There is something special in Helvellyn mountain; I keep going back again and again. I had been thinking of staying overnight to watch the sunrise from my tent but every time I was ready to go the weather changed and I postponed my plans.
This week we got some really nice weather. So I thought that I need to use the opportunity to make one of my big dreams come true.
It wasn’t a solo hike this time. My friend Mari joined me in Windermere. I have known Mari for a year but never met her in person. So this trip was special in many ways. We clicked very well and had three wonderful days together.
We started our hike at Stanah and the plan was to hike along Sticks Pass; climb Raise, White Side and then Helvellyn. As we chatted and giggled from the start of our hike we took the wrong turn and ended up taking Fisher Gill route. I am glad we did because it is very picturesque with all those small waterfalls in the ghyll.
We took our time getting to know each other, filming, chatting, taking breaks and in five hours we reached White Side peak. Mari was so brave carrying an 18 kg backpack. I managed to keep the weight of my rucksack down to 13 kg.
We were rejoicing when we reached the White Side as we could see Helvellyn from there. The views were stunning as the weather was clear. After filming and taking some photos we hurried onwards because we wanted to pitched our tents before sunset.
There weren’t many people on England’s third highest mountain, I recall seeing maybe about twenty. Some of them started descending and some pitch their tents. I saw six tents in total.
We were in a very high spirits, joking and chatting whilst pitching the tents. soon it was time to go closer to the summit to timelapse the sunset which was absolutely stunning. The feeling that I was on top of Helvellyn at sunset was so powerful.
As soon as the sun set the temperature dropped and we had to do some star jumps to keep ourselves warm. Mari went back into her tent but I wanted to stay for a bit longer. And there I was, on my own.. walking in the silence looking at the mountains all around me.
Back in my tent I cooked some dinner and soon it was bedtime as I wanted to get up for sunrise. I had Porcini Mushroom Risotto, a dehydrated meal whereas Mari cooked some posh Seafood Ramen. She always cooks nice meals when hiking. I am quite happy with my dehydrated meals.
Mari woke me up for sunrise, for some reason my alarm clock did not go off. The sky was already pink and we set our cameras for time lapsing sunrise. I made a quick cup of coffee to keep myself warm. We saw quite a few people at the trigpoint. It was a great feeling to stand higher than other mountains around us and greet the new day.
Soon it was time to take down the tents and packed away our stuff making sure we wouldn’t leave any trace. It was time to move on and start walking towards Grisdale Tarn, our next camping spot.
We climbed Nethermost Pike, High Crag and Dollywagon Pike… and again taking our time for filming and chatting. Mari gave me a big bar of chocolate with my name on it, I shared it with her when we had our rest on High Crag.
By the midday we arrived at the tarn. After having a lunch we decided to pitch our tents. It was a bit early but it was getting cold and we wanted to sort the tents out before climbing Seat Sandal. I climbed that mountain on my own, Mari stayed to look after the tents.
It was my second time at Grisdale Tarn. I was pretty tired when I last visited Grisdale Tarn and did not have energy for climbing Seat Sandal. This time I thought, I will definitely do it! The route up from Dollywagon site was so easy and enjoyable but the route down at the Fairfield side was very scary at it was so steep. But I managed to do it. I did not realise that the Seat Sandal mountain was so big.. lots of space for wild camping. And the view all around… absolutely stunning!
The evening was beautiful. We sat at the tarn drinking coffee and chatting about life generally. Before we went to bed we took some nice video clips of our tents in the darkness.
I woke up in the morning way before Mari and went for a wander. I discovered that there was a route down to Glenridding. Good to know.
Soon it was time to start walking back down. We took the route between Seat Sandal and Fairfield. It was a very pleasant walk down as the sun was shining, birds singing and not many people about. I did ask those few people who we met about where is the bus stop and how long it will take us to get down. I am glad I asked because it was so easy to find the bus stop. The funny moment was when a walker I asked about the route told me that we have met before. And then I remembered, Cowbarrow fell ten days ago.. yes, we met there. Small world.