Walking in the Lake District

An superb weekend with over 10 hours of walking up hill and down dale with excellent weather and beautiful scenery plus a bit of eating and drinking as well. The weather forecast had been rain the whole weekend. I am glad to say they got it badly wrong there was a little drizzle Saturday morning then it cleared up. Sunday was lovely and sunny all day, I spent most of it walking in my T-shirt.

We took Friday afternoon off and caught the 13:30 Virgin Trains express to Glasgow, change at Oxenholme for Windermere. We went first class with comfy seats, complementary newspaper and free food and wine. Not realising it was all free, at Euston I suggested we bought sandwiches for a picnic on the train but the free glasses of Shiraz went down nicely thank you. I can definitely recommend Virgin Trains.

We arrived at Windermere and a short walk down to the Oakbank hotel in Bowness arrived at almost the same time as our friends Bob and Lynn who had driven up from Hampshire. After settling in we went across the road to the Angel for a pint of Coniston Bluebird and excellent it was too. That evening the four of us went for a meal at the Fat Olive and an early night.

The next morning we drove up to Elterwater and did a walk round Chapel Stile Great Langdale Beck, Blae Tarn and the Langdale Valley.



About 11 miles in total which took four and a quarter hours walking time. We ended up at the Three Shires with a pint of Coniston Old Man and Dark Ennerdale.



That evening we met up with Mary's uncle Ronnie and wife Avril for a meal in Villa Positano and afterward a night cap of a half the Black Sheep at the Angel.



The next day was a longer walk: Troutbeck, Yoke, Ill Bell, Froswick, Thornthwaite Crag, Caudale Moor and back to Troutbeck.



In total about 13 miles in six hours plus a total ascent of over 3000 ft. A write-up of pretty much the route we did: http://www.lakedistrictwalks.com/yokcau.html



We then went to the Queen's Head for a pint. Mary had a pint of Dizzy Blonde and I went for a pint of Old Tom. As the barmaid poured it she asked "are you driving" as it was 8.5 ABV. Well that helped me sleep on the train home for sure.



Full set of pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8179454@N02/sets/72157621811827441/detail/