Grisedale, Lake District, Winter
Happy New Year, everyone! Here’s to a peaceful and gentler 2024.
Happy New Year, everyone! Here’s to a more peaceful and gentle 2024.
Though I’ve enjoyed time off work between Christmas and New Year, it’s not exactly been pleasant. Storm Gerrit washed across the UK, rendering most days miserably wet. There were even tornado warnings, largely unheard of in the UK.
On New Year’s Eve we learned that New Year’s Day promised much nicer conditions, and so we endeavoured to rise early and head into the Lake District for a solid yomp on the first day of 2024.
Conditions were certainly nicer, though you can never predict weather in the Lake District 100%. Hiking along the valley bottom of Grisedale towards the valley’s head, we were washed with wave after wave of fine drizzle. Thankfully, it never rained that hard, and in between the downpours we still managed to nab some glorious photos.
All photos taken on my Sony α7ii using my Pentax SMC 28mm F3.5 and Pentax SMC 55mm f2.0 prime lenses. RAWs developed in Lightroom using RNI Films’ Kodachrome film profiles, finalised in Photoshop.
Grisedale, Lake District, Winter by Ian Cylkowski is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
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Grisedale, Lake District, Summer
It was time to show Dad the glory of Grisedale.
It was time to show Dad the glory of Grisedale.
With the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee giving us two days holiday, Dad and I were able to spend some time together. We embarked on a hike up Grisedale, an offshoot of the main Patterdale valley near Ullswater. To my mind, Grisedale features one of the greatest valley sceneries in all of the Lake District.
I’ve attempted to show Dad Grisedale before, but the good ol’ Lake District rain has impeded us.
This time, we could not have asked for better conditions.
Please enjoy these glorious scenes. And, if you do like them, consider supporting me.
All photos taken on my Fujifilm X-T2 using my new Vivitar “Series 1” 28–105 mm f/2.8–3.8 lens. Developed in Lightroom, finished in Affinity Photo. Grisedale, Lake District, Summer © 2022 by Ian Cylkowski is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
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Grisedale, Lake District, Spring
Grisedale has to be in my top 3 favourite Lake District valleys.
Grisedale has to be in my top 3 favourite Lake District valleys.
I have a fairly troubled history with this place. The last time both Lisabet and I visited it was the middle of summer on a clear and hot day. We hiked all the way from the foot of the valley to Grisedale Tarn and back down. About 7 miles and 1,300 ft of ascent. In mid-20s heat, with no wind or clouds. Whilst being 23/24 stone. I suffered on that walk, and stumbled a lot on the way back down, which angered me.
Now I’m 7-stone lighter, much fitter, and mentally better. It was time to revisit this gorgeous valley, especially as it’s my birthday weekend (38 years on this planet, goodness).
Grisedale is a tributary valley of Patterdale, located in the north-eastern Lake District. Not to be confused with Grizedale Forest, which I’ve also been to. There’s quite a few Grisedale in Cumbria and North Yorkshire, and the etymology is the same: Old Norse gris meaning “pig” or “boar”, and Old Norse dalr meaning “valley”, giving us “valley of the boars”.
Most people access Grisedale for the purposes of summitting Helvellyn via Striding Edge, one of the “classic” Lakeland fells for thrill-seekers. But Grisedale itself has so much to offer, especially the views toward the head of the valley, featuring the craggy faces of Nethermost Pike (891 m/2,923 ft) and Dollywaggon Pike (858 m/2,815 ft), both ultimately subsidiary tops of Helvellyn itself (950 m/3,118 ft).
We arrived good and early, pre-8am. By the time we returned to the car, the car park was full as well as all the lay-bys and roads around Ullswater.
This summer is going to be insanely busy.
All photos shot on my Fujifilm X-T2 using my three prime lenses: a Samyang 35mm f/1.2, a Laowa 9mm f/2.8, and an adapted Pentax SMC 55mm f/2.0. Developed using RNI’s E100G film profile.