High Raise & Helm Crag
1
NY336076 From Emma’s Dell café in Grasmere village, walk up the dead-end road towards NT Allan Bank. Just beyond the cattle grid, fork right onto a permissive path which leads to Easedale Road. Stay left on this over Goody Bridge.
2
NY330081 Take a narrow wooden footbridge left over the Easedale Beck. Follow the wide, stony bridleway up beside the beck (this can flood during winter/spring melt). As the path rises up from the valley floor into the more confined steeper sides of the Sourmilk Gill look for opportunities for easy scrambling down by the gill – the area marked waterfalls can be fun on a warm day with low water flow! Continue up the main Easedale Tarn path which gets a bit rougher as it nears the tarn.
3
NY310087 Head left around the tarn on a boggier path. This crosses several side-streams, then heads westwards and uphill left of the main inflow stream. Reach Blea Rigg’s lumpy ridgeline at a little col.
4
NY291084 The paths can be intermittent/ vague from Blea Rigg onwards. For now, trend roughly north-west. You will pass a few piles of stones along the way, then as the gradient begins to ease, head west, along a much clearer path. This goes along the top of steep drops above Stickle Tarn to the top of Sergeant Man, which is a steep sided rocky knoll.
5
NY286088 The onward route is very vague at first and boggy in places. Head roughly north-west (away from the main path) at Sergeant Man; the path becomes clearer towards High Raise, passing just east of a small tarn about 200m before the trig-point capped summit. From here you have a wonderful panorama from Eskdale Pike to the north Pennines (on a clear day!).
6
NY280095 Bend right (north-east) and gently down to another prominent cairn. Descend northwards along the remnants of an old fenceline on the broad plateau marking the watershed between the Langstrath and Easedale valleys. This leads to a distinct saddle on Greenup Edge, with a narrow path crossing at the saddle.
7
NY286105 Descend eastwards and steeply on this rough (and soon sometimes disappearing) path, to criss-cross the boggy headwaters of the Wyth Burn. Head gently south-east to a col leading to Far Easedale, passing an iron gateway in otherwise absent fence. Turn left onto a narrow path at a crossroads on the col (or ahead and down, if taking Far Easedale shortcut). Head towards Calf Crag; the main path skirts left of Calf Crag’s summit.
8
NY302104 Continue roughly eastwards along the plateau edge for about 800m from Calf Crag (above steep drops into Far Easedale), then descend onto a narrow ridgeline. This gently turns more southerly, passing just right and below several knolls (any of which might be the
‘true summit’ of
Gibson Knott) on its way to Helm Crag. The main path avoids any scrambling on Helm Crag’s summit rocks (which are mostly about Grade 1, but very exposed).
9
NY327093 Descend roughly south-east off Helm Crag, on a wide zigzag path. This runs to the right of the ridgeline down to a little platform, then doubles back right onto the Easedale flank. Descend steeply through woodland, then turn right along a wall then left down the gap between the walls. Turn left at the bottom then rightwards through a gate on a stony track descending to Easedale Road. Take this road, then the permissive path back to the start.