Another week in the Lakes and it coincided with some lovely weather which got warmer as the week went on. Before heading up to the Lakes I hadn’t had my usual long walk to get me ready for walks with steep fells over long distances, I am a fan of the Dartmoor landscape but it doesn’t prepare you for the craggy steep paths in Cumbria, Snowdonia or Scotland, the walking in Devon is more rolling hills and gentle ascents. So I decided on a warm up walk, and chose Stone Arthur as a short but steep starter. The weather was very cold, made so by a keen north easterly but the sun shone and the views were very good from a small fell for this area. I’m not a fan of covering the same ground out and back from a walk, so I tried my best to ascend a different way from the obvious path which I would come back down on. I branched off up a gill which proved to be a steep grassy path and my legs weren’t really up to the job, still I made the summit eventually and descended pretty quickly back to the Grasmere Gingerbread shop for some refuelling! A great start to the week and number 136 on the Wainwright list for me.
| Start – Grasmere |
| Route – A591 – Our Lady of the Wayside church – Michael’s Nook – Stone Arthur – Greenhead Gill – The Swan – Grasmere Gingerbread Shop |
| Distance – 3.5miles Start time – 10.50am Time taken – 2hrs 30mins Highest Point – Stone Arthur 500metres |
| Weather – Sunny and white fluffy clouds, very cold wind |
© Crown copyright 2019 Ordnance Survey FL 2019 SF
Stone Arthur in the centre of the picture. It looks fairly simple from here and in truth it is, although it is pretty steep
The dip of Dunmail Raise, Helm Crag is left and Seat Sandal is right
Easedale to the left of Helm Crag and Steel Fell to the right, some nice sunshine as I walked out of Grasmere to the A591
Our Lady by the Wayside church and some daffodils still out in the grounds
From the church you get a fine view of the Lion and the Lamb on Helm Crag
Greenhead Gill as I start the ascent
Looking back to Grasmere, this was where I branched off the main path up the gill to the summit
A bit higher up as I follow the gill
Looking across to Helm Crag and the higher summits behind of Ullscarf and High Raise
The Coniston Fells appear over Silver How
Stone Arthur summit, it was blowing a bit here and pretty cold. Alcock Tarn can be seen on the left
Lots of fells, layers and layers. Those looking closely will see snow on the fells around Bowfell back left
Looking up the ridge. Stone Arthur sits on the end of a spur down from Great Rigg, you can add this one on to the Fairfield Horseshoe if you fancy, however we didn’t when we did it a few years ago.
Heading down the main path from Stone Arthur, Alcock Tarn would be up there on the left
The incline to Stone Arthur becomes clearer as you descend the main path
Almost back to Grasmere
Loughrigg Fell across the fields outside Grasmere
Stone Arthur is behind the trees ahead with Seat Sandal to the left. I’m just a short distance now from the gingerbread shop and some yummy treats.
treksandtors 
Great pics and pleased you got good weather. much the same as when we went up it again last year.
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Its a very accessible fell, I did think about tagging on Alcock Tarn as well but I’d only paid for 3 hours parking in Grasmere!!
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The church car parking space – not sundays – is a fiver for a day if you can get a space, but most walkers use the big laybys on the main road.
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I think I’ve been up there. In the rain and it was in the cloud as well. Glad to see it’s a fine viewpoint.
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Only 500 metres but the views are very good back down to Grasmere, over to the Coniston fells and towards Helm Crag, I’m sure in better fitness it would be 2 hours at most, so perfect for an evening walk
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Went up there a few weeks back. Doesn’t seem much from Grasmere, but, as they say, looks are deceptive. It’s certainly a stiff climb!
I’m sure you enjoyed the rest of your holiday. Looking forward to reading your walk reports 👍
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Yes the rest of the holiday was very good. The two big walks I did were in heavy haze but I enjoyed both the High Stile ridge and the Boredale Round routes that I did. And no rain all week which I think was a first!
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It will be raining in 2 weeks – guaranteed – as I’m due up there for a few days after the May day Bank holiday
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