Walk : Dollywaggon Pike
(2,810 ft), Nethermost Pike (2,920 ft), Helvellyn
(3,118 ft) from Dunmail Raise
Date : 18th June
2019
Weather : Cloud
with Sunny intervals @ 20°C light to strong breeze on tops
Distance : 9 miles round trip
Time
Taken : 1 hour 40 mins to
first summit (Dollywaggon Pike)
Which
part of Lakeland is this walk situated
Terrain
Overview
Overview
A week long stay in Ambleside, the first of the year
for us and a revisit for us to an excellent track up along side Raise Beck
which we used previously
to climb Seat
Sandal. This time we ventured left at Grizedale Tarn
to take the very excellent stone pitched path up to Dollywaggon
Pike. Major routes
like this generally
tend to have had a lot of work done to them by the Fix the Fells Team so as to
contain erosion, and I can heartily recommend this track
as being first
class and providing some excellent views along the way. From Dollywaggon, we would then go on and visit Nethermost Pike
and then
finally climbing over
3,00 feet to Helvellyn
From Ambleside take the A591 road to Keswick and right
at the top of Dunmail Raise where the carriageway
splits a lay by on the left opposite Raise Beck
Is the starting point for this walk
Over the south bound carriageway a stile over the
fence gives access to the open fell side
The start of the track that runs parallel with Raise
Beck
The track climbs fairly steeply along side the Beck to
the
Eventually Grizedale Tarn is
reached and the views start to open out
Looking left from the
The second and much more preferable branches off right
and zig-zags its way upto
the shoulder seen here right
Sue and Ste at the start of the zig-zag
path route
Half way up the path looking south over Grizedale Tarn
This route was the popular choice of many today
The path eventually levels off over 2,500 feet and
passes an old iron post which is mentioned in various walking guides as a land
mark, however it seems
to have seen better
times
Are you volunteering to stay there and hold it up Sue ?
So I did my bit as best I could, could have done with
a hammer drill and four raw bolts !
Looking out West over towards Great Gable from the
path
Not long after passing the iron post just keep a look out on the right for the summit of Dollywaggon Pike, the route to it is pathless
Ste on the summit of Dollywaggon
Pike, looking out north towards Ullswater
Click here for a 360 degree view from the summit of Dollywaggon Pike … https://youtu.be/qkbKHVYUtg8
Looking west along the track to our second summit of
the day Nethermost Pike
The path ventures quite close to the edge of Ruthwaite Cove providing some startling views
The precipitous crags of Ruthwaite
Cove from the path
A series of
The summit cairn on Nethermost Pike
Click here for a 360 degree view from the summit of
Nethermost Pike … https://youtu.be/up4q3RCDTWk
Looking further down the track to Helvellyn
and Striding Edge in the foreground – as ever full of human ants
Following the path to Helvellyn
summit
Zooming in west on Great Gable
Approaching the ever popular wind shelter on Helvellyn summit
Looking over Red Tarn from Helvellyn
summit
Team shot from the summit cairn
Click here for a 360 degree view from the summit of Helvellyn … https://youtu.be/C9BEG1SEzIg
Slightly further on from the summit cairn lies the
Trig Point Survey Column. The sharp
Lad and Dad on the summit
Striding Edge from above en route to a quick visit to Gough`s Plaque
The story goes that Charles Gough was visiting the
Lake District in 1805 and was walking over Helvellyn
to
crossing Striding Edge and was never seen alive again.
Three months later, a passing shepherd heard a barking dog near Red Tarn and on
investigation found
Foxie beside the body of his master – a true act of faithfulness. This
inspired several artists and poets to interpret the scene including William
Wordsworth who
Wrote the poem “Fidelty” … https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Poems_(Wordsworth,_1815)/Volume_2/Fidelity
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