Bill's Coast to Coast Diary

Day4: Grasmere to Glenridding

(N.B. Hover your mouse over the pictures for captions)

Viv and Phil went to Grasmere to pick up sandwiches for lunch, and we soon set off from Fairy Glen and walked up the main road to rejoin the route at Mill Bridge. Whilst we paused here for a moment, we met Adryan and Tinny. We climbed up the first part of the path, passing and being passed by them as raincoats were put on, or taken off, a few times.

Path up to Great Tongue

We chose the right-hand path up Tongue Gill - I think this one is easier than the left one.

Tongue Gill

Tongue Gill waterfall

Climbing up to Grisedale Hause was not too bad until the steeper climb near the top, when the rain swept in from the valley and the clouds descended. Or was it that we were ascending into the clouds?

The weather closing in

Finally, we reached the Tarn, with mist all around. It certainly didn't feel like summer. After a few moments photographing we carried on past the tarn and down the path through Grisedale. With such low cloud, there was no choice but to take the low route. My aching limbs fully concurred with this decision!

Mist hanging over Grisedale Tarn

We continued down the path a little and found a nice little shelter for lunch. By now it had stopped raining, although there was quite a strong cold wind. Mind you, we didn't care, we had a cafe with a fantastic view down Grisedale.

Sheltering for lunch in Grisedale

After lunch, we continued the long walk down Grisedale. We met some interesting people at Ruthwaite Lodge (now restored) and chose the left hand path just beyond.

Ruthwaite Lodge

I think this was the best choice, as it seems to remain higher in the valley than the right-hand path, with better views; and also because it provided us with a better route to our B & B at Glenridding (rather than the usual destination of Patterdale).

Looking up Grisedale

By now the muscle that I pulled in my thigh was giving me a bit of trouble, and I was glad when we reached the bottom.

Looking towards Boredale Hause from the bottom of Grisedale

We took the path past Lanty's tarn and descended into Glenridding in the rain.

Glenridding and Ullswater

We soon found our B&B, but decided to go for a coffee in the Internet Cafe first. We paid £2 for half-an-hour and had a look at the BBC weather forecast and traced the position of our son, Steve, who was on holiday on a tall ship near Ireland. When we finally got to the B&B, we were pleased that they had a drying room for wet clothes and boots by the front door. It seemed obvious that the route over Kidsty Pike would not be possible, so I spent some time working out GPS co-ordinates for the lower level Moor Divock route the next day. In the evening the rain was torrential, so we ventured only a few doors up the road for a not particularly special evening meal.

Internet cafe in Glenridding