A quiet corner of the Lake District

After a few days working in Arran Active last week I was desperate to get outside again and enjoy some of the unseasonal weather we are having.  I grabbed my opportunity with a quick day out in the Lake District- on route from Scotland to Wales to visit my family. There are lots of bits of the Lakes I don't really know at all but with a bit of searching I found a route that ticked the boxes of being off the beaten track, short, fairly challenging, and close to the motorway.  A tall order for the Lakes!

I found the route in a guidebook called the Ridges of England, Wales and Ireland, where it is listed as an easy winter route.  Starting from Patterdale, I followed an easy path up Grisedale under the flank of Striding edge and then struck up rough hillside to Nethermost Cove.

View over Ullswater from the start of the walk up Grisedale.

View up Grisedale, looking towards Dollywagon Pike, with Nethermost Cove in the top right of the picture. 

 Heading up in to Nethermost Cove, with Eagle Crag above. 

I found the route from here on completely deserted, although there were plenty of people above on Striding edge.  The cove is a quiet and tranquil place and I would have loved to have spent hours just relaxing under the crags of Helvellyn. Instead, I headed up over the pathless moor above Eagle Crag and on to the East Ridge of Nethermost Pike. 

 View of of Nethermost Pike from the top of Eagle Crag.

Final craggy ridge before arriving on the summit of Nethermost Pike. 

Nethermost Pike is a quiet summit, despite being within a stones throw of Helvellyn. From here I took the ridge over High Crag to Dollywagon Pike, to descend down The Tongue and back in to Grisedale. 

Looking across to Dollywagon PIke from High Crag.

Looking back up towards Dollywagon and High Crag from the bottom of The Tongue.

All in all a fantastic day out for a cynic who has spent too much time in remote and quiet Scottish Hills. I met two folk on the ridge, and that was all once I had left Grisedale- who would have thought it on a glorious sunny Sunday in the Lakes?!