Crossing Ol’ Blighty – the Coast to Coast Path, England – Day 3

Date: Thursday, 9 July 2026
Day: 3
From: Rosthwaite via Helm Crag      To: Grasmere
Start Walking: 817am      End Walking: 322pm
Distance (Planned): 14.5km      Distance (Garmin): 15.1km
Progress: 54.7/306km

Ascent: 693m               Descent: 680m
Weather: Way too warm again and we were sweating buckets again. Thankfully a bit of a breeze up high.
Stayed At: Jackson’s Café & Bar

General Comments:
• Yes, yet another warm day for us and while it is not as hot as further South, it is definitely making our walking/climbing a bit more challenging.
• It would be great to be able to start walking a bit earlier in the morning, but the B&Bs are pretty strict with their timing for breakfast, so we just start walking as soon as we can.

• Today was only a short day, but certainly not an easy one. We have been told that the first 5 days of this walk are the toughest and we can definitely see why.
• The day started out mildly enough and then it was one long slow climb up to Lining Crag. Believe me there was endless puffing and panting on my part and plenty of stops to catch my breath.

• These stops are perfect opportunities to admire the views of the surrounding hills, valleys and to look back at how far we have come. I am always interested to see people standing on neighbouring ridgelines and distant mountains. There are paths everywhere here, not just the Coast to Coast Path and we have met a lot of day walkers.
• It’s quite an international walk too with lots of Germans, a smattering of Americans and we met another lady from Aus (Walgett actually).

• The app provided by RAW Travel shows a number of diversions and recommended paths and seeing we were up so high, we thought we would check out Helm Crag. It is basically another ridgeline which delivers yet more stunning views, especially down to Grasmere – our destination for today.

• We had been warned that Grasmere was very touristy and busy, but by the time we got here, most of the visitors had gone home and we had the place pretty much to ourselves. We strolled into the tiny gingerbread shop, visited Wordsworth’s grave and found a pub for a cleansing ale, and dinner. Grasmere – tick!

Top Tips:
• Diversions: If you have anything left in the tank, do consider taking some of the recommended diversions. They will add a little distance (and perhaps elevation) to your day, but they are really worthwhile.
• Water: Again, there is nowhere to collect water on this trail unless you treat it, so carry plenty.

Have a good day everyone.