over Helm Crag, Gibson Knott and Calf Crag. Either way, my planned final destination for the day was on Greenup Edge. 

St Sunday Crag

I’d maybe knocked 250 metres of vertical ascent out of the climb yesterday evening, but St Sunday Crag was 841 metres high and so there was plenty more to do. At least the track flattened out a bit and thankfully bypassed the summit of Birks by walking along its north-western flank. As I approached the col between Birks and St Sunday Crag, a figure approached on the track from Gavel Pike. This turned out to be Richard Jennings, the designer of the Lakeland Way walk; a 144 mile circuit that skirts the outer edges of the Lake District. He was a bit of a talker and I was a willing listener since the final climb up to St Sunday Crag, from past experience, was exhausting. Eventually, I could no longer delay the inevitable and I started up the steep path. Even my sweat started sweating. The gradient finally eased, but one false summit appeared after another. Eventually I came to the large cairn that signified the top of St Sunday Crag.    

The breeze that I prayed for hadn’t materialised. Midges plagued me as I boiled some water for a brew. The views were amazing though of the north face of Fairfield and across the Grisedale valley to Striding Edge. The midges were annoying me and so I only stayed long enough to drink my tea and then started my descent. At the col with Cofa Pike, I dropped down steeply. A bit of care was needed with a heavy pack and I took my time. I reached the path that followed a contour along Fairfield’s flank to Grisedale Tarn. As I made progress along the path I looked down into the Grisedale valley. There were walkers down there making their way up to the tarn. It seemed everybody had had the same idea of an early morning start. I wondered if the Terminator was down there. I guess there was the potential of meeting him on the route into Grasmere. He’d told me he intended walking the lower level route to Greenup Edge and then would continue on into Borrowdale, which would be quite a long shift for him.

Valley Descent

I reached Grisedale Tarn. It looked magnificent in the morning sun. I crested Grisedale Hause and started the valley descent to Grasmere. It was comparatively easy walking and I was grateful that it was all downhill. The path also crossed a fast running beck and I filled my belly with water. I met all the EaBo walkers who had headed out from Grasmere earlier in the morning. They were only 3 or 4 days in on the C2C, but most looked haggard. Heat does that to you. I made fast progress down the valley and soon reached the A591. The C2C crosses the road at this point and uses a country lane route into Grasmere. There was a ‘Road Closed’ sign across the lane and there was no indication if it was open to pedestrians. I didn’t want to risk it and so followed a pavement plod along the A591 towards Grasmere. I thought I might have been able to grab a morning coffee from the Traveller’s Rest, but it was still only 10:30 am and it wasn’t open. I turned off the A591 and headed into Grasmere. My first target was the Co-Op. 

Grasmere

I could have stayed in the Co-Op all day in front of their vertical refrigerators. The cold air was so refreshing when I opened the doors. The fizzy pop was still warm in the cabinet though and so I bought an ice cold 2 pint carton of milk with some other snacks to put me through until lunch time. I found a spare bench around the village green and proceeded to drink the milk in large gulps. Even after the cold milk, I felt warm and so bought a cornet at a nearby ice-cream parlour. Almost immediately the ice-cream started melting and running down the cornet. It became a race to eat it before my hand got covered in sugary goo. I looked in Grasmere’s meagre outdoor shops for a sit mat and tent pole repair sleeve. I wanted to replace the sleeve that I’d given to the Terminator.  I eventually found a sit mat in the Mountain Warehouse shop, but the staff seemed non-plussed about the purpose of a tent pole repair sleeve. By the time I’d sorted all that out, it was time to go back to the Co-Op to get some lunch. I went for a cold salad, cold fruit salad and a cold pepsi. All the shaded benches were taken around the village green and so I sat in the full glare of the sun to eat my dinner. It was past midday now and the heat was really turning up. There was still no breeze. I wondered whether taking the high level C2C route from Grasmere was such a good idea after all. ‘There’s got to be a breeze up there, surely’ I tried to convince myself, ‘...a breeze has got to start sometime.’ 

Helm Crag

A sign hanging outside Grasmere YHA announced ‘Camping not available tonight.’ The possibility of camping there had formed a Plan B in my mind, in case the heat was so bad I couldn’t continue to Greenup Edge. Well, the heat was unbelievably bad, but it looked like my Plan B was a non-starter. I continued along the road towards Helm Crag. Even the flat road section was hard work. I kept passing a young couple as they kept passing me and then stopping for a rest. I caught up with them again on the initial stone steps up to Helm Crag. They were interested in the C2C and asked me some questions about it.
‘I’d normally not walk on a day like today. I’d probably find a nice beer garden somewhere instead. It’s only because I’m doing the C2C that I’m making the effort’ I told them. This must have had some impact on them since they both turned around and headed back to Grasmere. 

Helm Crag was a steep, long haul. I took my time. I could do no other. Every so often, I’d take my rucksack off and just rest for a minute or two. Slowly, I chipped away at its height. Just below the summit I met a couple of Australian women EaBos. They said that they were heading for Patterdale, although looking at them, I reckon Grasmere was probably a more feasible destination. I found a young Scottish couple on the summit, laid on the grass. I was too knackered to walk much further and so I unhooked the rucksack and sprawled out on my back too. 

High Level Route

The C2C high level route over Gibson Knott and Calf Crag was indeed high. It was also undulating too and the path meandered between the crags and bogs. It was effectively a ridge walk and so there were no water sources along the stretch. I was soon rationing my water intake even though I’d carried over 2 litres with me from Grasmere. The reward for the effort was the superb views into Far Easedale and the hills beyond. I only met a handful of walkers on this stretch. People were sensibly not venturing too far from Grasmere. The ups and downs seemed endless and progress along the ridge seemed slow. Gradually though the ridge gradually eased its way around to the west and the head of the valley. It was a relief to reach the cairn at Calf Crag, the last high point on the ridge. I was out of water now. The path led down past the tarn at Brownrigg Moss and then to the head of the valley where it joined back up with the C2C low level valley route. 

Greenup Edge

The path up to Greenup Edge used to be a bit of a bog-fest, but the worst has been slabbed and progress over the lower, flatter section was now a doddle. I stopped where it crossed a fast running beck and filtered some water. I also brewed tea and sat down for a rest, in preparation for the last uphill stretch of the day. As I was packing my gear away into my rucksack, two girls approached from the direction of Greenup Edge.
‘You’ve just missed a cup of tea’ I said to them as they approached. They didn’t say anything and continued along the slabs.     

The slabs ran out and a track took me the rest of the way to the top of Greenup Edge. It was a steep climb, but I was encouraged that the end of the day was in sight. A young chap caught me up, just as I reached the cairn indicating the top of the pass. He was heading up to High Raise for a wildcamp. I headed off in the other direction towards Ullscarf for a pitch. A lot of the area was boggy or had clumpy grass, but I managed to find a reasonable spot for a pitch. The view westwards from my tent was superb. I could see layer upon layer of hills. I could see the distinctive slope of Fleetwith Pike, near to Honister Pass, a location that would be on my route tomorrow.  I was treated to a lovely sunset of a red and orange sky. There was still no breeze though.   

I’d never known the Lake District so warm and still. Today’s walk would have been tough anyway, but it was especially so under these conditions. The views had been amazing though, with the early ones of Fairfield and Striding Edge, and the ones that followed me along the edge of Far Easedale. I just hoped that conditions might be a bit cooler tomorrow.