Doubling up: Helvellyn on walk 209

WALK 209: Birkhouse Moor (2,355 feet above sea level, number 315 of my second round), Catstycam (2,917′, no. 316), Helvellyn (3,117′, no. 317) and Nethermost Pike (2,920′, no. 318). 7.75 miles, 3,050 feet of ascent.

The summit of Helvellyn: third-highest Wainwright of all.

A repeated theme on this blog over the last two years has been the issue of when I was going to get up Helvellyn again. And not just for its status as a Wainwright, either, but also because it’s a County Top, these days of the newly-gerrymandered Westmorland and Furness local authority. Having not rebagged this before embarking on my CT project in July 2019 (unlike the other two Wainwrights that are also CTs, Scafell Pike and Coniston Old Man), I had decided that when I did return, it would count for both blogs.

I kept never seeming to make it, however. At least once, I set out for it in the morning and then changed my mind: this being last April, when some snow up on the high fells persuaded me to go up Red Screes instead. That might have seemed a little cowardly at the time but seeing as my intended route lay up Swirral Edge, I think that turned out to have been the right decision.

The ascent of Swirral Edge.

Swirral Edge is the undoubted highlight of walk 209, but it’s not for the faint-hearted. I’ve never done Striding Edge so have no direct comparison to make, but while Swirral is obviously shorter than its more famous neighbour, it is no walk in the park, as you can see from this shot.

Still, I made it up, and as well as Helvellyn bagged three others on the way, to recomplete Wainwright’s volume 1: The Eastern Fells. All good walking country, but with a split personality; come up the Helvellyn or Fairfield ranges from the west and you will see only vast grass slopes. The crags and coves all face Ullswater to the east, and very fine they are too. And it’s a nicely accessible region: as long as the trains run, anyway. For more photos and text from today see the walk 209 page.

Striding Edge and St Sunday Crag.

As of today, then, I have bagged 318 of the 330 Wainwrights on my second round and so have twelve to go. These split into six or possibly seven separate walks. I do not think I will finish this year but I do want to push on and get this done: spring 2024 seems a realistic target date for completion. Hopefully I’ll get another Lakeland hike in before term starts again, so some time in mid-September.