Terrain Overview
Walk Overview
A week long stay in Ambleside, the first of the year for us and a revisit to an excellent
track up alongside Raise Beck, which we had used previously to climb Seat Sandal.
This time we ventured left at Grisedale Tarn to take the excellent stone pitched path
up to Dollywaggon Pike. Major routes like this generally tend to have a lot of work
done to them by the Fix the Fells Team so as to contain erosion, so I can highly
recommend this track as being first class and providing excellent views along the way.
From Dollywaggon Pike we then carried on to Nethermost Pike and Helvellyn
From Ambleside take the A591 towards Keswick and at the top of Dunmail Raise
the carriageway splits. A layby on the left opposite Raise Beck (here) allows free
car parking, and is the start point of this walk
Over the road on the Southbound carriageway a stile over a fence gives access
to the open fellside
The start of the track that runs parallel with Raise Beck
The track climbs fairly steeply alongside the Beck up to Grisedale Tarn
Grisedale Tarn
From the Tarn on the left there are two possible routes up to Dollywaggon Pike.
The first, shown here climbs very steeply following the line of the wall. The second
and more preferable way branches off right and zig-zags its way up the shoulder.
The start of the zig-zag path
Half way up the climb looking back to Grisedale Tarn
Plenty of walkers on the route today
The path levels off at around 2,500 feet and passes an old iron post which is
mentioned in various walking guides as a landmark, however it seems to have
fallen on hard times
Two volunteers to assist with the reconstruction
The best we could do without a hammer drill and four raw bolts
The views start to open up
Not long after passing the iron post, keep a lookout on the right for the summit
of Dollywaggon Pike. The route to it is pathless
Ste on the summit of Dollywaggon Pike, looking out North to Ullswater
Click here for a 360 degree view
Looking West along the track towards our second summit of the day, Nethermost Pike
The path ventures quite close to the edge of Ruthwaite Cove
providing some startling views
The crags of Ruthwaite Cove
A series of cairns line the path, but make note that the summit cairn of Nethermost
Pike lies a short distance to the right
The summit cairn on Nethermost Pike
Click here for a 360 degree view
Looking to a very busy Striding Edge on Helvellyn
The path to Helvellyn summit
Looking West to Great Gable
Approaching the wind shelter on Helvellyn
Red Tarn below Helvellyn
Team shot on the summit of Helvellyn
Click here for a 360 degree view
Helvellyn Trig column. The sharp peak in the background is Catstye Cam
Rob and Ste on the summit of Helvellyn
Striding Edge from above en route to a quick visit to Gough`s Plaque
Charles Gough visited the Lake District in 1805. He met his demise when crossing Striding Edge
with his dog "Foxie". His body was found three months later by a passing Shepherd who
heard a dog barking near Red Tarn. On investigation he found the dog sat beside the body
of his Master - a true act of faithfulness. This inspired several artists and poets to
interpret the scene, including William Wordsworth who wrote the poem "Fidelity"
You can read it here
