St Sunday to Dollywaggon - A few misty photos

It was damp again when I left home, the December weather continues without any sign of winter approaching. It was grey and damp but not too wet when I got to Patterdale; there was a light drizzle so I put on my waterproof trousers and gaiters before setting off because I suspected that conditions might get wetter. I walked up the path behind the Post Office, turned left at the way marker and crossed the small footbridge before arriving at the kissing gate by the side of a padlocked gate.

After going through the gate you follow a rough, wet path until you reach small stile in the fence on your right; you need to turn left uphill on a small, not very obvious path. You can't really miss the path, the stile is the only way across the fence and the path goes uphill at right angles to the fence from the stile. After the initial slippery, very wet grass you get onto a steep, rough and obvious path up towards Thornhow End; I would have had a good view of Ullswater if it hadn't been quite so murky.

After a stiff climb you reach a wall with an awkward stile, although getting up it isn't as awkward as descending it. The drizzle was becoming more persistent and it was getting wet enough for me to have to put my camera out away. Once across the stile there is an obvious path contouring around Thornhow End on its way to St Sunday Crag. You won't see the path bearing left unless you are looking for it; if you look up to the skyline you can see a grassy route through the bracken.

Once you are on the steep green climb there are not many signs of boot wear, which is just as well because it could be quite slippery if if became a steep muddy climb. Keep going upwards until eventually the gradient eases; from there I could see the rain driving down the valley, I wasn't too bothered as long as it wasn't too windy again. There is an easy gradient on a broad rising ridge, walking on a faint path in the rough grass; the path becomes more obvious after it meets the one coming up from Trough Head. Shortly afterwards you will arrive at the small cairn at the summit of Birks, although in poor visibility there will be some doubt about whether it is the summit.

You carry on along the ridge in the direction of St Sunday Crag, although the visibility had deteriorated so that I couldn't see anything ahead; another descent and climb makes you wonder exactly where the summit of Birks is. As you start to descend again you have to cross swampy ground in order to rejoin the main path towards St Sunday Crag. By that time the drizzle had turned to rain; it hadn't been cold but there was a chill in the breeze that said it was time for me to put my gloves on, will they still be waterproof?

This very obvious route to St Sunday Crag is a steep and rough climb but more interesting and less strenuous than plain grass; there is no exposure but you need a hand to steady yourself on some of the bigger steps. There was an occasional dull view through the mist down to Ullswater but I could see nothing ahead; it was raining properly by then, the hard raindrops cold when they hit my forehead forced under the peak of my hood by the wind.

Eventually you reach a big cairn after which the gradient eases and the rough steep path becomes an easily graded track; it is a while since I was there and I couldn't remember how far it was to the summit and with no visibility there were no clues. I came to another large cairn but obviously not the summit yet; the track-like path evaporated on the broad rising ridge, I had to use my judgement and experience to not wander off course.

It was difficult to concentrate on route finding whilst keeping my head down because of the rain but suddenly I was at the summit. On the long descent from the summit the ridge narrows and there is an obvious path; although there was still no visibility it was obvious that the ground falls away steeply either side of the ridge. It was still raining when I eventually got to Deepdale Hause; you can tell you are there because a cairn on the right hand edge of the ridge shows the start of a path to Grisedale Tarn.

A little further on is a cairn on left hand edge of the ridge marking the start of a path down to Deepdale; it looks unlikely but I swear I've climbed up that way before. Almost immediately after that you start to climb Cofa Pike; after a grassy start it is more of an easy scramble over bare rock. The rock has eroded to gravel in places and even in such wet conditions I was able to find plenty of non-slip footholds. I thought I had reached the summit but with no visibility is was impossible to tell; my doubts were confirmed after a short descent when I had a bit of a steeper scramble to the summit rocks.

I could have used a path that follows the contours to avoid the top rocks but I always think that sort of thing defeats the object. Even in the mist I could feel the exposure at the very top but there were some encouraging gaps beginning to appear in the clouds. I made a short scramble down wet rock back onto the path and almost immediately the ascent to Fairfield lay ahead; for two glorious minutes the mist cleared before quickly closing back in again.

There is an easy path that follows the contours around to right to avoid the rocky ridge and there is a direct path straight up over bare wet rock. I decided to try a middle route because I didn't want to get stuck in an awkward position on wet rock if I tried the direct route. I had an easy clamber until I decided it was time to climb up onto ridge and I got stuck in an awkward position on wet rock. Even the larger rocks started to come away in my hands so I had to descend a little and haul myself up the wet rock; fortunately the footholds were good enough. It just goes to show that sometimes trying to make things easier actually makes thing more difficult; it seems the harder I try not to do something the more likely I am to do it.

Having got onto the ridge it was a short walk to the summit plateau of Fairfield and a short walk across to summit; it had stopped raining while I was concentrating on scrambling but had become much colder and it was still properly misty. There was still a small amount of snow on the edge above Deepdale, the wind wasn't strong but it was chilling. My waterproof gloves had kept my hands dry but after sitting at the summit for five minutes my fingers were solid with cold and I had to put on my warmer gloves.

There was still no visibility and Fairfield is one of the more tricky summits to get off in the mist; a broad, flat summit with many cairns but no landmarks. I know Fairfield so well that I set off without the aid of any cairns or compass in the direction of Seat Sandal; I couldn't see it but I knew it was there and I reached the cairned path just before it starts to descend. It is a steep descent but with being more eroded these days it is actually better to walk down; if the erosion continues though it will eventually become an awkward steep gully. My fingers were still solid with the cold although the occasional aching sensation told me they were still alive.

As I was about half way down the mist started to clear and I had a little glimpse of Grisedale Tarn; in spite of my confidence in my own route-finding I like to see familiar objects. Then I got below the mist, or did it rise above me; I had a view down Tongue Gill and beyond there were shafts of sunlight shining on Grasmere village. I got down to Grisedale Hause and started to think about my route back to Patterdale; I would rather not walk down the length of Grisedale again so I decided to climb Dollywaggon Pike and see what daylight I had left when I got there.

Grisedale Tarn isn't that big but you have to walk all the way around it to get from the foot of Fairfield to the start of the path for Dollywaggon Pike. The path upwards is a long slog but it has been well reconstructed; it used to be the most eroded footpath in the Lake District. I was out of the mist for the first time that day and the effort of climbing had eventually warmed my fingers; the mist had covered Fairfield but it was playing sunbeam games over Grisedale Hause and Seat Sandal.

I eventually reached the summit of Dollywaggon Pike and had a good view of Ullswater and Place Fell; the mist over Nethermost Pike and Helvellyn looked menacing and the remains of the cornices added a little bit of intimidation. I walked over to High Crag where it was decision time; I was reconciled to it being dark by the time I got down and I would rather be on a good track than coming off a hill in the dark. It wasn't a hard decision so I descended back to Grisedale; the new path is good for descent even though it was wet, which is more than you can say more most reconstructed paths.

It is a long, rough path down Grisedale, but it is interesting enough; it is because it is hard on the legs at the end of the day that I would rather go a different way. After you pass Ruthwaite Lodge you reach a wooden footbridge; only cross it if you want to get back to Glenridding and not Patterdale. You don't have to descend much further before you reach a substantial track, rough and stony at first it soon becomes good enough for cars to get quite a long way up the valley.

You follow the track almost to the main road; after you start to descend a tarmac road you will see a footpath signpost at a gate on the right. Go through the gate and go up the muddy slope until it ends in muddy mess; you can escape by climbing the stile first seen earlier in the day. Turn left and retrace your steps back to the Post Office; I can recommend not doing that bit in the dark.

Andy Wallace 6th January 2007