Helm Crag to Steel Fell

Another walk that Caroline and myself had done before, we knew could be really rewarding with the views, and that covered a couple of Wainwrights that the girls hadn't done before.

Difficulty: 5

Walkers: Tim, Caroline, Grace (13), Evie (10), Poppy (7)

10:29, 0.0km 0h00 0m, Start (68)

12:00, 3.6km 1h30 347m, Helm Crag (405, Wainwright)

12:47, 5.1km 2h17 435m, Gibson Knott (420, Wainwright)

14:03, 7.2km 3h33 600m, Calf Crag (537, Wainwright)

15:08, 9.8km 4h38 701m, Steel Fell (553, Wainwright)

17:04, 15.6km 6h34 739m, End (68)

We drove the fairly short distance from Elterwater via the back of Grasmere, then walked from the car park through the village and up Helm Crag.

The top of the climb up, looking back towards Ambleside.  Today was not going to be the rewarding views...

Helm Crag.

The view onwards towards Gibson Knott, and then back on the ridge to the right from Steel Feel, which is just in the clouds.  The A591 winds its way north on the right hand of the picture.

Gibson Knott, Poppy very proud to get to the top, after we failed to make it far enough along the ridge last time we came here with kids.

Evie, slightly less awed by the top of Gibson Knott.

Caroline, enjoying more atmospheric photo opportunities.

Moving around towards Calf Crag and we got a view down the valley towards Grasmere, before we started going back up into the clouds. 

Grace at Calf Crag, more intrepid walkers approach in the distance.

Now we walked down the other ridge towards Steel Feel.

At the top of Steel Fell, looking pretty similar to when Caroline and I were up here.

Sometime later, the rest of the party emerges out of the mist on their final ascent.  Shortly after this we start our descent, and usefully head off in the wrong direction for a while before I twig that we shouldn't be going down next to a fence and do a rapid course correction.

Finally, half way down, the view reappears, Helm Crag in the centre, and Grasmere/Ambleside beyond.  Well, okay, it's not that good a view...

Steel Fell from Grasmere

After missing out on Gibson Knott with the girls, this seemed like a good walk to do, and not just as it would annoy them!  However, it was also quite a bit shorter than the previous day, which was good as we were suffering the after effects slightly, but also didn't go up spectacularly high on a day with lots of cloud cover promised.

Difficulty: 5

Walkers: Tim, Caroline

10:04, 0.0km 0h00 0m, Start (68)

11:10, 3.5km 1h05 345m, Helm Crag (405)

11:48, 4.9km 1h44 425m, Gibson Knott (420)

12:37, 6.9km 2h33 567m, Calf Crag (537)

13:20, 9.4km 3h16 661m, Steel Fell (553)

14:45, 14.5km 4h41 686m, End (68)

We started the same way - parking in the large car park at the bottom of Grasmere, walking through the village, then up over Goody Bridge then the bridge over Easedale Beck.  We climbed the route up to Helm Crag, all the time comparing it to the fun we'd had encouraging Evie up there.  This photo is from just below the top of Helm Crag, looking back over Grasmere to the south.

Caroline, resting at the top of Helm Crag, with Easedale Tarn hidden to the left.

We finally made it far enough to get to Gibson Knott, with the number of lumps and bumps along the ridge it wasn't that surprising that we'd missed it the time before.  It wasn't quite as dark and brooding as this photo indicates...

My lovely wife, onwards and upwards (with the walk, rather than the wife).

Calf Crag, looking north, with the ridge of High Raise and Ullscarf behind.

Same location, looking south.

Going further along towards Steel Fell, looking at the ridge we had come along - with Helm Crag at the left hand edge, and Gibson Knott one of the rocky lumps towards the right.

Steel Fell, looking north towards Thirlmere.

We came down out the end of the ridge, I have a vague memory of feeling the need to go quite fast at this point. Quite possibly because this was a 1.45pm, and we had another 4km to go and then a half hour back to the Duck - I'm betting I was trying to make it back in time for afternoon tea...