Terrain Overview
Walk Overview
The late May Bank Holiday weather forecast was not great. The predicted best day was
the Saturday with steady rain expected towards the latter part of the day, which
unfortunately for the throngs of people on these popular Fells came a little too early
around noon. We chose to gain height gradually by taking the path up the Eastern
shoulder of Birkhouse Moor up to the Hole in the Wall from the car park at Patterdale
which in my opinion is the least steep route
When approaching Patterdale from the South take a left turn at Patterdale Hall
and within 200 yards take a left into a field that offers plenty of parking for the
charge of £3 (at the time of writing this) in an honesty box
Turn left out the car park and follow the track leading to a bridge that crosses
Grisedale Beck. The path you can see cutting a diagonal swathe across the flank
of Birkhouse Moor is the route we will follow to get to the "Hole in the Wall"
Follow the path up to the gate to the private farm land and turn right following
the sign post
Having crossed the Beck follow the path to a hand gate that leads across
open to the public Farm land
Across the field and another hand gate gives access to the track
which leads directly up to the Hole in the Wall
Through the gate, turn left and follow the track to the Hole in the Wall
It`s impossible to go wrong here
Roughly half way up and a series of hand gates lead onto more rocky ground
Looking back towards Patterdale
Looking up the Grisedale valley towards Nethermost Pike and Dollywaggon Pike
There are numerous well crafted tracks up to the Col at the head of the valley
Nearing the Hole in the Wall and the steepest part of the track has been stepped
so as to assist the climb and prevent erosion
The bags of rocks that get dropped by helicopter for
the Fix the Fells Team
Looking back to the steep shoulder of Birks
At last ! - the welcome sight of the Hole in the Wall
An early view of Striding Edge covered in human ants !
Through the Hole in the Wall turn right and follow a fairly level track
that leads directly to the summit of Birkhouse Moor
Approaching the summit cairn on Birkhouse Moor
Looking towards Ullswater
Team shot on Birkhouse Moor. Click here for a 360 degree view
Looking South towards our second destination ... Catstye Cam
We retrace our steps towards Red Tarn and Helvellyn
A close up of the very busy summit of Helvellyn
More traffic across Striding Edge
We stop for lunch at Red Tarn. A very popular spot
Jones waiting for his dinner
The "Chimney" on Striding Edge
Red Tarn from the start of the climb up to Catstye Cam
From the Tarn there is a very clear stony track to follow which heads towards
Swirral Edge. However at the rock tower we will turn right to head to Catstye Cam
The path to Catstye Cam summit. At this point the weather started to
deteriorate very quickly
Looking back to Swirral Edge from the ascent of Catstye Cam
Looking towards Helvellyn Little Man
Within minutes the rain clouds descend
Looking towards Ullswater (just about) from the summit of Catstye Cam. Not a place
to hang about for too long. The wind speed picked up and the rain came in heavily.
The summit is narrow and precipitous and cannot fit too many people especially
in these conditions, so we took our photos and beat a hasty retreat back down to
the safety of Red Tarn. Click here for a 360 degree view
Heading back down to Red Tarn
We took the very popular path back down to Glenridding that swings left around
the base of Catstye Cam and follows the course of Glenridding Beck. This is a good
path and very difficult to get lost on as it leads directly to the village centre
Looking back to Catstye Cam from the descent path
The Hydro Electric scheme that makes use of the steep course
of Glenridding Beck
Safely back down in the village and back to Patterdale to dry off
