A Stunning Sunrise From The Top Of Helvellyn

Sunrise is special. When you’re blessed with good weather, there are few things better in my opinion than sitting somewhere quiet to enjoy the birth of a new day. As a lover of mountains, I have been fortunate enough to watch many sunrises from various high points around the UK. My early summit of Y Garn in Snowdonia will always stay in my memory. On that occasion I shared the mountain with three chaps, who had driven through the night from Suffolk just to enjoy it. This time around, I would make the effort to watch the sunrise from the top of Helvellyn. What an incredible experience it was. Well worth the ridiculously early alarm call that’s for sure

**Moments before the sun appeared, this is what we were greeted to on Y Garn**.

Why Helvellyn?

I’d be very surprised if you haven’t heard of Helvellyn. It is the third highest in The Lake District after all at 950 metres. In addition to this, it is simply a stunning mountain, offering exciting and at times challenging routes to the summit. One such option is Striding Edge, a narrow ridge walk not for the faint-hearted. I wouldn’t complete it on this occasion, but you can read about somebody who has here.

**You can clearly see the ridge walks of Striding Edge and Swirral Edge on the map above.**

The map above also shows how Helvellyn is located almost slap bang in the middle of The Lake District National Park. The result of this is that you get incredible panoramic views of the many well-known mountains in the area. The valleys surrounding the mountain on virtually all sides means the views are also extensive and you can see all the way to Blencathra in the north as well as The Langdale Fells to the south west.

The long ridge of High Street sits around ten kilometres to the east of Helvellyn. Its lower height and distance from the mountain make it a perfect place to watch the sun rise, with various smaller hills and valleys in between. They are a compliment to the landscape, but in no way hinder the view you’ve come to see.

Up At Silly O Clock

I spent the night wild camping beside Grisedale Tarn, a high altitude lake sitting to the south of the mountain. Conditions were so fine, that I went without the tent, instead opting for my bivvy bag. What a good choice that was. When the sun finally set, I was treated to a beautiful night sky, where I even witnessed the International Space Station fly overhead.

**Perfectly clear and calm conditions by Grisedale Tarn. A haven for midges!**

**Do sleep spots get much better than this? I think not.**

Being early June, the days are almost at their shortest, so I had to rise at 3:10am to ensure I’d make the ascent to the summit in time. A camp any other time of the year would make this alarm call less severe!

Even at this time, there was already the faintest glow of light in the sky and it appeared I wasn’t the only lunatic with the plan of catching sunrise. I noticed several other lights making their way slowly up a nearby mountain.

sunrise on Helvellyn — **It was even better in person. Stunning!**

There are many advantages of bivvy camping as outlined in this article. On this occasion, I was most thankful for how easy it was to pack away. Within ten minutes of getting up, I was packed away and making my way slowly uphill on my ascent towards the top of Helvellyn. I’m not sure that would be possible in a tent.

The Route Up

Making it to the top of Helvellyn for sunrise from the base of the mountain would be quite the challenge. It could be done, but would require a start time even earlier than mine, unless you were attempting it when the nights were longer.

I obviously started from Grisedale Tarn and so got a bit of a head start. The lake sits at 538 metres above sea level and a clear rocky path can be taken all the way to the higher ground. It was further to Helvellyn summit than I realised, so instead stopped at Nethermost Pike only a few hundred metres from Helvellyn’s summit trig point. This is a fairly large plataeu, topping out at 891 metres and is less busy than the very highest point on the mountain.

**Looking back down towards Grisedale Tarn. It amazed me how early some of these sheep get up. Do they actually even sleep?**

The Sunrise

So we’ve arrived at the bit you’ve really come here to read. After placing a stone on the highest cairn on the plateau, it was time to take a seat on a rock and enjoy the natural spectacle of sunrise. It didn’t disappoint. The cloudless skies made visibility superb and it was a wonderful moment to suddenly see the landscape bathed in that special golden light you only get at the very start of the day. I could keep writing about how amazing it was, but I feel the video clip below sums it up just as well. Enjoy!

Despite the sun now being above the far horizon, it wasn’t giving off much warmth yet. With that in mind, I took the short walk to Helvellyn summit, where I took refuge in the stone shelter and enjoyed some much needed breakfast. The views from here become even more spectacular, but in a different way.

The deep valleys I had been enjoying only moments earlier were now filled with clouds. It made me feel separated from the rest of the world below in a way that was just wonderful. In some ways it reminded me of being on a plane, when the fluffy cumulus clouds are far below. The wind had a chilly bite to it, but I didn’t care. I felt truly blessed to be stood in such a beautiful place and all of life’s troubles suddenly seemed a long way away. It really is true that some of the best things in life are free.