Patterdale to Shap Day 5

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Day 5 was certainly a big day for us. We were leaving the Lake District after 5 days, we had a long 16 mile haul and it entailed a climb up to Kidsty Pike (780m). Also Nick was coming up from London to join us for a day of our Coast to Coast, meeting us in Shap so we didn't want to arrive too late in the evening.

The track skirts Angle Tarn

We climbed up to Angle Tarn accompanied by a dozen or so Coast to Coast walkers but also a fair crowd of weekend ramblers (it was a Saturday morning). I may be dwelling on it but the weather was again superb with excellent visibility. This may be ho-hum for an Australian summer but here in the Lakes we were told it is just as common to get many days on end when the cloud hangs low in the valley or the showers persist throughout the day.

On top of Kidsty Pike

We had great views from the summit and we lunched on the lower slopes with a glorious view over Haweswater.

Lunch overlooking Haweswater

Kidsty Pike lies adjacent to High Street (over 800m) which is a ridge that formed part of an old Roman road. It's sometimes hard to know whether your leg is being pulled by the locals, but from what we've heard (from multiple sources) the term "High Street" originates from this road which the Romans used to minimise the risk of ambush. If our sources are to be believed all "High Streets" in English towns (and subsequently Australian ones) derived from this mountain road. Hmmmm. Let's just say it's out there for your consideration ... let us know if you have any further knowledge of this piece of trivia, one way or t'other.

High Street in the background, the final easy traverse to Kidsty Pike in the foreground

There was a long descent from Kidsty Pike to the Haweswater Reservoir, at first gentle but near the end it was agonisingly steep. The further you go on this trek the more you dread the steep descents rather than the steep climbs.

The traverse of Haweswater was pleasant enough but went on for miles (literally) and even at the end of that there was a further 5 mile slog into Shap. I was lucky enough to see the now rare and endangered red squirrel which is being squeezed out by the North American grey squirrel (a metaphor for a cultural phenomenon we are all familiar with!)

Our accommodation (the Greyhound) was distressingly at the far end of the long main street of Shap (another High Street?) but there waiting for us in the bar was Nick who had endured a long slog of a different sort ... from London to Penrith then bus to Shap.

With Nick in the Greyhound Hotel in Shap 

We weren't great company though, as we were ready for bed before we had even finished dinner. Shap is also a rather plain town after the grandeur of the Lake District so we all toddled off for a good night's rest, ready for an easier day from Shap to Orton.

Grasmere to Patterdale Day 4

We lingered well into the morning at Grasmere so we could take in Dove Cottage and the Wordsworth Museum, but even then we had to rush it. We bade farewell to Heather and David and headed north-east to Patterdale.

Dove Cottage, Grasmere

Accommodation in the Lake District is typically in the valleys which are only about 100m above sea level. So every day starts out with a climb, usually fairly strenuous. Today we had a steady, grassy plod up to Grisedale Tarn some 400m above Grasmere. Here the winds were stronger and the air noticeably cooler but the sun still shone down on us.

Genevieve at Grisedale Tarn

We had the choice of the gentle valley route, the scenic St Sunday Crag (841m) or the adventurous, arduous route over Dollywagon Pike to Helvellyn (950m) and down via the hair-raising Striding Edge to Patterdale. We opted for St Sunday Crag and weren't disappointed. Both sides of the ridge dropped away steeply affording great views, especially across to Helvellyn and down to Ullswater. That's what's distinctive about the Lake District ... there's so much packed into such a small area that whichever fell or pike you decide to climb you are guaranteed good views, as long as the weather is kind. And the weather has indeed been kind!

Heading up St Sunday Crag with Grisedale Tarn in the background

Here in the Lake District mobile phone coverage is erratic. The villages in the valleys often give no signal but as you climb the fells you may get a missed call or an SMS message when you least expect it. Reaching the peak of St Sunday Crag was made all the more enjoyable as I received a message from Helen saying the Bulldogs had given Melbourne a thrashing. Thanks Helen!

On top of St Sunday Crag, looking east

Beginning the descent from St Sunday Crag, Ullswater below

There was a steep descent from St Sunday Crag into Patterdale which is smaller, quieter and far less of a tourist trap than Grasmere. Although it has almost no shops or catalogued attractions I find Patterdale far more appealing.

Descent from St Sunday Crag overlooking Ullswater

We stayed at Old Water View B&B in a stone cottage, an excellent night's accommodation with a very helpful host and a complimentary half bottle of red wine to welcome us!.

At this stage in our trek we are typically arriving late in the afternoon, hitting the local inn for a pint and a pub meal then retiring early for a deep sleep. We certainly needed to be well rested for the long day from Patterdale to Shap.

Stonethwaite to Grasmere Day 3

We left Stonethwaite in fine weather and headed up past Lining Crag to Greenup Edge, a climb of about 600m. Along the way we encountered the only bad weather in our whole time in the Lake District ... and even this was only a few passing showers. Hardly what the locals would call bad weather!

We lunched at the turnoff to the ridge walk where the perils of the Coast to Coast walk were brought home to us. A woman walking not far behind us had slipped on a rock in the wet conditions and broken her wrist. Her husband had already created a makeshift sling, so we gave her some ibuprofen (the strongest stuff we had) and pointed out the quick route down the valley to Grasmere.

Lining Crag

The ridge route provided us with more spectacular Lakeland scenery as we crossed Calf Crag, Gibson Knott and Helm Crag before taking the knee-shattering steep path down into Grasmere. We entered town through Poet's Walk where Dorothy Wordsworth doted on her brother William as he paced up and down composing his poems.

Above Grasmere

Grasmere is one of the most popular of the Lake District villages and having come down from the solitude of the fells it was a bit of a shock to wander lonely as a crowd among the many non-hiking tourists.

The evening meal in Dale Lodge was an opportunity to farewell Heather and David who had been our convivial companions for the last few days and to wish Heather a slightly premature happy birthday.

Tomorrow it is back to just the four of us as we march on to Patterdale beside beautiful Ullswater.

Keswick and Scafell Pike (rest day)

It turned out to be a good idea to have booked a rest day after the tiring walk and climbing from Ennerdale Bridge to Stonethwaite. So what to do on a rest day in Borrowdale? As the weather was again very favourable I chose the 20km return trek up to Scafell Pike (England's highest peak at 978m) while the rest of the party opted for an outing to Keswick which offered some retail opportunities with great outdoor shops, some clothing shops and a visit to the Lakeland Pencil Museum (anyone remember those beautiful sets of Derwent coloured pencils?) This included the world's largest pencil, authenticated by the Guinness Book of Records.

Scafell Pike was a steady slog with not too many really steep sections although the final climb up the boulder strewn peak was enough to make you feel you'd earned it (unlike the casual stroll to the top of Mt Kosciuszko). With the cloud staying high there were some fine panoramic views from the top but perhaps the best views were from the nearby crags which offered more exposure to the steep valleys.

On top of Scafell Pike

On the advice of another walker - and there were plenty about in such good weather - I also paid a visit to Great End (901m). This did not seem like an auspicious name for a peak with abrupt 300m cliffs! He was also amused (and told me I was perpetuating the English image of Australians) that I should be using my "rest day" on the Coast to Coast walk to climb the highest mountain in England.

This however did not compare with the efforts of a chap I met on my way up. I asked him if he had already been up Scafell Pike so early in the day. He said not only had he done that, but last night he had climbed Ben Nevis (1344m and some 250 miles away in Scotland) and was planning to climb Snowdon (1085m and 200 miles way in Wales) later in the afternoon.

Some people have an ambition to climb the "three peaks" in a lifetime. Some, it appears, do it in a day!

Seathwaite

Ennerdale Bridge to Borrowdale (Stonethwaite) Day 2

"Well if you don't enjoy yourselves today there's something wrong with you" were the parting words of Steve at Brackenwray Farm.

He was referring to the forecast and the glorious sunny day already upon us as we shouldered packs and headed toward Ennerdale Water. Val, our other host at Brackenwray, had admitted to some bias when she said "we think this is the best section on the whole route". Biased she may be but she's not far from the truth! Steve and Val have been on Brackenwray for about 14 years and are attempting to re-establish it using animal friendly methods (if that's the right term ... some of the animals undoubtedly end up on the dinner table!) It was a delight to see the freest ranging hens and the geese, sheep, etc in this flourishing and peaceful environment. Val and Steve provided great service too, including a lift to and from the community-owned Fox and Hounds for dinner, about a mile away.

We met Heather at Ennerdale Bridge and started the long traverse of the south side of Ennerdale Water.

Soon after came the choice of the high route or the route up the valley. I chose the high route over Red Pike (755m), High Stile (806m) and High Crag (744m) as well as Alfred Wainwright's favourite (and his resting place), Haystacks. From the heights of this ridge there were fabulous views in all directions and conditions were so good that the Isle of Man was clearly visible half way across the Irish Sea.

Crummock Water seen from Red Pike

Meanwhile Irene, Genevieve, Heather and Geordie were enjoying their walk up the valley but had some difficulty finding the right path up Loft Beck, a common problem apparently. The comradeship of walkers, however, is a wonderful thing and other coast to coasters were there to consult.

Crummock Water (top) and Buttermere from Haystacks

They arrived at the Honister Slate Mines at about 5:45pm while I tramped in from Haystacks half an hour later. We were well past our expected arrival time and still had an hour and a half's walk into Stonethwaite. Our efforts to contact Dave we're unsuccessful as there was no mobile phone coverage. Even when we found a phone box (yes they still exist in this part of the world) we discovered there was no mobile reception at Dave's end either. So we arrived at 7:45, just 5 minutes after a worried Dave had driven up to Honister Pass ready to call out the Keswick Moutain Rescue and Dog Team. It all ended well with a convivial dinner and recounting of exploits and superlatives in the Langstrath Inn.

Stone Bridge, Borrowdale

St Bees to Ennerdale Bridge Day 1

After the dramas of the previous evening we rejoined the Coast to Coast path where we had left it, about 2km north of St Bees, and turned toward Ennerdale Bridge.

Now a word about the weather, that most popular of English conversation topics ...

The south of England has had an unusually dry and warm spring with some even talking of drought. The rain just prior to our arrival had therefore been most welcome.

But the north of England is different from the south in many, many ways, as people from both the north and the south will be quick to tell you. Here in Cumbria it has apparently rained non-stop since April. We have been warned that we are likely to be "knee deep in mud" and our guidebook says the Lake District is among the wettest places in the UK.

So we considered ourselves lucky indeed to have walked in fine and warm conditions today, up Dent Fell, down the steep side of Raven Crag and along the charming and secluded Nannycatch Beck into the Lake District. What's more the forecast for the entire week is for more of the same! Let's hope the Met Office has got it right.

Brackenwray Farm - our lodgings at the end of Day 1

So we bade our farewells to the Irish Sea from the top of Dent Fell and we are lodged tonight in another excellent B&B, Brackenwray Farm, a mile or so from Ennerdale Bridge. We were also rejoined at dinner at the Fox and Hounds by Heather and David who drove up from Kent today.

After another 15-16km today including some hill climbing, our muscles, joints and spirits are still in good shape. So we are preparing to head deep into the Lake District tomorrow (joined by Heather) with a possible excursion up to some of the higher fells. I doubt we'll ever get a better weather forecast for it!

St Bees Day 0

Geordie & Gen were indeed waiting for us in Whitehaven. We hadn't seen them since that morning in October when Gen announced at breakfast "well we've had a talk ... and we're coming!" So there was much to catch up on, which we did over a delightful Indian meal at the unlikely looking Ali Taj Restaurant (strongly recommended).

Next morning our gracious host Jackie drove us the 4 miles to St Bees giving us a bit of a tourist guide and commentary along the way. Read Guesthouse in Whitehaven is also recommended - very obliging people.

We dropped our bags at the Abbey Farmhouse B&B in St Bees (more on that anon) and having half a day to fill in we decided to get a head start on our trek by walking the St Bees Head section of our itinerary. This worked out famously except that we weren't fully togged for a longish and at times strenuous walk (15 km). What it achieved for us was to cut about 7 km off the next day's walk which was otherwise going to be about 22km, and it eased us in nicely.

The Official Starting Point of the Coast to Coast walk (after we had each shamelessly collected our de rigueur beach pebble and wet our boots in the Irish Sea)

In training for the rigours ahead

St Bees is utterly different to its much larger neighbour Whitehaven. It has much more of a rustic charm, is home to an ancient monastery (St Bega's, which gave the town its name) although the monastery no longer exists as such and it now serves as the church-cum-museum (Priory Church). Well worth a visit.

Maybe our expectations were too low but on a scale of 1 to 10 the AbbeyFarmhouse B&B would have to rate close to 11. This establishment run by Steve and Janet seemed to have everything carefully thought out and provided. Our own downstairs room was almost palatial in dimensions, fittings and provisions but done in such a way that you immediately feel comfortable and welcome. Steve and Janet (who have a great story to tell about how they got together on the Coast to Coast walk themselves) seem to have no other purpose in life but to make you feel at home, but in fact each leads a busy life especially during the walking season. However, that life was just about to get busier...

At 2am we were woken from our luxurious sleep by the incongruous sound of dripping water from nowhere near the bathroom ("en suite" wouldn't do it justice). It turned out that a pipe or a join had ruptured behind a wall upstairs - no fault of our hosts - and the drip was soon to become a steady trickle onto our carpet. We woke Steve and Janet who diagnosed the problem and after some minutes had no option but to cut off the water until the morning when hopefully a plumber could be called in. All the time, despite the seriousness of the problem, their concern was for their guests and they managed to find us another well appointed room to sleep out the night.

Breakfast (our choice was haggis and smoked salmon) was superb and arrived as if nothing untoward had happened yet our hosts must have had not much more than 4 hours sleep.

Good service can be measured best when things don't go strictly to plan. If you are ever in the vicinity of St Bees, do yourself a favour and try to get a night's accommodation at the Abbey Farmhouse (but you might have to book early!)