The start of the day, an easy ascent along a wall out of the valley.

Another beautiful day dawned in the Lake District I discovered as I peeked out my curtains this morning. It looked as promising as yesterday was, a sunny sky with some clouds and a great temperature for walking. My task for the day was to get from Grasmere to Patterdale. The route consisted of only 8-ish miles up and over one hill into the next valley so I was planning on taking the day leisurely. Eight miles would not take more than 4-5 hours at most and I had the whole day. Looking at my maps I could see that there were several options available, a high route, a medium route and a low route. The low route dropped right into the target valley once over the hill while the two other routes ascended up to the ridges on either side of the valley and only came down at the far end just before entering Patterdale. I discarded the high route because the book described it as “an arduous climb with a nerve tingling drop on a crumbling slope followed by a knife-edge walk along the ridge”.  I have learned to listen to the book- if he says there is a knife-edge walk, it must be spectacularly knife-edged. Already I have been on some ridges that I thought were abrupt drop offs and nary a word was in the book about it, so his idea of knife-edge and mine were clearly not the same. I had no interest in calibrating “knife-edge”. I already had a good feel for “steep” after all and that was reference enough! Having discarded the high route, and since it was a clear day and I had plenty of time, I chose to pursue the medium route, which according to my book, promised some spectacular views.

A sheep fold. I passed many of these over the course of the last few days. English translation: sheep pen.

I got started early, about 8:20am or so. Finding the start of the route was simple, I just exited my hotel, walked across the road and made a left turn following the road north and I was on my way. About half a mile up the path deviated from the main street by making a right turn onto a bridleway while gently starting uphill. Because of the way the valleys and hills wind in the Lake District around I had visual cue on how high I was going today. From the book it looked to be about 2500ft but I could not see anything that daunting yet. The path ran along – yes, a rock wall and a stream. It was a pleasant gradual climb for about an hour. Then it got steep. Luckily there were stone stairs built into the hillside and that helped me move quickly up. I climbed and climbed, crossed some streams, ran parallel to a waterfall, crossed it and then was at what I thought was the top, but not quite. I ended up instead in a bowl of sorts,  a highland meadow, and actually passed some campers- it looked like a pleasant place to camp. (yes, surrounded by sheep)

Looking back down the valley after climbing about half way up.

I crossed through the meadow, using cairns to find the path as it kept appearing and disappearing when the ground became crowded with rocks and boulders. At the other side, climbing up and out of the bowl,  I discovered I was not over the hill yet and so I climbed again. Sigh It was going to be that kind of day, I could tell. When I finally reached the top of the hill I found a small pond at the top, in another bowl shaped area and, yes, with sheep roaming around. This is the point at which the route split into the three different options. Since the medium route when off to the right I headed that way and looking ahead could see the climb to the ridge on the east side of the valley.  I took my time since my book indicated that there were “steep” sections along the way. In some places there were more rock stairs and in others it was another slog up through river rocks and loose stones as the path wound up to the ridge.

Nearly at top, but not quite there yet.

I got to the top of the ridge, finally, only to find out that I was not at the top of the ridge, but there was more to come. So I did the only thing I could do, put my head down to pay attention to my footing and slogged on. Looking back I noticed that there was another hiker heading in my direction. Up to this point, about two and a half hours into the hike, I had been completely alone on the trail. I had a couple more false hopes that I had almost reached the top when the guy behind me caught up to me. He slowed down to chat and hiked with me to the top. (He was moving fast- I was not!) It turns out he was a local and has been hiking the surrounding hills for decades, typically getting out at least once a week. We both spent some time at the top taking photos. He was taking GPS marks for a friend as well. He didn’t need a GPS; he knew all the paths and actually showed me a more gentle way to descend and meet up with the trail I needed.

Finally, me at the top!

View at top without me in it. Looking west.

View looking north/east where to the lake I was headed for.

It was beautiful on top and even though it will make the blog look clunky I am putting in a ton of pictures from this hike. Since it was a clear day the scenery and views were as spectacular as the book promised.

After showing me the better path down he resumed his normal pace and had soon vanished in front of me somewhere. I took my time and stopped once or twice to sit and just enjoy the peace and the view. At first the descent was fairly gradual although it was still important to pay attention to your footing, the river rocks and stones were everywhere. The path wound down the side of the hill and was knife-edge enough for me. So much so that I was celebrating my decision to not take the high route! A little way down I passed a woman out hiking with her dog who, at that moment, was sitting on a rock and enjoying the view. We exchanged pleasantries and in the course of our conversation I got an English lesson. I told her that I really appreciated the cairns along the way that marked the routes; they were very helpful.

She said, “you appreciated the what”?
I said, “the cairns, the piles of rocks that show the way when the trial disappear”.
She said, “oh, you mean the (and I heard) cans”
I said, “yes, the cairns”.
She said, “oh, I thought you said karens.” (I did say something like that since I pronounced the “r”).
I said, “how do you say the word?”
She said, “can”
I said, “so you don’t pronounce the “r” thus can”?
She said, “perfect!”

So now I can speak some English.

Cloud shadows on the western side of the valley.

Wondering off after that delightful conversation I decided to stop about half way down near a rock on the hill in some comfy looking grass that was fairly sheep dropping free and have a snack and enjoy the view. Straight ahead I could see across the valley the path coming down from the opposite ridge on the west side and to my right, looking a lot closer, was the lake and villages that were my eventual destination. It was utterly peaceful with no human induced noises anywhere. I sat there and watched the clouds cast shadows on the opposite hill and tried to pick out shapes as the shadows changed. What a great way to relax! After a bit- and I have no idea how long I sat there (after all, does it matter?)- I got up and headed down the hill. Somewhere ahead of me was another “steep” slope and I was not looking forward to it but it was the only way down. I followed the path and eventually it led me through a gate and down an incredible amount of stone steps that wound there way, rather abruptly I thought, down the hill. So the good thing about the medium route was that the ridge is accessible and the views are great but the bad thing clearly was the abruptness with with the descent occurs!

View from where I was sitting showing my destination- a bit closer. You can see the path but this is not considered “knife-edge” by my book!

Eventually I got down to Patterdale, then had to walk north along the main road about a mile to the village of Glen Ridding, to find my evening accommodation. Showering and exploring later I found a nice pub at the top of the hill and am writing this while enjoying a Guinness. Glen Ridding is a cute little village right on the lake with steamers to ride around the lake on, canoes and kayaks to rent and water to play in.  Between the water activities and the hiking, Glen Ridding has a TON of people marching through it.  With all of that activity and the hikers bouncing through this is a small, but happening place and a good place to hang out for the evening. No soccer tonight, unfortunately though….

Time to relax at the end of the day.

(I hope you enjoy the pictures)