This is supposedly, if you don’t take the detours, one of the shortest and easiest stages – 16km and 3.5hr without stops. Wainright described Striding Edge as the best quarter mile between St Bees and Robin Hoods Bay, providing the weather was suitable. But once again it was raining quite heavily and so we took a more or less direct route. (This also meant that we couldn't use our camera - Steve's waterproof camera is proving invaluable so thanks for letting us use the pictures Steve!)
This involved a steep climb out of Grasmere and numerous water crossings. It was drizzling when we left Grasmere and so we were already kitted out in our wet weather gear. This meant a very hot climb alongside Little Tongue but the weather fixed that – when we got the top of the climb the wind and rain started in earnest so we were (again) battling blizzard conditions.
When we reached the top of the climb we found a valley with Grisedale Tarn and at the end of the tarn the water flowed into Grisedale Valley via Grisedale Beck. (Not very adventurous with their names :-) ) Needless to say Grisedale Beck could normally be crossed on some stepping stones but they were under water so Carol, Steve and I got wet boots but Frank leapt a narrower part of the stream (with his approach shoes on) in order to keep his feet dry. Perhaps all in vain because the ground was so wet by then that the water was coming into his shoes from the wet track.
After crossing the stream, it was so cold that during a brief break in the rain Carol and I stripped off on the stream – sorry – track to put another layer of clothing on. This was also the decision point as to whether we should take one of the high route options – Helvellyn (with Striding Edge) or St Sunday Crag. Despite the fact that we all wanted to tackle Striding Edge (a walk along a ridge line with drop offs on either side) the weather condition put paid to taking either option so we took the gentle route down the valley.
We stayed at Oldwater View which is owned by a very nice guy called Ian and he seems to have thought of everything from bathrobes, to feminine hygiene items, to free wi-fi and an extensive library of books and DVDs. But best of all a great drying room which is where all our wet weather gear, boots and socks went for the night before we headed off to the Lion Inn for dinner. Frank and I had a room called Ullswater (the window on the far right at the front was ours) and Carol and Steve were in a nearby cottage.
Unfortunately we didn’t get to see the Otters as the “beck was in full speight” (the river was flowing fast).
The day was a pleasant, easy walk despite the wind and rain.
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