The Lion and the Lamb: Helm Crag Above Grasmere

Helm Crag is the hill that sits right above Grasmere village, and from down by the lake you can see this completely bonkers shape on the summit – two huge lumps of rock that look exactly like a lion and a lamb sitting next to each other. Once you've seen it, you can't unsee it. We'd been staring at it for years from down in the village while eating Grasmere gingerbread, and finally we got to climb it.

The path starts in Grasmere itself, which is one of those perfect little Lake District villages with stone cottages, a beautiful church and the Wordsworth connections everywhere (he is buried in the churchyard). We walked through the village past Sarah Nelson's gingerbread shop – tiny little doorway, smells unbelievable – and promised ourselves a stop on the way back.

The climb up Helm Crag starts gently through some sheep fields, with great views back down over Grasmere lake glinting in the sun. Then it gets properly steep. There are loads of stone steps that have been built into the hillside by the National Trust to stop the path getting eroded, but stone steps are not actually any easier on your legs than a normal slope, no matter what Dad says. About halfway up Hugo announced that his legs were "made of spaghetti." We had a Penguin biscuit break.

The higher you go the more the view opens up – Easedale to one side with its waterfalls, the long ridge of the Helvellyn range across the valley, and Grasmere getting smaller and smaller below. We could see kayakers on the lake, like little coloured stick insects. The wind started to pick up as we got onto the ridge, that proper Lakeland wind that smells of bracken and rain.

And then you're at the summit and the rocks are MAD. The "Lion" is this huge tilted block that really does look like a crouching lion if you squint. The "Lamb" is a smaller chunk next to it. The actual highest point of Helm Crag is on top of one of these rocks, and to get to the proper summit you have to do a proper little scramble up – not dangerous, but proper hands-on climbing. Lots of people stop short of the actual top. We did not. We scrambled up there and stood on top, and it was the most exposed, exciting feeling, with the whole of the central Lakes spread out around us – Fairfield horseshoe one way, Langdale Pikes the other, and the Coniston fells in the distance.

Coming down we did the longer route along the ridge over Gibson Knott and Calf Crag, which is brilliant lonely walking with hardly anyone else around, and then dropped back into Easedale and followed the beck back to Grasmere past Easedale Tarn. We made it back to the gingerbread shop ten minutes before it shut and bought a massive bag, which we ate sitting by the lake watching the sun drop behind Helm Crag. The Lion and the Lamb were silhouetted against the orange sky. Best end to a walk ever.