Wednesday 22 September 2010

Lakes weekend, 2010

Before moving into the new place in Newcastle, we decided to have a day's walking in the lakes. I'd not been since I was a child and after this am wondering why. We started off in Ambleside, a little town which acts as a tourist gateway.


After a long drive, we walked down to the lakehead of Windermere for a beer and to watch the sun go down. The sky was amazing.


We sat there til the sun went down.


The view from the lake was really something. After a night on the town (well, insofar as Ambleside does nights out on the town), we set out for a day hike up Cat Bells, across Blea Crag, up to High Spy and then down the slate mined-slopes of the far hill towards Grange.



Thankfully someone had left us some encouragement along the way before we finally reached the top.


That and the views helped.


As did the sense of achievement when we finally made it.


And of course the message :)


 

This is at the foot of Castle Crag - I sat here with the bag for a while til J romped up and back down again (secretly I think mine was the better plan).


We were finally rewarded by the serene sight of Derwent Water just as the sun was setting, 9 miles and 2,500 ft of elevation later. There was a lovely interactive sculpture park by the lake.


But I think the best part of the whole day was the drive back to Ambleside down one of the steepest hills I've ever seen, flanked by Aberdeen Angus bulls on both sides. See if you can spot the hot air balloons in the distance - there were three.


A beautiful end to a lovely day.

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