The Low Road

Today's walk would consist of a low level walk along the Thirlmere valley and then a high level walk along the Helvellyn ridge. We followed a forestry road southwards on the eastern side of the Thirlmere reservoir. There were plenty of areas where the trees had been cleared and these offered wonderful views on to the reservoir and to the fells on the other side. The track  does have a few undulations but is reasonably easy going.  We left the woods just after the end of the reservoir and made our way up to the top of Dunmail Raise. The A591 runs over the top of Dunmail Raise and splits into a dual carriage way with an island in between.  There was a mound of boulders on this island and it just looked like some debris had been left by the road builders. It is in fact the purported burial site of King Dunmail who was slain by the Saxons. 'Raise' is actually an old name for a cairn. History lesson over we started heading towards Raise Beck and our staircase to the High Road.

Staircase To The High Road

There wasn't much of a view as we plodded up alongside Raise Beck since it was enclosed on either side by Willie Wife Moor and Seat Sandal. It's waterfalls and cascades were pretty enough though. These flowed into a series of pools that looked quite inviting on such a warm, muggy day.  As we climbed, it started getting greyer and a chill wind gradually gained strength. By the time we reached the top of the pass I was feeling quite chilly. We headed across to a stone wall and took shelter for a break.  Our next objective was Dollywagon Pike to the north. We could have walked alongside Grisedale Tarn and then taken the zig-zag stone steps to the top, but instead we took the direct route up the steep hillside to the summit. This followed a derelict stone wall and was a real calf stretcher. At least the exercise warmed us up again. There is an iron post at the point that the upward track meets the main path near Dollywagon's summit. This used to be safely secured in an upright position but it was laid on its side today. It provides a good marker for the start of this track when making a descent in bad weather. Well, that was the hardest work done for the day. We'd now follow the Highway to Helvellyn.

The High Road

A light rain started as we made our way along the Highway although it didn't persist for long. There are tremendous views from this section with craggy vertical drops on the eastern side of the ridge, and rolling hillsides down to Thirlmere on the west. Due to its elevation I reckon this route provides the most extensive views of the Lake District revealing the Scafell fells in the west, Skiddaw in the north, High Street in the east and the Coniston fells in the south. It is easy walking too and we soon made our way to Nethermost Pike where there was a tremendous view of Striding Edge. It looked busy today with small figures making their way across the ridge like ants. Near to Helvellyn's summit there is a small memorial dedicated to Bert Hinkler who on the 22nd of December 1926 landed an Avro 585 Gosport at this point. Mr J Leeming also accompanied the Australian although he doesn't get a mention on the memorial. It seemed an odd time of year to carry out such a stunt to me, and I'm not sure why they landed so close to the massive drop down to Striding Edge. They'd not announced that they'd be attempting to land on Helvellyn before they set off and it was only luck that a Professor of Greek from Birmingham University was up there to witness the event. After a 20 minutes chat with Professor Dodds, as well as securing his written witness to the landing and some photographs, Hinkler and Leeming then departed. They didn't make it back to Woodford aerodrome and had to land in a field near Windermere when they ran out of petrol. There were so many people on the top of Helvellyn today that they wouldn't have been able to find a free spot to land.

Brown Crag

We descended down Lower Man's north ridge to its col with White Side. Instead of continuing to White Side's summit, we contoured around its flank. The track wasn't the best and it might have actually been easier traversing the summit instead. On reaching the track descending from White Side, we used it to head off towards Brown Crag. There were delightful views down into the Thirlmere valley and over to Skiddaw from the crag. Although not shown on the OS map, there is a sketchy track that leads down steeply eastwards to a lower path. This was hard going in places and occasionally indistinct. The ferns were also high today and this made the tracks less visible. Thirlspot Farm, our next destination, was clearly visible down in the valley though, and so it was unlikely that we'd go wildly off track. The day had warmed back up again and we had delayered back to our tee shirts by the time we reached the farm. It was then just a short plod back to the roadside carpark alongside the A591.

It had been an excellent day's walking with a good combination of low and high level walking. We'd also enhanced our knowledge after our encounters with King Dunmail's cairn and the Bert Hinkler's Avro landing on Helvellyn. A perfect day.