Helvellyn

If you read my last post you know that on the 29th of June I took part in the Cyclone event in the North-East. The day after I decided not to rest after a full-on, tiring day but to camp and climb Helvellyn-one of the most famous mountains of the Lake District- with my dad, Charlie and Tony. The plan was to drive up to Glenridding; (a nearby town) take all of our gear on our backs; (tent, food, clothes, cooking utensils) walk up to Red Tarn (halfway up Helvellyn) and then pitch our tents and eat a dinner of dehydrated couscous and dhaal (lentils). The next day-a teacher training day (Monday)-we would get up early, leave our tents, take only necessary gear, climb up to Helvellyn's summit via Striding Edge, enjoy the view and then descend to where our tents were pitched via Swirrel Edge. We would then pack up and hope to be home by about 3 o'clock. Well, that was the plan...

Upon arrival, it absolutely chucked it down, so we hot-footed it down to the local pub where we spent about two hours sitting and hoping if we waited long enough the rain would just disappear! Alas, the rain didn't stop but it did start to recede so we grabbed our packs and were off before it decided to reappear.

It took us half an hour to get to Red Tarn but it was getting late and quite chilly. We hurriedly put up the tents with the backdrop of the beautiful Lake District behind us and the magnificent yet imposing peak of Helvellyn in front. Once set up, I instantly jumped inside to warm up whilst dad rustled up a three course meal of couscous and two different dhaal dishes with hot chocolate to wash it down. The dhaal dishes were slightly tasteless and to be honest not very nice probably because they were dehydrated! I then fell asleep immediately.

On Monday, we awoke to an almost perfect, clear day. As we ate breakfast and prepared for today's climb, we were in awe at how lucky we were to have such brilliant weather. We waved our tents goodbye and started the ascent of Striding Edge. Striding Edge is a brilliant scramble with quite sheer drops down both sides and a glorious view of the surrounding hillside. It was hard work but awesome fun. Once we summmitted Helvellyn, we began the descent.

Swirrel Edge is nowhere near as dangerous or technical as Striding Edge but it was probably the best way to come down and good to experience both edges of the mountain. We arrived at base camp, packed up and set off, arriving just after lunch in Glenridding. It was a fantastic end to an awesome three days that I won't forget it in a hurry.

Passing the time whilst waiting for the rain to stop

Striding Edge