Our penultimate day in Lake District National Park was one for the ages. From sweeping valley views to a challenging scramble along Striding Edge, this hike, although only 10.9 miles in length, packed a lot in!
I finally took the plunge today, and had my much-anticipated full English breakfast. It was...a lot of food, and I did not eat it all for fear of exploding. It definitely kept me full well into the hike, though, so mission accomplished!
We departed Grasmere just as the sun was rising over the surrounding hills: it was a beautiful walk to have the sunshine on our faces, as it was still a bit chilly outside, and would get chillier as we started our ascent to Helvelyn, the third highest point in England.
I apologize if any of you don't share my enthusiasm for the Herdwick sheep: if that is indeed the case, you'll just want to skip this next bit. They were being particularly photogenic this morning, and I could not help myself. I'm going to miss the little buggars!
The climb up Helvelyn, while somewhat steep, was aided greatly by stone steps placed many years ago by trail volunteers. The views from the top were impressive, but we did not linger long, as we had one thing on our mind: Striding Edge.
Striding edge was everything my rock-scrambling soul desired. In essence, there were some tricky spots, but I never felt like I was going to die (even after seeing two large plaques in memory of people who had...). There were other hikers to cheer us on, give tips for routes, and overall just make it one of my favorite parts of the hike thus far. As I said when we started, "If we fall, I'm sure one of the pointy rocks will stop us from going too far."
After Striding Edge, our path was downhill 4 miles, all the way to Patterdale. We got our first glimpse of Swaledale sheep: they're no Herdwicks, but their black faces with white eyes and ears, along with their horns, do give them a certain cuteness.
We reached our inn well before dinner time, and enjoyed watching La Vuelta at the local pub before grabbing a steak pie, sandwich, and delicious local dairy (Red Leicester cheese, whole milk, and ice cream!) for dinner.
Our dinner tonight in the neighboring town of Glenridding added an extra 2.5 miles to our total for the day, so we are pretty well tired this evening and I anticipate sleep will come easy tonight. Tomorrow we head to Shap, and our total elevation should be the highest of the trip thus far. My legs are holding steady for now: hopefully tomorrow won't do them in!
Until Tomorrow,
Kelsey and Brian
Step Count: 35,043 (includes dinner!)
Miles Hiked Today: 10.9 miles (plus 2. 5 to dinner and back :) )
Elevation: 3,434 ft
Gates traveled through: 10-ish
Streams Crossed: 19
Time Hiking: 4 hours 50 minutes
New UK Breeds Seen today:
Just a Corgi, I think!
I think that rock scrambling is above my level of comfort! Glad you guys are having a blast!! :)
I was all for trying this myself one day until the talk of pointy rock death.
I never had the balance needed to crawl through that rock pinnacle. Good job! Livestock photos are all good.
Hooray and congratulations on accomplishing Striding Edge!! What beautiful pictures! I’m glad you didn’t die also!!!