Lake District - Day 5

This was our leaving day so we packed up, tidied up, and left the cottage.

The weather forecast was reasonable so we decided to have a last walk, up Latrigg Fell which overlooks Keswick. We parked in the main town car park.

As it turned out, the weather wasn't that great, a bit wet and windy. However we got to the top of the fell with views over Keswick.

We came off the top and down to the path at the side of the River Greta, and walked along until we met the path on the old railway track. There was evidence of a lot of erosion on the river bank.

Back in Keswick we had a last walk round the market and shops, then got back to the car and drove home.

Lake District - Day 4

We planned to climb Haystacks today. First we drove over Honister Pass to the car park at Gatesgarth Farm just south of Buttermere.

We started walking up towards the pass known as Scarth Gap.

Once there we climbed to the top of Haystacks itself. It was tough going, with some steep scrambling up rocky surfaces.

It was windy at the top, so we didn't linger. We went down to Innominate Tarn for a lunch stop. This was the tarn at which Alfred Wainwright had his ashes scattered.

We carried on in a circular route back down. Again the path was steep and challenging, but we had good views down the valley..

We had to cross a river on the way, and passed below Dubs Hut.

After getting back to the car we drove and parked in Buttermere and went for a drink in the High Stile.

We returned to the cottage, then later went out to the Lake Road Inn. On the way home we bought fish and chips from the Kingfisher, which was very good.

Lake District - Day 3

In the morning Oscar seemed a bit tired and looked like he would have been happy just to stay at home!

We drove to a National Trust car park on the River Cocker just up from Crummock Water. We walked upriver to the lake then walked the path down the west side.

We found a pond with frogs and frogspawn in it.

At the head of the lake we headed up into the hills and stopped for lunch at the Scale Force waterfall.

After that we headed up to the pass then down a valley back to the road.

We decided to extend the walk by going round Loweswater as well. At first the track was very muddy as it had been well-used recently by logging traffic. However later is was quite a pleasant path through the woods.

After reaching the far end of Loweswater we made our way back down the road to the car park.

After going back to the cottage and showering, we went out for a couple of pints at the Fox Tap, a brewery pub just on the edge of town.

Later for dinner we got a Chinese takeaway from the Golden Hills. We had a mixed meat hotpot and lamb fillet with ginger and spring onions. It was fine but nothing to write home about.

Lake District - Day 2

The forecast was for rain in the morning so we had a lazy late start. We planned to climb Cat Bells, after first getting a boat across Derwent Water.

We walked down to get our ticket for the 12.30 boat at the pier, then went for a coffee. There were lots of geese around near the lake.

Soon the boat arrived and we got it across to Hawes End pier.

From there we walked to the base of Cat Bells and started climbing. There was some scrambling over rocks near the top, making it harder than we remembered from the last time we were here 8 years ago!

For the last picture above we tried to recreate the same pose and position as when we'd taken Amber up in 2015.

We then carried on walking down the slope to the south, then walked anticlockwise round Derwent Water.

We passed some nice tree roots.

Once back at Keswick we went for a couple of pints in the Wainwright pub.

Later back at the cottage we had fresh pasta filled with mozzarella and mushrooms, with a tomato and olive sauce.

Lake District - Day 1

We left Dunblane in the car about 9.30am and drove to the Lake District. We stopped for a walk at the village of Mungrisdale just on the north-eastern edge.

We first walked up a valley, before turning up to the ridge of Souther Fell.

After passing the summit we headed straight down the end back towards Mungrisdale.

We drove on to Keswick, and as we were still too early to check in to our accommodation we went to Booths supermarket for provisions. Then we went to Holly Cottage, which was just round the corner. The parking space was a bit tight next to the back door, but everything else about it was fine.

After unpacking we went for a walk into town. We looked in a few outdoors shops as Shirley is planning to get a new Rab jacket. We went to the Dog & Gun pub for a pint.

Back at the cottage we had pizza for dinner.