Grisedale & Its Tarn Make Our Day

The new day dawned after an interesting night at the hostel. There was low cloud today which meant that walks could not be too high level. Ralph's suggestion of walking up Grisedale to Grisedale Tarn and returning via the other side of Grisedale was deemed by all of us to be a good idea in the meterological circumstances. Despite the cloudy conditions, there were some good views and it was altogether an enjoyable walking day.

The Long Night of Leeds Beckett

Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly Leeds Metropolitan, takes its new name from Beckett Park next door. Apparently, so one of the LBU tattooed student "tutors" at Patterdale told me, the word "Metropolitan" was deemed to be associated with the visa situation that brought notoriety to London Metropolitan University, so a change in the name of the Leeds academic institution was thought useful. Anyway, some LBU students had come to Patterdale for a few days for their outward bound experiences, and these students were determined not to let their last night at Patterdale go out without some style in a way that many students are often credited with knowing how to do. Much merry-making and lively activity thus characterised our first night at the hostel, with the setting off of the fire alarm included in the proceedings. After the departure of the students we found that subsequent nights at the hostel were of course, much much quieter - of the "you could hear a pin drop" variety. The students looked a bit worse for wear on the morning of their departure. Luckily on the night before, with a bit of quick observation, I had managed to rescue the walking boots of John E. and me from the mistaken - but not deliberate - inclusion of the said boots from the racks outside the hostel entrance into the collection of student boots to be taken back to Leeds! Such is life!

These were only some of the glasses piled high on the morning after by the hostel staff. You notice that some of the wine shelves are empty. Much wine - such as "Jack Rabbit" - was consumed. Of the "empty" Jack Rabbit bottles, one bottle of red wine had been hardly "drunk" and was salvaged by Tony who shared some of its contents with Melissa and Lesley during our hostel meal in the evening. In the picture, you can see that the food hygiene rating of our hostel was 4 out of 5, or "FHR=4" for short. Other YHAs at which I have stayed were rated "excellent" (FHR=5).




Here is another view of the sculpture of drinking glasses proudly gracing the hostel's reception desk.

To Thornhow

Patterdale "Post Office and General Stores" (PO&GS) is opposite the "White Lion" Inn. Apart from providing us with sandwiches, another important aspect of the PO&GS was that behind it is the start of a path providing a very scenic shortcut to Thornhow in Grisedale. The path is a sort of microcosm of the Lake District.

This is one view of the "White Lion Inn" whose lease, apparently, is up for grabs. What puzzled me about the Inn was not so much its interesting appearance in the landscape, but something else. According to the web, the inn has a food hygiene rating of 5 out 5, a rating that was not even - at the time of writing and according to the web - attained by the Patterdale Hotel, the Patterdale YHA, the Patterdale Post Office and General Stores and Glenridding's "The Traveller's Rest", all four of which had to be content with a rating of 4 out of 5. "So what?", I hear you exclaim. Well, the "White Horse" served some of its food, not on plates, but on wooden boards, off which, according to Ralph, peas might roll. But that's not all. Wooden boards, while perhaps trendy when used as plates, also, when used as plates, can trap morsels and other things - bacteria (about 500 different types in the human mouth) and all - that might naturally depart from the eater's mouth. Such items can of course find their way into the crevices of the wooden board used as a plate. 5 out of 5 food hygiene rating and wooden boards used as dinner plates? I can't quite make the connection.
Ah well, perhaps that's just my problem!




The day started on a grey note - meterologically speaking. (I have also used this picture for Sunday's short but wet walk, when the wetness dictated against the use of a camera.)




We wait a while to study maps and for light refreshment ...




... then off we go again.




Some sunshine catches the high ground above Glenridding - and it's definitely autumn.




Here are views, with a smattering of sunshine, from our path ...




... across to the northern reaches of Ullswater




And here are some of us, having enjoyed the view,
having our picture taken before setting off again.




We have set off ...




... down to Thornhow in Grisedale.

Grisedale South Side

In the morning we took the south side of Grisedale with the idea that any sunshine going would bring out the best in the south facing north side of the valley. Our immediate destination was Ruthwaite Lodge, near which one track leads to the Grisedale Tarn itself, and another track - our afternoon walk - leads back back down the north side of Grisedale. The clouds were still above us and visibilty was good.

Bertha, Lesley's pet, was very enthusiastic about the Lake District. Rocky paths and mountain streams - she was in her element when given a chance off her lead, which was occasionally used in case we met any roaming sheep in which she also expressed an interest.




We look back down the Grisedale and do a quick map check.




Another look down the valley ...




... and then we are off again.

Ruthwaite Lodge

We have reached Ruthwaite Lodge, the Outward Bound Ullswater hut. Very lucky, these Ullswaterians! Time for a snack and some water, and of course, a good place from which to admire the wild landscape all around us.

We look back the way we came. The footbridge marks the fork between the two paths -
one on the south side of Grisedale (the way we have come),
the other on the north side (the way we'll go in the afternoon).




Clouds, mountains and water - mountain drama at its visual best!




The two individuals whose names are engraved on this stone plaque on the front of Ruthwaite Lodge were - it appears - mountaineering experts. Their deaths - obviously tragic for their families and friends - also suggest that mountains, in all their glory, can be most unforgiving.




Bertha in "close portrait". Never look a dog directly in the eyes. This is a canine offence and could, in the very least, elicit a canine growl - so there!




Yet more discussion about Grisedale in particular and the world in general ...




... while soaking in the scenery.




For some there's a chance of a quick rest ...




... while for others there's still much to discuss.




Ruthwaite Hut nestles in the shelter of a protruding crag ...




... and echoes to the continuous sound of the waterfall just behind to the right.

Grisedale Tarn

We are getting closer to the clouds as we reach Grisedale Tarn sitting at the top of its valley. It's a bit like a room with a low ceiling! However, there's still enough visibility to give some interesting scenic effects. We have lunch on the bank of the tarn and circumnavigate the said tarn to reach the start of our descent back to Patterdale.

Stepping stones mark the the outflow from the Grisedale Tarn into the Grisedale Beck. Carefully does it, and we are soon on our way to our lunch stop on the banks of the said tarn.




Clouds give that low ceiling effect over the ruffled waters of the tarn.




Mandy in full concentration. I am not alone in realising that some stepping stones require more concentration than others!




We pose for a quick piccy.
Proof that we have made it thus far into the cloudy heights above Grisedale.




The sun is shining in Grisedale!




The cloud sits ...




... o'er the tarn.




Looking back to Grisedale, we get that ...




... "Hall of the Mountain King" effect.




It's time for lunch ...




... while admiring the view over the tarn.
Our circumnavigation of the tarn is about to commence.




Another proof of presence and proof of enjoyment piccy ...




... ere we begin our return descent into Grisedale.

Return to Ruthwaite Lodge

There's really only one path down to Ruthwaite Lodge - unless you want to go via Rome that is. However, it's a nice rocky path nestling in the V-shaped valley of the "Upper Grisedale". There are distant glimpses into the world outside Grisedale - to Place Fell in particular.

As we begin our descent into Grisedale ...




... the clouds seem to lift ...




... with a definite indication of blue sky and distant sunshine.




The landscape and cloudscape both unfold ...




... as once again we reach Ruthwaite Lodge.

To Patterdale via Grisdale North Side

To enhance our appreciation of the landscape it was felt to be a good idea to descend Grisedale by the other, northern path - offering a broadside view of the (guess what) northern flank of Saint Sunday Crag. This path started after the footbridge just below Ruthwaite Lodge. As we made our way down Grisedale towards Patterdale, more and more vegetation made its way into the landscape, until, at the outskirts of Patterdale, the autumn tints started to come back into their own.

Just to be sure, we recheck maps ...




...before proceding further down the valley.




A lively part of the babbling Grisedale Beck, framed by heather and bushes ...




... catches our attention.




The Grisedale Beck snakes its silvery way to Ullswater's scenic waters.




Clouds, rocks and ...




... crags accompany us.




This looks like the famous St Sunday Crag.




Onwards we go ...




... grass getting lusher ...




... ferns getting more copious, as we look back on the way we have descended.




We pose for a picture ...




... and yet another picture, to say that we have just returned from the cloudy upper reaches of Grisedale and its Beck.




The way we came, lush vegertation and the north face of St Sunday Crag.




Still a mile or two to go, but the going is easy.




An old gate at Thornhow bears a request that it be closed. There is certainly no closure on our evening activities. Dinner at the hostel and more festivities at the "White Lion" await - to mark our first full and successful day in Lakeland!

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