to the Lakes - adieu

Well, after a fantastic few days l am home, sat in front of the trusty PC, banging away on the keyboard, nothing much has changed ..or has it?

l must confess to having had a great couple of days, honestly, despite getting away from here on Wednesday slightly later than anticipated due to a sudden influx of ice cream orders. it's funny really that as soon as l am packed & in the car, that's it, l am chilled, switched off, g o n e.

The journey over to Far Sawrey was fairly uneventful, the route took us via Skipton & Kirby Lonsdale & although the countryside is pretty the traffic in all honesty isn't, so it was with some relief that we arrived at the Windermere ferry to cross to Far Sawrey, only it wasn't. FERRY CLOSED, was the sign that greeted us as we rolled down towards the boat. Nah, surely not? But it was. The ferryman kindly informed us that today was the day to change the cable, but due to the windy conditions the barge had floated off & everything was behind so the Boss had said to go home. After 3 hours of driving & looking forward to a cup of tea this was somewhat deflating. So, it was round the lake through Bowness & Ambleside then on via Hawkshead to the hotel. There seemed to be loads of traffic plus floods. Yes floods, so this was where all the rain had got too!

For the few days we were there, the weather was fantastic, so good was it that l had to head to the shops to invest in T shirts & short longs! The hotel as usual was great, great food, great views , great service & no noise bar that of nature, lambs, cockerels, birds & a woodpecker.

This year l armed myself with maps & managed to complete a couple of walks, the first being around Loughrigg Fell, which was fairly sedate with carefully manicured tracks with no boulders sticking out or other nasties. The views through out the walk were stunning, with the blue, clear sky you could see for miles. The trail went through bluebell filled woods, along narrow packhorse tracks with primrose strewn banks, alongside dark mysterious tarns surrounded by lush vivid green fields full of bouncy herdwick lambs. All in all a very nice perambulation, with not too much strenuous exertion. However, next day. using the tact that got Hubby on all the aerobatic rides at Euro Disney, l suggested the walk along the craigs above Grasmere. Only 7 odd miles or so! l had studied the OS map, he hadn't. Big mistake! l really enjoyed the hike, note the word 'hike'. The route took us away from Grasmere, up a steep[ish] packhorse track, then.... up a steep zig zag incline up to the top of White Crag, standing at 1299ft. The views down over Grasmere were amazing, you could imagine yourself in AW's boots. From here on the paths took us up & over Helm Crag, Gibson Knott [1379ft] on to Calf Crag[1762ft]. Continuing along these ridges until we reached the head of Far Easedale, then descending alongside the fast flowing tumbling stream crossing the Far Easedale Gill by a rickety bridge then following a walled lane that passed through a wood of beech & larch, ending up eventually back in Grasmere in time for a cup of tea!

You will note that l ramble on with the description. Mere words! The views were breathtaking, the path was interesting. Hubby used to nice farm tracks, was seriously unnerved. He tends to be a bit of a risk assessment freak at best of times, always looking for danger. Well, the path required careful placing of feet, some scrambling up rocks, squelching through boggy bottoms, climbing peak after peak - a carefully placing a stone on each cairn - then finally splashing through streams that thought they were paths. OK, l concede it was a long way, no, I'll correct that a very long walk to the head of the dale but it wasn't dangerous, apart from the horrid black mozzies, the views, well shall l just say pretty AMAZING. to be honest l think that Hubby was concerned that the path was rough, there were few people about & what would he do if he had a heart attach. l had a mobile with me what more can you ask for. l love a challenge & enjoyed all of it. A+++!