Walk Description

Instead of travelling north on the Friday evening, I set out on the Saturday morning and met up with Steve at Windermere.  We quickly decided to drive over the Kirkstone Pass to Glenridding, however the higher we climbed the grimmer the weather became.  Heavy clouds shrouded the high peaks.  It looked as though we were scheduled for a low level walk.  We stopped at the Brothers Water car park and walked back to the bus stop at Hartsop.  The clouds were boiling over the higher fells and we couldn’t resist stopping for some photos.

By the time we reached Glenridding the sun had started to break through the clouds and we decided to go ahead with our original plan and walk to Catstycam.  Although the main car park was already quite full, the path past the Glenridding Youth Hostel was fairly quiet.  We took the path to Red Tarn and stopped for a short while to take some photos of the weir below the footbridge over Glenridding Beck.  We crossed the footbridge and walked for a short while along side the beck and its refreshing cascades and plunge pools.  We rejoined the path and followed it southwards towards Red Tarn.  Red Tarn is enclosed on three sides by the steep slopes and cliffs of Striding Edge, Helvellyn and Swirral Edge.  Today’s clouds ensured that the sun didn’t manage to reach down onto the back wall of the tarn and created menacing atmosphere.
 
By now I was feeling hungry so I took a short break for lunch at the side of the path leading to Swirral Edge.  During this break we had plenty of time to note the continuous flow of walkers highlighted on the skyline, as they made their way across Striding Edge.  There almost seemed to be a traffic jam in some of the trickier places.  We could also clearly see the queue of people waiting to descend Swirral Edge.  Helvellyn and its Edges were not our target for today, so we climbed the path up the south side of Catstycam and onto the ridge between Swirral Edge and Catstycam. 
 
Before I turned east and started the gentle climb to Catsycam, I stopped for a while to take in the airy views.  I could remember stopping in the same place in 2001 and feeling very ill and frightened when I saw the drops on either side of the path.  On that day I managed to get half way along Swirral Edge before the fear became too great and I had to retreat to the safety of Red Tarn.  Today, although I was a little wary, I relished the views that had opened up around me and was surprised to note how close I was to the summit of Catstycam.  I wondered why I hadn’t been there before as it was only a hop skip and a jump from where I was. I turned away from Helvellyn and walked to the petite summit.  Although the visibility could have been a little better and the distant Pennine hills were lost in the cloud and haze, the view along Ullswater was well worth the effort to get up here.
 
After a short break Steve decided to go straight down to Red Tarn.  I slowly followed him and took my time on the steep grassy and scree slopes of Catsycam.  It wasn’t long before we were at Red Tarn.  Whilst Steve cooled his feet in Red Tarn, I finished the rest of my lunch and spent some time resting and soaking up the ambience whilst watching the never ending procession of walkers on Striding Edge.
All too soon it was time to leave the tarn and start to make our way back.  Instead of retracing our steps we followed the gently graded path up to the Hole in the Wall and then down into Grisedale.  Although it was now about 2:30 pm there were still plenty of people walking past us up the path towards Red Tarn. It was good to see the number of families that were out and about, especially with youngish children.  However it was a little disconcerting to note the number of well shod parents whose children were walking in Wellingtons.

Eventually we turned off the main path and made our way to Lanty’s Tarn.  This was my first visit here.  Although it was peaceful, it wasn’t quite what I had been expecting.  From here it was a short stroll down into Glenridding where we stopped for an ice cream before going back to the car.

It had been an interesting day out, well worth the early start from home.

 

Route & Planning

Details and Route Map

Photo Opportunities

Walk Profile

The route map shown here should not be used as a replacement for the appropriate map(s). Before attempting the walk you should check the suitability of this route in relation to your capabilities and experience.