From Grasmere and Back With a Detour to Easedale Tarn. . .

Another weekend, another recce for a future walk with our rambling group.  This time it was a trip out to Grasmere on a day that promised rather iffy weather with some potential fog.  This is Helm Crag, our first climb, taken from the parking lot.  I was very eager to get up there while there was still some visibility.

This is one of the easier climbs in the Lake District. The first bit takes you through some forest and while the path is always going up, it's quite gradual.  Nevertheless, it doesn't take long to gain some height.

And this is what you start to see. I love the vibrancy of the green against the dead winter foliage.  This is why you won't ever hear me complain about U.K. winters.

We are at the beginning of what will be a circular route.  Across from us is the waterfall that we'll see near the end of the walk.  It flows down from Easedale Tarn.

Nearly at the top of Helm Crag. You can just see a peek of Grasmere, one of the smaller lakes,  in the distance.

And this is taken further on looking back at Helm Crag.  We are now embarked on an undulating ridge walk that will take in Gibson Knott and Calf Crag.  I love ridge walking but this really has its ups and downs, so take your time and know that it will be a bit of a workout on the legs.

Across the way, you can just see a peek of Easedale Tarn.

Looking back again as we continue along the ridge and you can see all of Grasmere now.

We stopped for lunch as the clouds started descending.

Not many Herdys around - the females will have come down from the slopes in preparation for lambing season.

I was feeling rather pessimistic that we'd see anything after lunch, but there started to be breaks in the mist.  This is a little unnamed tarn seen from Calf Crag, just before we turned left to start the return journey.

Looking back from the turning point. On the left is the ridge we've just walked. Straight ahead is the valley in which we'll descend for the second half of the walk.  This valley path is also part of the Wainwright Coast to Coast walk in the stretch from Borrowdale.  When I last walked it, it was in pouring rain.

Here's another picturesque waterfall at the head of the valley.

About three quarters of the way back to Grasmere, we detoured to go up to Easedale Tarn. We probably won't have time with our group to do this on the day, but we'd started very early on our recce and I can never resist a tarn.  It's a wee bit of a climb up, especially for tired legs, but it is so worth it, especially if it's clear. Below you can see where the waterfall that we spied near the beginning of our walk, flows out of the tarn.

As tarns go, this is quite a big one. I wish we'd had time to walk around it, but we did stop to have a snack and enjoy the view.

We then crossed over the waterfall and continued on the path back to Grasmere.

Here is that same waterfall at its most forceful.

And another view at the ridge we've walked.

It's the beginning of walking season for us and so we're still a little out of shape. I was quite tired at the end of this nine mile hike, but the weather co-operated and I was able to tick a few more Wainwright fells off the list. So all in all, another successful day out among the fells.