After two fell walks and a day in the pub we needed a lower walk (plus a lie in). I’ve been wanting to add on Rydal Water to my normal Grasmere loop and this was the day. We started out after lunch and after the rain had eased a little. The rain stopped as we booted up and headed for Dove Cottage and then the Coffin Route to Rydal Mount. It was my first walk along this path and its a fine route with just enough elevation to give you a view down to Rydal Water and a cafe at the end and the lovely Rydal Mount itself. We passed the church at Rydal before descending to the lake and walking the lakeside path back towards Grasmere. We detoured off to Rydal Caves, again my first look at these, which seems ridiculous, considering I’ve probably been to the Lakes around 25 or more times. All that was left was a rapid walk back to Grasmere as the rain started again and we raced to beat the growing darkness which was aided by the low clouds and gloomy outlook. At the end we had grab some gingerbread to be eaten during the rest of our stay, before the rain came again on our short walk back to the car. A fabulous way to spend a day without rushing anywhere.
Start – Layby outside Grasmere on A591
Route – Dove Cottage – Coffin Route – Under Nab Scar – Rydal Mount – A591 – Cote How – Rydal Caves – Loughrigg Terrace – Dale End – Grasmere
Distance – 6 miles Start time – 1pm Time taken – 3hrs 20mins Highest Point – No real climbing here
Starting out I had a little walk around the village as soon as the rain had passed through, these three ducks however came round most days, we’d named them the 3 amigos and they spent most of their time sifting through the mud in the puddlesOver by the brook I found the rest of the ducks beside Puddleduck CottageThe pub, we would eat in here later in the week and it was pretty goodOn with the walk and it was a bad cloudier and still drizzling at Grasmere, cloud base was were I expected it to be at around 400 metres with Helm Crag over there, just clear of itWordsworth’s Dove CottageHeading right along the Coffin Route, or is it? There’s some conjecture as to whether this was a coffin route at allMore drizzle and low cloud as we look over to Loughrigg FellWe found a bench for a brew and a biscuit and spied Rydal Caves on the lower left side of Loughrigg FellThe end of Rydal Water with Wansfell up in the cloudsRydal Beck was making a right racket with the stream in full spateAnother biscuit and a robin came to scroungeRydal Mount, it was lovely walking around the gardens, even in the gloomy weatherRydal ChurchThe section of the River Rothay which links Grasmere lake to Rydal Water, it was running high through here, no surprise though with all the rain that was fell in the area over the previous weeksA serene looking Rydal Water as started the short climb to the CavesRydal CavesAnd inside looking outThe stepping stones to get in and out just don’t slip off otherwise you will get wet feetA bit more rain fell as we left the Caves to head to GrasmereNow this is the exit of Grasmere lake into the River Rothay, there is usually a rocky stepped weir here, you can see the ripples were it should be but the height of the water has hidden it allHeading through the woods we climbed up to Red Bank Road for the view down to GrasmereLooking back to Loughrigg Fell no change in the weather all the way aroundI normally stop off at Sarah Nelson’s for some gingerbread and today was the same. We would return on our leaving day to pick up some for presents but today we just got enough for ourselves and the rest of the week. Now to head back to Bassenthwaite and get the fire going to dry off the clothes and boots. This was a daily exercise for each of our walks, still nothing beats a good wood burner kicking out some heat.
We did this walk 2 years ago I think. It is lovely. Rydal Cave is appearing in season 2 of the Witcher, if you watch this TV series you will recognise it.
treksandtors 
Terrific area whatever the weather, mind I’m still not convinced about the coffin route being a coffin route.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I would love to do that walk. I shall add it to the list. The cave looks interesting.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Its a lovely walk, very simple, good for poor weather and really great in good weather. Hugo would love the beachy bit by Grasmere lake for a cool off
LikeLiked by 1 person
A great little round for a day that rules out the higher fells.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve been wanting to tag on Rydal Water to the Grasmere walk for a while now, its well worth doing
LikeLike
We did this walk 2 years ago I think. It is lovely. Rydal Cave is appearing in season 2 of the Witcher, if you watch this TV series you will recognise it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ll keep an eye out for that
LikeLiked by 1 person