| Name of walk | Greenburn Round: Steel Fell to Helm Crag |
| Date of walk | 2013-12-06 |
| Distance walked (miles) | 8 |
| Duration of walk | 5 hours 20 minutes |
| Weather | Cold and overcast |
| Peaks on walk | Steel Fell, Calf Crag, Gibson Knott, Helm Crag |
| Walked with | Ged and blind Kas |
| Parking | A591 lay-by |
Today Ged, Kas and I drove to Grasmere to climb Steel Fell (1811ft), Calf Crag (1762ft), Gibson Knott (1379ft) and Helm Crag (1299ft). It is a circular walk that follows the ridges of the Greenburn Valley. About 8.1 miles. I parked in a lay-by on the A591. We made a later start than usual. I wanted to check the weather out in daylight before setting off. After yesterday’s 70mph winds today was quite reasonable. It was cold but the visibility was okay, but rain/sleet/snow was forecast for this afternoon. The cold was a bit of a shock for Ged who has just returned from a few weeks of sunshine in Thailand.
View over to Steel Fell from the start of the lane leading from the A591.
Kas leads the way.
View back down with our final fell, Helm Crag on the right.
Steel Fell summit. Note the frozen puddle in the foreground. It was cold!
View down Thirlmere.
It looks even colder on Blencathra.
We head around the long loop towards Calf Crag. Thankfully the usually boggy ground was frozen.
One of the small tarns.
Looking down the Greenburn Valley. Steel Fell on the left. Helm Crag and Gibson Knott on the right.
Ged on Calf Crag summit.
From Calf Crag summit looking up to High Raise.
A view down into Far Easedale. Gibson Knott and Helm Crag now on the left.
There was a lot of ice on the paths, so our progress was slower than usual.
As we head around to the Gibson Knott ridge we get a view back over to Steel Fell on the left.
Some handy stepping stones.
Icicles. As long as we kept moving we didn't feel the cold.
Making for the ridge.
Another view down into Far Easedale.
View back up Far Easedale from the Gibson Knott ridge.
Gibson Knott ahead.
Kas on Gibson Knott summit.
There had been small snow flurries for the last hour, now the low cloud was enveloping the hills around. Looking over Tarn Crag to Easedale Tarn.
The route towards Helm Crag. This would be an ascent and then a descent back again to the col for the route back down into Greenburn.
On Helm Crag looking back at the Howitzer. Our ridge route behind now in the clouds.
The Lion and The Lamb on the left with Grasmere behind.
Kas and me.
Kas and me on The Howitzer. Far too wet and slippery to climb all the way up.
Some of the ridge route. Steel Fell on the right. Gibson Knott on the left.
Heading down the zig-zags into Greenburn. Our parking space in the lay-by can just be seen.
Bridge over Green Burn.
The barn at the end of the track marks the start of the ascent route up Steel Fell.
The last few photos don't show it, but it was getting quite dark now as we neared 4pm. The cottage at the end of the lane.
The walk took us 5 hrs and 20 minutes, an hour longer than last time due to the ice on the paths. Still quite an easy walk to do.
Jo.
