Day 7/Hike Day 5: Patterdale to Shap

Greetings from Shap! Dad wanted to subtitle this blog "Hiking Upstream", and we certainly did have a very wet day as we finished up our time in the Lake District and made our way into the green pastures of the Yorkshire Dales.

Ready to venture out into the rain!

We started our hike this morning with a pretty steep and steady incline up to Kidsty Pike. On our way, we were fortunate enough to have the clouds clear and give us some a peak at the peacefully isolated Angle Tarn, which is situated up in the hills and has numerous islands. One particular Swaledale ewe wanted to accompany any and all photos I took of the tarn, but I did not discourage her.

Unfortunately we were without a view of anything but the clouds from Kidsty Pike, but we were spoiled with such good weather during the rest of our time in the Lake District that we hardly could complain. In fact, on day two we passed through a town that receives over 180 inches of rain per year: yes, that is approximately a 1/2 inch of rain every day. So, in short, one hasn't truly hiked the Lake District unless one has done some of it in the rain: our full experience was realized today!

Angle Tarn with a Swaledale friend

Kidsty Summit in the rain/fog/mist

After a tortuous descent down Kidsty (significantly more difficult in the rain than any part of Striding Edge was yesterday), we came to Haweswater, which is a large reservoir that supplies the entirity of Manchester's water supply. As such, it is not a lake for recreation, but it was serene to look at when the clouds and fog cleared up a bit in the afternoon.

The beginning of Haweswater: it was much, much bigger than this. In fact, there is an entire (obviosuly abandonded) old village underneath!

We were happy to discover these comically tall gates were not for giant or particularly athletic sheep, but rather to keep the deer out.

As we descended from Haweswater toward Shap, it became quite apparent we had entered the dales, as all of a sudden we were surrounded by cattle and sheep. Much to my delight, the first cattle pen our trail traversed was full of a beautiful herd of Belted Galloway, who were curious to see who was joining them in the afternoon slop.

After traversing several more stone-walled paddocks, we found ourselves at the ruins of Shap Abbey. I won't try to re-invent the wheel when it comes to telling its interesting tale: if you're interested, check out this link - https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/shap-abbey/history/

The remaining tower of Shap Abbey

We were privilged enough today to see not one but two shepherds with their Border Collies out working their sheep. I couldn't get a photo of the first gentleman and his pair of helpers, as they were too far away. However, I did get a picture of one younger gentleman using both 4-wheeled and 4-legged help to get this flock of Texels into the next paddock. No matter how many times I've seen a sheepdog work a flock, I never fail to be impressed by their precision, speed, and obedience. It truly is amazing to watch them do their thing.

We arrived soggy but in good spirits at the Brookfield B&B, where we were greeted by our most gracious hostess, Margaret. She went right to work making sure our boots were getting dried, and when we had cleaned up the rest of the way, she greeted us in the parlor with a pot of tea and the most delicious scones, fresh from the oven. I'd hike twice as far in twice as much rain every day if it meant I could be greeted with those scones each time: they were divine!

This was not our only delicious food of the day, however: for dinner we visited Shap Chippy, an award-winning (2nd best in England!) fish and chips restaurant downtown. It was hot and delicious, and certainly deserving of all its accolades.

Tomorrow is one of our longest days on the trail: 20.5 miles through the grassy fields of the Yorkshire Dales.

Until then!

Kelsey and Brian

Step Count: 43,577 (includes dinner again!)

Miles Hiked Today: 16.9 miles (plus 2 to dinner and back :) )

Elevation: 3,300 ft

Gates traveled through: 10-ish? Two really big ones for sure!

Streams Crossed: Well, we stopped counting at 20-ish, when the whole trail kind of became a stream :-)

Time Hiking: 7 hours 20 minutes

New UK Breeds Seen today:

Belted Galloway Cattle

Chevoit Sheep (I think - could also be Aberdale or Highlander)