Codale Tarn

We plodded on upwards. It was a shame it was misty since the views over to Easdale Tarn and down the valley to Grasmere are exceptional. Soon we were at the top of Tarn Crag. I'd already ticked this on my Wainwrights Venture, but it was a new tick for Captain Mo and the Cabin Boy. I'd not visited Codale Tarn for a few years and so I set Captain Mo a challenge to get us down there. He managed to find some small tarns to the west of Tarn Crag and then he set a bearing to get us down to Codale Tarn. He seemed to be getting the hang of taking bearings and much to my amazement we dropped into the valley that contained Codale Tarn. We'd also descended out of the mist and we made our way across to the tarn. It was a very pretty tarn even in these inclement conditions. A solitary duck had taken up residence on the water. We continued southwards and then joined the path up to Sergeant Man. As we climbed up the path, three women had sat down and were chatting with another couple. From what I overheard the three women were also going up to Sergeant Man but weren't confident of the route. A few minutes later we reached the broad ridge up to Sergeant Man. Mo took another bearing so that we'd know if we drifted off the path.

Pillary Stones

We were back in the mist now and a large crag loomed towards us. 'Is that "Pillary Stones"?' asked Mo. '"Pillary Stones." I've never heard of that' I replied. 'I'm sure I saw it on the map when I took the last bearing' said Mo. I was intrigued. I got the map out and had a look for 'Pillary Stones'. After a  brief review, I had to chuckle. 'Ah. I think you mean a "Pile Of Stones"' I told him. 

We reached Sergeant Man and sat down to have our lunch. A few moments later the three women we'd seen earlier appeared out of the mist and scrambled up the slippery stones to the top of Sergeant Man. I looked over at them and they seemed to be making their way back down from the summit at one of the steepest parts. They were looking for a lunch spot too and I heard one of them say that they should find a spot away from us to give us a bit of privacy. They then settled down about 10 yards away. 

Inn Way

We were going down via Mere Beck and Mo had set a bearing to take us in that direction. As we set off, one of the women asked if we were going to High Raise. I think they were after for somebody to follow. I told them that we were going down to the Far Easedale valley by Mere Beck and we left them to it. The path down Mere Beck is a little vague in places, but the occasional metal post gave us confidence that we were on the correct route. There's also some small tarns that are useful reference points. It was a boggy path but eventually we reached the  head of the Far Easdale valley.

Four elderly men were making their way up to us from the valley. I asked them if they were doing the 'Coast To Coast' walk. 'Oh no. We are doing the eight day Inn Way' one of them told us. They sounded awfully posh, and I put on my best telephone voice when conversing with them. They were on their first day having sampled their first pubs last night in Ambleside. I looked the route up later and it covers 90 miles of Lakeland and includes 44 pubs.

Return To Grasmere

Dropping down into the Far Easedale valley, we escaped the mist again. It is worth taking a look at Far Easedale Gill since there are many pretty waterfalls along its length. It feels a long valley to walk down, maybe because it has a bit of a dog leg and you can't see the end of the valley. As we walked back through Grasmere we spotted the three women who had sat next to us on the summit of Sergeant Man. They were sat outside a café enjoying a cup of tea and cake. They'd done well if they'd been across to High Raise and then back down to Grasmere before us. I reckon that they'd called it a day after we'd left them and headed straight back down to Grasmere.

It had been a hard walk today. After a false start, Captain Mo seemed to get his act together and did a pretty good job getting us around in the mist. I only had to correct him half a dozen times or so. We plan to do a walk on the Coniston fells tomorrow and so we'll see how he fares there.