A Hiking Week in The Lake District Dictated by the Weather.
I’m Only Happy When it Rains.
pop quiz: the lyric above is from what song and artist? clue: Shirley take out the rubbish in Edinburgh, but the trash in Wisconsin.
It is probably a little remiss of us to have not been to the Lake District for over 10 years! A couple of friends were planning a week in Ambleside, so we invited ourselves along.
Driving there we were reminded of the main reason we hadn’t visited for some time; the rain. It was tipping it down. I like to go to the top of a hill or mountain and actually see a view. You can remind me that I should put sun-tan lotion on rather than pack an umbrella when I go hiking. Stopping to picnic whilst relaxing on a grassy knoll by a stream is preferable to cowering behind a dry-stone wall to get shelter from the wind and rain!
Undeterred, we checked in to a lovely cottage from Lake Lovers in Ambleside, had a couple of beers and hoped the new day would bring better weather. To be fair it did.
Whilst there was quite a bit of shower dodging throughout our week in the Lake District, we completed several walks without getting soaked.
- Wansfell – short walk to stretch the legs, turned longer as the weather improved.
- Langdales – starting at the National Trust car park in Elterwater – Blea Tarn – Little Langdale – Elterwater.
- Western shore of Windermere – walked out from Ambleside – Clappersgate – nr Wray Castle – Red Nab and then took the car ferry to Bowness and then the bus back to Ambleside.
- Langdales – started at New Dungeon Ghyll took the loft crag path to Pike of Stickle – Harrison Stickle – Sergeant Man – Blea Rigg – Elterwater. I provided road transfers rather than doing the walk as it was very wet!
- Fairfield – classic clockwise route of the horseshoe from Ambleside. Spent the evening watching Rocketman at Fellinis followed by pizza at Zeffirellis: two of my favourite things in one town – great cinema; great vegetarian food.
- Loughrigg Fell – started in Ambleside – Rothay park – Loughrigg Fell, down north side – Rydal Water – return via Rothay. Stopped in the Great North Pie Shop/Cafe in Ambleside for a little sustenance for the journey home.
Since we moved to the Midlands, the Peaks are now our back yard for day-hikes. Having said that the Eastern Lakes are only a couple of hours away and this trip reminded us how stunning the Lakes are. The cloudy skies adding to the drama. #ThisIsEngland
