Day hiking Helvellyn from Glenridding – up via Striding Edge, and down via Swirral Edge.
After three days on the Cumbria Way, a night at Skiddaw House hiking in via Skiddaw and out via Blencathra, Jenni and I had one last adventure planned before we had to head home. We topped off our week hiking in Cumbria with some unfinished Coast to Coast business – Helvellyn.
When Jenni and I hiked the Coast to Coast, Helvellyn was a no-go due to a storm. Given that we were back in the Lake District together, and only just down the road from this iconic mountain, we tagged it onto the end of our Cumbria Way trip. And what a fantastic day hike it was.
I have to admit that after less than two miles, I was questioning all my life’s choices. It was tough underfoot, so incredibly hot, and I wasn’t finding it at all fun. But after a sit down (and a bag of crisps), I found my head again – and the rest of the day was fabulous.
We climbed Helvellyn, England’s third highest mountain, breaking my own English height record (set on Skiddaw just two days earlier), via the scrambles of Striding Edge, and descended via Swirral Edge. And had a paddle in Red Tarn, naturally.
It was a most excellent way to spend a Friday. I guess you’re here to read all about it…
Hiking Helvellyn
I had a good sleep in my comfortable double bed at Charnwood Guest House, waking up with my alarm at 7am. Checking in with myself, I was feeling all the usual morning aches, but was ready to get up and out for another wonderful day in the Lake District mountains. I don’t get opportunities to scramble often, and I was very much looking forward to tackling Striding Edge.
We’d booked breakfast for 8.30am (the earliest available), and as with most B&Bs these days, had also pre-chosen what would be on our plates. I ate two eggs, two hash browns and a big pile of cooked mushrooms, washed down with plenty of tea, naturally. I clearly ordered when hungry, and so had no need to make use of the range of cold options laid out on the sideboard. It was delicious, and it was good energy I would certainly need during the day.
Given we would be returning to the same B&B that evening, we packed as light as we could for our day in the fells, and left everything else in our room to worry about later. I still had to use the 40 litre Osprey Tempest pack I’d brought with me to Cumbria, of course, but at least it now only contained my standard day hike pack gear.
After breakfast Jenni drove us the 30-minutes or so over to Glenridding, where we parked in the main pay and display car park, costing £8.50 for the day. I know there are places where you might be able to squeeze a car in for free, but I am very happy to pay for parking in places like this, as it helps keep the streets clear for the residents and workers, and hopefully goes towards local infrastructure.
Our Curated Route
Before we got on our way, we popped into the R&R Corner Shop in Ulswater House to buy lunch (shop local!), and then it was time to get the map out…
I didn’t plot a route myself in OS Maps this time, instead choosing to follow one of the curated routes already available – this one from Countryfile Magazine. When you look at routes in the app, those from ‘recommended route partners’ are marked as such, so you can see which are the officially published ones. I heavily lean towards these because they will be tried and tested (but still use my own senses, of course).
Anyway, navigation was not going to be an issue on this particular day hike. This is a very popular route that’s well-trodden, well signposted, and there were plenty of other people about. It also helped that the weather was clear meaning we had a good view of the trail ahead (and people on it!). And so, while having a map and route was very important, it was very much a back-pocket item on this occasion.
A Rocky Start
I can’t tell you what time we left Glenridding as I didn’t note it in my journal, but I can tell you that the path started to go up hill almost immediately. Well, after half a mile. I’m not ashamed to admit that while I quite like getting ascent over and done with early on in a hike, I do prefer a mile or two of easy walking to get my legs working properly before things start getting serious! Anyway, not today.
We walked along Glenridding Beck, through Gillside campsite, past the bunkhouse, over a bunch of foot bridges, and then out into the wilds of the Lake District. It wasn’t long before the steps started; rocky and uneven, steep, and relentless. After five days of hiking, my legs and lungs looked at those steps and had a bit of a tantrum. My feet hurt, I was too hot, and I was not having fun.
After just 1.5 miles from the car, I was genuinely questioning if I could do it. And if I wanted to do it. My body and brain were unhappy, and I just couldn’t get into my stride. I felt horrible – the energy from that huge breakfast had disappeared and I was already spent.
Jenni, always an amazing encourager, suggested we stepped off the trail onto a grassy bank with a nice view, for a short boots-off break. Sat on my PACMAT, I cooled down, had a drink and a snack (crisps, always crisps), and let the scenery take my emotions away.
Feeling Less Emotional
On studying the map, I noted the contour lines remained close together for a little longer yet, but only for about the same distance as we’d already done. Half-way there! We’d be on a more relaxed undulating walk very soon, giving my legs (and lungs) a chance to sort themselves out before we reached the iconic Striding Edge scramble I’d started the day so excited about. Despite walking for less than an hour, a sit down was exactly what I needed; I found my head and was ready to get going again.
With our boots back on, we got on with those rocky steps. Things really did seem much better now, and we made better progress up the hill. There was a slight breeze, which helped keep the temperature down a little, and the steepest part of the main ascent really was done in no time at all. Thanks brain.
Eventually the steps stopped, and the path opened up. We rounded the corner and were faced with a big view of Helvellyn with both its edges, and the very pointy Catstye Cam. It was completely beautiful and incredibly gnarly, and my heart pounded with excitement.
Other Hikers
There were quite a few other people hiking but it didn’t feel too busy. We had a handful of brief chats with other hikers as we overtook them, or they overtook us. I very much enjoy hiking when there is no-one else on the trail, because I love to feel like I have the view to myself (yes, selfish…). But when I hike on a busy trail it is good to at least attempt to converse with those around me. Even if it’s hard for this introvert to do!
The line of hikers was incredibly varied. There was a lady who was out on her biggest hike to date, a couple with two dogs (who seemed to get shouted at an awful lot), three ladies who were clearly having the best time in the world, an older couple who were experienced pros and were out bagging Helvellyn for the umpteenth time, and a group of lads who were surprisingly chatty. Those were the lads who took the photo of the pair of us I used at the top of this post, and we returned the favour and got a snap of their group – thanks guys!
After a sneaky secluded wee stop the other side of Hole-in-the-Wall, and walking a little way along Bleaberry Crag, we decided to have another sit down before the scrambling started. We sat on the steep slope high above Red Tarn and soaked up the view, agreeing in that moment we would be having a paddle in that lovely looking water before we hiked back to Glenridding. As with our hikes up Skiddaw and Blencathra the previous two days, we had all day, and were in no rush to get anywhere.
Striding Edge
Striding Edge has the potential to hurt if you’re not careful. This is why the advice is very clear – if the weather is bad, if you are unsure, don’t do it. Thankfully, on this particular Friday, the conditions were absolutely perfect – clear skies, warm sun, barely any breeze. And despite my earlier emotional wobble, I was ready and raring to go.
I would say there are two parts to this iconic grade one scramble. The first is the incredibly rocky pointy ridge that undulates from the cross above High Spying How along to the base of the really steep section. For most of this part – something like a third of a mile – there is a path sitting a tiny bit below the ridge-top, which makes for a much easier route. It’s still high up, on the edge, narrow and rocky, but it’s not necessary to teeter right on the top of the knife-edge ridge unless you want to.
Jenni wanted to, and I loved that she did. She scrambled over the rocks above me like a mountain goat, while I opted for the path where it made sense. Not the whole way; I did big chunks of the scramble, choosing my route each time the two options converged, and doing enough to feel like I’d experienced it. I guess I didn’t want to push my luck, as the hardest bits of the scramble could not be bypassed. There are parts where the ridge makes way more sense than the path. Oh, and I joined Jenni where she shouted, ‘you really need to do this bit’, at me!
Reaching Helvellyn Summit
At one point towards the end of this section there was a short downclimb (where you go down backwards facing the rock), called crux step. This is as close as it got to climbing rather than scrambling – as I said, it’s really got the potential to hurt. It was absolutely fantastic, though, enough of a challenge to feel like I’d achieved something, but safe enough not to cause any harm to myself.
To get to the plateau that forms the summit of Helvellyn, we had to tackle the second part of the famous Striding Edge scramble. This was a short and sharp track which ascends the final few metres in one go. It was tough – very steep, rocky, almost vertical at times, with some obvious capacity for disaster. We picked our route before we committed to it, made sure we had three points of contact with the mountain at all times, and made our way up the rock surprisingly quickly.
I think it was this point where Jenni and I knew we’d made the right call on our Coast to Coast hike to head down from Grisedale Tarn on the valley path instead of trying Helvellyn just in case it was okay. We all know the stories of how this mountain chews people up and spits them out; this is not a hill to be messed with.
Reaching the summit plateau was definitely an achievement unlocked. We celebrated by exchanging photo shoots with the group of lads we’d seen a few times along the way, and when I look back at these, I can’t help but smile.
A Picnic on the Mountain
There is a reason this is the most famous and most hiked of all the Lakeland fells (apparently), the views from Helvellyn are as incredible as the route up. The summit itself is huge open space with a flat(ish) top, providing views in all directions. The landscape is so big it’s hard to take it in.
We headed over to the trig pillar, but there was a massive group of mountain bikers who were using it as somewhere to prop up their bikes. I mean, very happy indeed for groups to gather around trig pillars to celebrate summiting a mountain and get some photos, but using the trig as a bike rack just gets in everyone else’s way.
Anyway, we found a rather spectacular perch on the edge of the plateau with views of both edges, Red Tarn, and back towards Ullswater. It’s probably my second favourite picnic spot of all time (my number one was in Glacier National Park…), and I know it will take some beating. We could see most of our route up the mountain, and watched as others picked their way along Striding Edge. And we could see our chosen path down to Red Tarn.
There was something so soul-filling about sitting high up on the edge of the summit plateau, eating a pork pie, with an accompanying feeling of warmth and satisfaction that comes from hiking up a mountain in the summer sun. It really is the little things in life, isn’t it?!
And by the time we’d finished lunch, the group of mountain bikers had gone, and we got some quick trig pillar photos before it was time for us to make a move back down the mountain.
Swirral Edge
To complete our traverse of the Helvellyn edges, our descent would be via Swirral Edge. Another grade one scramble, Swirral Edge is shorter than Striding Edge, but steeper. I’ve always found scrambling downwards much harder than up, and I’m sure it’s not just me who feels that way, but it was completely fine. I would say there was nothing technical about it, as long as you remember where you are and what you’re doing.
The scramble, which was a little under a third of a mile in length, dropped us 200m closer to Red Tarn, which was our next landmark (and no, I don’t know why it’s distance in miles and height in metres either). From then on, we were on a rocky and quite gravelly path which descended steeply down towards the water.
We had a lovely paddle in the cool water of Red Tarn, possibly my favourite paddle of our week experiencing a heatwave in Cumbria. It was especially nice because we could sit and enjoy the view up to where we had been sat just a short time earlier, and feel those satisfied feelings of reaching 950m above sea level all over again.
Red Tarn really is a beautiful spot, I can see why people come here to wild camp. Weirdly, the horseshoe shape of the very rocky Helvellyn and its edges made a rather effective amphitheatre – we could hear people’s conversations as they walked along Striding Edge. I did wonder what the people at Red Tarn heard of us when we were scrambling?!
No Catstye Cam Today
As I write this adventure journal I do wonder if we should have sucked it up and made the effort to hike Catstye Cam as well. We looked at it when planning our final day in Cumbria, and had a brief conversation about it when we were having our picnic lunch, and both time decided against it.
I mean, we’d done plenty of ascent for one day. But looking at the photos now I see such a pretty hill stood all pointy in the landscape. It’s very easy to add extra ‘what ifs’ on when you’ve had several months to recover from the excursions of a week in the Lake District! A reason to return to this fell another time, perhaps.
Down to Glenridding
So, bypassing Catstye Cam, followed the traditional path down from Red Tarn towards Glenridding. It was not quite as steep as the way up, but only just. The terrain was similar, the path being stepped in the main, and quite gravelly in places. Jenni’s walking pole broke on her, so used one of mine each – I think we were both very pleased to have something to help the knees!
Thankfully, the hard going footpath which caused the same jelly knees we’d experienced coming down Blencathra, was once again made up for in spades by the beautiful surroundings. The cotton grass was especially pretty – Jenni picked some to take home, which made me smile as it bobbed around in the top of her pack as she walked.
The footpath snaked down the hill, following Red Tarn beck until Helvellyn was no longer in our view, over some foot bridges, and down to some newly built cottages. Then we walked past YHA Helvellyn (I do fancy staying there sometime), where we picked up a rough but gentle track which took us all the way into Glenridding – just three miles from Red Tarn. We couldn’t resist joining a crowd of people enjoying the beer garden at the Travellers Rest for a lemonade, keen to lap up as much of the sunshine as we could on our last day in Cumbria.
Sunset Views Over Derwent Water
After changing our shoes at the car, we gave into temptation and walked back to the corner shop for a celebratory ice cream, it had to be done. I think that means I had an ice cream every day that week – it must have been a good week!
And then it was back to Keswick, where we showered off the hiking grime at Charnwood House before heading into town for dinner. We went to Derwent Walker, where we had an excellent meal (I had the gnocchi with stilton and broccoli) and some tasty mocktails – complete with edible straws. It was a nice place and I’d go back (but probably came second to The Round where we ate the previous night).
Unwilling to admit that our week in Cumbria was coming to a rather speedy end, we went for a lovely slow walk down to Derwent Water via the very pretty Hope Garden. It was a beautiful warm evening, the water was calm, and seeing the golden light over Cat Bells was a lovely way to mark the end of our week of adventures. The Lake District really is a gorgeous place.
Reflections on Hiking Helvellyn
Rounding off our hiking week in Cumbria by summiting Helvellyn was such a highlight on which to end. We might not have walked many miles, but they were superb miles. Even with my emotional wobble a short distance into the hike, it really was a wonderful day in the Lake District fells.
It’s such a spectacular mountain, carved by glaciers – beautiful to look at and fantastic to climb. Now I’ve been there myself, I can absolutely see why it’s one of the most popular hikes in the whole of the UK – and why it topped the Britain’s Favourite Walks list in the television countdown Jenni and I were featured in hiking the West Highland Way).
Of course, we chose to go all-in by hiking up England’s third highest peak via England’s most iconic grade one scramble – Striding Edge. Which was magnificent; an adrenalin-filled day of big fells, massive views, and a fantastically fun clamber up the ridge. Honestly, an unforgettable day in the hills.
And, of course, it was fourth time lucky for me and Helvellyn. The first fail I didn’t even make it to the Lake District, the second involved giving up and going home due to Storm Francis, and the third was also weather related on day four of our Coast to Coast hike. So, you can see how there was something particularly sweet about hiking Helvellyn on the most glorious of British summer days.
My Hiking Bucket List
Our week in Cumbria was one of many bucket list ticks. Jenni and I hiked the Cumbria Way (well, as much of it as we wanted to), spent the night at England’s highest hostel – Skiddaw House, and topped three of the Lake District’s most iconic mountains in three days – Skiddaw, Blencathra and Helvellyn.
So, what’s next?
While Helvellyn’s heights can’t be matched here in the Cotswolds, or even over the border in Bannau Brycheiniog, my local trails are calling. These hikes offer their own unique challenges and rewards as I strive to regain some of the fitness I have clumsily lost since this amazing week in Cumbria.
I promised myself in my Bucket List Reset post earlier this year that I would seek out short walks and do them with purpose, and that is how I hope to spend a lot of my weekends this summer. I’ve been writing about my weekend hikes in my weekly blog episodes, including episode 139 featuring Pen Y Fal, and episode 141 featuring Standish Wood. And just this weekend I hiked Black Hill and Hay Bluff in the Black Mountains over on the England/Wales border, which was spectacular – read about that in weekly blog episode 149.
But while hiking local is wonderful, I honestly can’t wait to get back to the Lake District to discover more beautiful hikes with huge views. Soon, very soon. Know that when I return, I’ll tell you all about it.
If you’ve not read all the adventure journal articles featuring my week in Cumbria, this link will help.
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