Blog Posts in Category: Lake District

On our last day in the Lake District we were meant to be going climbing, but having removed a large amount of skin from my heal the previous evening while removing tape I was unable to put my climbing shoes on. Thankfully we had a plan b, and we headed off on a half day walk from our cottage. We decided to walk from Ambleside up to Red Screes, onto Middle Dodd and then back down Scandale back to Ambleside. The walk was fairly abrupt as we left Ambleside on the road up to Kirkstone pass, as we left the road it didn’t get much easier, but the views did get better. We made good time up to the summit and enjoyed the views. Despite not seeing anyone on the walk up the summit was fairly busy as it is very close to the Kirkstone pass. We then had the strange experience of descending to the second Wainwright from the first summit. The view down over Brothers Water from the Middle Dodd was brilliant. After a boggy traverse to avoid the re-ascent we were at the start of the descent. Read the full article…

After a relaxed morning in Ambleside we headed out for a late walk to make the most of the improved weather in the evening. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t quite as nice as forecast, but it was still a lovely evening and a great walk. Based on our time the day before, we set off at 4:30 which we thought would get us back just as it was getting dark. We made really good time and were back in 5h30mins just after sunset, which was a nice surprise. As we set off from the cars it was very humid and we were not feeling that motivated by the late start, but thankfully as we climbed up to the first top our motivation increased, and the breeze made it feel less humid. The views were brilliant for the entire walk, which was much more undulating than the previous day. We met a few other people out, who were mostly out for an evening wild camping. It looked like a nice way to spend the evening with the excellent forecast. It was great to see a different perspective of some of the mountains. Read the full article…

We decided to make the most of being able to walk from our cottage in Ambleside and headed out to do the Fairfield horseshoe. The weather when we set off was fairly marginal, but thankfully other than a few spots of rain we stayed dry. We decided to do the route clockwise, which meant a flat walk along the valley to Rydal at the start with before the steep ascent up to Nab Scar and onto Heron Pike. After Nab Scar the views were brilliant all day, with excellent views in every direction. There was even a surprising amount of sun. We made good time to the summit of Fairfield, where we enjoyed a quick lunch before descending. The descent was very warm as we were protected from the wind by a beautiful dry stone wall which snaked it’s way all the way down the ridge. After an enjoyable day out, and in a respectable time of 5hrs10mins we were back at the cottage in time to enjoy some champagne before heading out to dinner.

Due to a short walk on Saturday we planned a long walk on the Sunday due to a better forecast. We decided on a circuit up to High Raise from Grasmere, which turned out to be an amazing walk as the views were constantly changing in every direction. We started up Castle How and Blea Rigg which gave us excellent views of Wetherlam and the mountains around Langdale valley. It was great to look down Langdale from above, although it was a shame that the light was very challenging photographically. As we climbed up our views over Stickle Tarn and Pavey Ark improved until we got to the summit of Sergeant Man. At this point we had views over to Helvellyn, Fairfield, Crinkle Craggs and Bow Fell. After the short walk over to High Raise we then had views to the north up towards Skiddaw and Borrowdale. The descent then took us down into a beautiful glacial valley and then along a final ridge as the sun light was fading. The final ridge did go on a bit with plenty of undulation, and unfortunately we got soaked in the last. Read the full article…

Due to a very windy forecast we elected to have a short walk on Saturday which enabled us to have a lie in and then head up to Wetherlam after enjoying brunch in Coniston. We walked through the Coppermines and up to Levers Water. The cloud base was hovering around the summits during this walk which gave us some lovely views, however the light was very challenging for photography. Unfortunately the weather closed in as we approached the col before the final ridge up to the summit. After a quick summit selfie in the strong winds we made a hasty descent back down the other side of the mountain. As we dropped below the cloud base we have fantastic views over Coniston Water and the southern Lake District.