Striding Edge, Helvellyn & Swirral Edge loop from Glenridding — Lake District National Park

Second time iv done this route but with Catstye Cam added as I stupidly missed it the first time I did it! Made it into a loop this time aswell coming back past Greenside Mine. Took my mate Daz on his first scramble across Striding Edge. Brilliant day, but too hot though, first time I did it was the same. Need to pick a cooler day next time!

Been wanting to do this for a while. Last time the weather was too bad. So with no kids or dog. Off we went early morning to get it done. Am I glad we did. Would not have liked to have done striding edge any windier. Although the view from the top made it all worth it in the end (hehe fib. No view). Still didn't stop us having a picnic. That's the lakes though. Gotta love it..

Day 12. Striding and Swirral Edge, Helvellyn. 3 Wainwrights. 5 Nuttalls. Wainwrights: Birkhouse Moor 718m, Helvellyn 950m and Catstye Cam 890m. Nuttalls: Birkhouse Moor, Striding Edge 863m, Helvellyn, Helvellyn Lower Man 925m and Catstye Cam. This is just a great route that doesn’t need much of an introduction. A classic grade 1 scramble on two ridges and it was done early in the morning on a blue sky autumn day with no wind and in cool conditions. Parking was at the main Glenridding car park. Basically it is a very large car park but gets busy early. I was there at 7.45am and it was nearly empty but it was a weekday. Charges are £8 for a full day. Start the route by walking out of the car park, turn right over the bridge and turn right immediately. You then follow the river path and to be honest from here it is pretty well signposted and the trails good. You pass a campsite on the left and turn left and go through a gate shortly after. The gpx is spot on so just follow it. Your basically heading uphill! Once on the hill you are basically following a good path that runs alongside Mires Beck that goes steeply uphill. You keep going uphill all the way to Birkhouse Moor cairn (if you want to take it in) otherwise follow the path along the wall that runs SW to the Wainwright cairn shortly after. Helvellyn is in sight now and it looks great! It’s not long before it starts to feel lumpy and rocky underfoot and the big dome of Striding Edge Nuttall is soon reached. Then before you is Striding Edge. It looked superb today, like a razor blade heading for the mid slopes of Helvellyn. Even better it looks totally dry. Now this is a grade 1 scramble and there is always a side route. Today though with no wind and dry rock it was a scramble odyssey straight over the top. It was fantastic! The ‘notch’ was soon reached and the 5-6m scramble down that was easy enough too and then it was straight up the bulky dome in front of the notch (there is a side route here too). Once over that it was a short steep pull up to the summit seats, cairn and trig point. The summit is very broad and my gpx goes back and forth a bit as I was taking in the glorious views and having a photo fest. Next was a quick side trip to take in Helvellyn Lower Man and then it was back and another scramble beckoned on Swirral Edge. This time it was a down climb and that was great too, nowhere that difficult and dry in most places despite being in the mid morning shade. It was turning out to be a classic scramble fest day. Once down off Swirral you have a sharp pull up to the cairned top of Catstye Cam with fantastic views all around and then the sharp drop off East down to meet the main path going up to Red Tarn. From the main path you turn left and head on steadily downhill on a good path that takes you on a long four kilometre long loop North back to Glenridding. There are a few right turns but it is all simple enough and  eventually you end up coming out near the gate by the campsite. From there it is a short walk back to the car park. An end to a fantastic day. Parking: Large car park with £8 all day fee. Get there early in season/weekends. Route: Well maintained  and established paths in the main (95%), fantastic grade 1 scrambling on two of England’s finest ridges, superlative views for most of the way. Route Statistics: 15.2km with 925m of ascent done in a leisurely six scrambling photo fest hours.

Second time up this majestic mountain this time was more beautiful.