14th July 2001 - 6.5 miles & 2600ft Ascent

Monday 15th July 2001. Due to this years outbreak of foot & mouth disease, this was my first day out on the hills since my Greenburn Horseshoe round on 19th November 2000. This was also the day before my annual participation in what has become known as "The Firemans Trip", a 3 day annual event which I first took part in back in October 1997. Since I had arranged a full weeks holiday from work for this event, I decided to make the most of it.

Hence, I left home at approx. 6am for the drive to Glenridding arriving at the car park at 8am. It was a fine, clear and warm morning as I left the car park and headed for Helvellyn via the Greenside Road track. Dis-infecting my boots as required at the access point, I proceeded up the track to Glenridding YHA. Crossing the river via the bridge just above the hostel, I continued up the Greenside track; my intention was to ascend to Helvellyn via Swirral Edge and then to descend via Striding Edge. I began the gradual ascent up and around the base of Catstycam towards Red Tarn. The day became quite warm as Striding Edge came into view followed shortly by the huge bulk of Helvellyn & its East facing crags (below) ahead of me.

Having not passed anybody on my way up, I decided to continue on up Swirral Edge to reach Helvellyn summit before the crowds began to arrive. This was only my second trip to Helvellyn (the first being in February 1999) and my first time on Swirral Edge. Once on Swirral Edge, I opted for the immediate ascent to Helvellyn (viewed below left) rather than take in Catstycam. A most enjoyable scramble was had in excellent summer conditions, the views becoming vast in all directions to Skiddaw, Coniston, the Borrowdale and Langdale Fells, and back down Swirral Edge to Catstycam and beyond to Ullswater (viewed below right).

Once on the summit, the conditions and vistas were far to good to simply ignore, especially since the last time I was here gale force winds, hail storms and 15ft visibility was all I had to remember that day by - oh, and my first time on Striding Edge. I had passed the first person I had seen since the access point as I approached the top of Swirral Edge. When I reached Helvellyn summit, there were just two fell runners leaving, as a result I had the summit to myself for a good 20 minutes - an ideal time to take photos with few if any people in them. The views were vast in all directions particularly North-West over Red Tarn, Catstycam & Birkhouse Moor to Ullswater and beyond (viewed below left). Also, Morcambe Bay could be viewed to the South-West beyond Fairfield and Coniston (viewed below right).

Eventually people came and went from the summit as I sat for approx 90mins on the summit simply enjoying the views and conditions. A slight breeze meant having to apply sun cream as the burning effects of the sun were not always apparent. I sat eating my lunch, chatting to a fellow female walker who like myself was out alone. As time went by the number of people walking up the Greenside track began to resemble traffic on the M25. Other people had made the ascent from the Wythburn access point. I decided it was time to leave and left the summit for the crowds as I headed down and along Striding Edge with the female walker who had decided to accompany me (viewed below).

Sticking to the crest of the ridge meant that we had avoided most of the people coming along the ridge who stayed on the track below, and also provided another enjoyable if easy scramble. Once on the end of the ridge, another photo opportunity presented itself in the form of a view back down the ridge to Helvellyn (viewed below). To complete the ridge fully we walked to the Hole-In-The-Wall where of course the way was closed.