Lake District Adventures - Waterside House Campsite and a Helvellyn Hike

With a sunny weather spell forecast, we set off to the Lake District for a few hiking adventures and spent a couple of nights at two of our favourite campsites - Waterside House and Sykeside.

The Lakes are less than an hours drive from our home in the Dales, so when we saw that it was going to be a nice week, Richard got out the Wainright books and started planning. We started the challenge 5 years ago to hike the 214 Wainright's and we are doing OK so far.

The drive over to Sykeside Campsite was a little more hairy than expected as the Kirkstone Pass road is still closed at Troutbeck due to the landslide months ago. This meant that we had to go through Ambleside and up the aptly named 'Struggle' road or drive miles out of our way and drop down from the north. Richard accepted the challenge and the new van survived it's maiden drive up the Struggle admirably!

The bonus at the top was finding that the infamous Kirkstone Pass Inn has finally reopened after several years, so we had to call in. Thankfully it has kept it's character in the bar area and still stocks local beers. We have previously stayed there overnight in the carpark and we did not see any signs to say that is now prohibited - so it may be one to revisit at some point.

the struggle road sign

Sykeside Campsite

Sykeside campsite is a great base for several hikes and is a popular spot. We managed to get the last campervan hardstanding pitch and this was just on a random Wednesday in April! It is popular with tent campers and there is ample room for people under canvas. It has the added bonus of having a pub next door, but you do need to be organised and prebook if you are wanting to eat in.

Richard had a hike planned that we could start from the campsite and included 4 Wainright's - sadly we had already done 2 of them but it would still add 2 to our tally. The Hartsop Horseshoe is a challenging hike as the incline up to Hartsop Dodd is a really steep thigh burner! We had the added challenge of high winds of up to 40mph forecast on the tops and the forecast was not wrong!

What I do love about a horseshoe hike is that generally once you have made the initial steep ascent, you stay at altitude and the rest of the peaks are easier to summit. From Hartsop Dodd it was a gentle uphill to Stoney Cove Pike and with the wind behind us we made good time. The saddle between Stoney Cove Pike and Thornthwaite Crag was a bit of a challenge with a steep drop, followed by a long climb up to the trig point. It does not look much on the map above, but on already tired legs it felt like a battle and the strong gusts that battered us did not help!

It was at this point that the fun really started! for the 4km between Thornthwaite Crag and Gray Crag it felt like we were in a wild storm - we put all our layers on and trudged across the ridge, heads down into the wind. At times I felt as though I would be blown over and the bitter wind made my cheekbones ache. We walked in silence with our hoods up and barely acknowledged reaching the final Wainright - Gray Crag.

It was a relief to start the steep descent back down to the valley and so bizzare that once we turned a corner towards Brothers Water, it was like a switch had been flipped, the wind dropped and the sun once again warmed our faces as we walked back to the campsite. The photo's of the hike look decieving with the blue skies, but it did mean that we had the most stunning views from each of the peaks - something that is definitely not guaranteed in the Lake District!

After such a challenging hike, it was a relief to get back to the campsite and have a well earned pint at the pub on site. We cooked a steak on the Cadac and were tucked up in bed by 8.30!

Our initial plan for the next day was to move on to Gillside campsite, just outside of Glenridding, as it is in the ideal location for our next hike. Sadly, when we rang to make a booking, they said they were fully booked for the whole of the weekend so our plans had to change! We tried a couple of other campsites but came across the same response - at this point we were starting to get a little worried but we persevered and finally found a pitch at Waterside House Campsite which has a couple of camping fields that do not have defined pitches.

We have stayed at Waterside House Campsite before but had forgotten what a fantastic place it is! Situated on the side of Ullswater within walking distance of Pooley Bridge, it has everything that you would need to pitch up and not move the van for a few days. The prices range considerably, our field pitch that had great views of the lake was £24 for a mid week pitch and £30 on the Friday night without EHU. The Lakeside pitches are over £70 a night with EHU but you do get unspoilt views across Ullswater!

We had a quiet day by the lake recovering from the challenging Hartsop Dodd hike - the weather was glorious and we sat in the sun reading for most of the day. The campsite allows fires and we spent a lovely evening chilling out with a few non-alcoholic beers watching the sunset over the lake.

We had set our hearts on a hike up Striding Edge and onto Helvellyn which meant that we were up early the next day and had to move the van. The weather forecast was excellent and the wind had dropped significantly. We have hiked up Helvellyn several times over the years and love the views from up there over the whole of the lakes. There was also one peak that we still needed to bag - Catstye Cam.

How different could two hikes be. I think we probably had the most perfect conditions for a hike up over Striding Edge and with it being a Friday it was reasonably quiet, so we could take our time, filming and indulging in a little bit of photography. The ridge has a reputation of being difficult, especially in winter conditions and I can see why with the sheer drops either side. We chose to do the high route over the top of the ridge - it is not as narrow and scary as it looks when you are up there. There is a lower path that you can take that is not as exposed - we have done that previously when the rocks were wet from a drizzly day.

There is one section right at the end that is quite tricky with a steep down climb - people do hike across with dogs but this is where they come a little unstuck having to lower the dogs down.

It was absolutely stunning up on the Helvellyn plateau - you could see for miles in all directions including views of Ingleborough and the Scottish lowlands! We were surprised that there were still pockets of snow up there - but it was only the end of April and there had been recent dumps of snow.

After a picnic with a view near the trig point on Helvellyn, we set off to our final climb of the day over Swirrel Edge to Catstye Cam. Again, perfect conditions made Swirrel Edge feel do-able and we had the summit to ourselves. We even managed to get the drone up for some footage as there was no one around.

It was a long slog back down to Glenridding but spirits were high after such a wonderful day in the mountains.

Returning to the campsite was a bit of an eye opener, it was late Friday afternoon and the empty camping field that we had left was now a lively spot! There was a great atmosphere, with people arriving for the weekend in all sorts of vans, tents and several tent boxes. The campsite cafe which served the most delicious looking BBQ foods and pizza's was busy and campers continued to arrive until late in the evening.

It is a great place for families to escape to, there is a water sports hire company renting out paddle boards and kayaks and for the more adventurous you could also have a go at wakeboarding.

Situated on a working farm, you can visit the cowshed that had several gorgeous new born calves and you can hear the bleating of the new born lambs in the sheds and the fields surrounding the campsite.

It is about a 20 minute walk into Pooley Bridge along a lakeside path, we had a lovely morning exploring the village and enjoyed a fabulous breakfast on a riverside patio.

We were only away for 3 nights but it felt like we had been away for longer and we thoroughly enjoyed our short break away. Sometimes those impromptu plans are the best kind. We bumped into several of our lovely subscribers at both campsites and on the fells, it is always nice when people say hi.

In our next blog we are in Snowdonia for a few nights at the fantastic Dolgam Campsite which has been a family favourite for decades.

Have a great week

Jackie and Richard