I arrived at Glenthorne at around 3.30pm and sat in the sunroom, watching the trees blustering around outside and branches coming down into the garden. I didn't envy anyone who was travelling today!

Throughout the afternoon most of the women arrived safely and had the chance to freshen up before a delicious dinner was served. Later in the lounge I went through the walk details for tomorrow.

After learning about 'Lakeland' gadgets and being given a very humorous demonstration by one of the group, we all headed to bed fairly early.

We woke to a brighter and more settled day and kept our fingers crossed that it would last while we enjoyed breakfast.

Unfortunately, one woman was too unwell to walk today and decided to go home, but we do hope to see her back on another holiday soon.

We had decided to head off to Helvellyn this morning, so dropped a couple of cars off at Swirls car park for the return journey, before beginning our walk from Grasmere.

We took the bridleway, ascending up to Grizedale Tarn. The views were beautiful and we made the most of them, by taking a break on the way up before reaching the cloud.

We decided to cross the outlet of Grizedale Tarn on the stepping stones, without getting our feet wet.

However we did meet a couple of young lads who thought it was a much better option to take off their boots and wade through the water!

I think they mentioned something about it being character building, as their toes were turning blue!

Lunch was eaten on top of Dollywagon Pike, although it was getting rather chilly, so we continued ahead as soon as we could.

Along Dollywagon Pike and Nethermost Pike we saw glimpses of people on Striding Edge through the cloud and got some good, yet brief views down to Patterdale.

On and on we went until we reached the summit of Helvellyn!

The cloud was still fairly low and the temperature still a few degrees less than expected for June, so after a short photo opportunity we headed off down towards the car park.

The lower we descended, the more fabulous the views of Thirlmere became.

The route down on the steps through the scree was quite challenging for some.

However, we all made our way down at our own pace and met up at the car park, where the only place to hide from the Lakeland Midges was in the cars!

After deciding that it was probably too late in the day to get in a stop at the pub before dinner, we headed off back to Glenthorne.

A short while after returning, we met up again to enjoy dinner and later relaxed with coffee in the lounge to chat about the walk and details for tomorrow. Most of the group stretched their legs down to Tweedies Bar in Grasmere for a drink later in the evening.

After a good nights sleep, we met up for breakfast whilst keeping an eye on the slight drizzle falling outside.

Thankfully, by the time we were ready to get going on our walk up Helm Crag it had stopped and a little sunshine was peeping through the clouds.

Lynley made an early start with the recovery vehicle arriving to take her and her car home and Maggie and Lizi opted for a quieter day and a slightly earlier get away, so the group was reduced to six.

We set off up the road towards Langcrigg and started the ascent up Helm Crag with fabulous views across Grasmere and down the valley towards Keswick.

Just across Gibson's Knott we stopped for our morning break to refuel ourselves.

We met a number of other walkers also taking the route across the ridge and kept changing positions with them as the sun disappeared and we stopped to put on our waterproofs in preparation for the imminent rain.

It arrived slightly earlier than expected and caught some of the group by surprise!

The rain did nothing to deter the enjoyment of the day and we continued along the way, across stepping-stones through the boggy ground.

At one point I looked up to see Anita with her face near to the ground as she lost her balance on a rather muddy section. Her quote to me on Saturday had been " I really love mud, in fact tomorrow I'm going to roll around in it!"

Just past Calf Crag, we stopped for lunch and out came the Kisu, more just for those who wanted to experience the shelter rather than sheltering from the slight drizzle that was falling.

We became warm very quickly and were soon glad to come out into the air again to find that it had stopped raining.

We headed off down Far Easedale Valley next to the beck with some amazing views of the waterfalls and all the colours being intensified by the weather conditions.

When we arrived at the bridge Sarah, Kate and Theresa headed off to experience afternoon tea at Langcrigg and visit the gingerbread shop in Grasmere.

Sally, Anita, Sian and I decided to continue up to Easedale Tarn, which we found to be deserted apart from the friendly ducks.

We enjoyed the descent next to Sourmilk Gill with the beautiful colours of the water and made our way through a herd of cows, calves and a bull that were occupying the field at the end of the walk.

They got a little upset when some of the calves were separated from the rest, but when they were reunited they decided to follow us down the path, quickening their pace with every step.

We in turn, sped up and only just made it through the gate as they came up at speed behind us!

It was certainly an eventful ending to the last day! Back at Glenthorne, we said our goodbyes and headed off home.