Day Five: Patterdale to Shap

Patterdale to Shap: 25.5 km

Today was a much longer day, and there were sections that were more tiring than interesting. We hiked up and out of the valley at Patterdale directly into the wind. We saw some beautiful tarns, an old abandoned chapel, the faint tracings of a Roman road (so from approximately 300 AD), and some lovely mountain tops. We hiked over Kidsty Pike, which is the highest point on the actual route, although we went higher on our alternative paths.

Toasting platypus nozzles at the peak of Kidsty Pike

We were up and on the trail by eight, since we knew we had a ways to go today. Moreover, there really was nothing for us at the Inn or in Patterdale. We were hiking on more or less alone this morning since we were leaving Gordon and Charlene and Allan behind. (We didn't realize that we'd get to know others later on).

Up at lonely Angle Tarn, high up in the fells, we saw two small tents pegged out very carefully because of the horrible wind. We also saw Canada geese (a little far from home one might say?).

Angle Tarn
Can you see the Canadians in the picture?

We saw a number of other hikers up in the saddle of the mountains; there are a number of hikes in this area, and people were keen to go out and see them. We saw a man and his two dogs. He stopped at one point, took out his camera and took a picture of the two dogs outlined against the mountain-scape. We thought it was neat that the three, one human and two canines, could make such good hiking companions. We also saw a woman running the trail. At times this seemed quite doable but elsewhere the rocks and bog and creeks would make for tricky footwork. We were glad for our heavy boots. Finally, we saw a man mountain biking the trail. Certainly not my cup of tea, I would rather clomp along on my two stout legs rather than try to pedal furiously up the hills. But to each her own, I guess.

The faint line in the middle in the distance is the Roman road

The east wind was blowing awfully hard up on top. We had been advised to do the C2C trail from west to east because that's the way the prevailing winds move and we would consequently travel with the wind to our backs the whole way. Not so. It got so bad that although the sun was shining we put on our rain coats and our mittens. We hiked along as fast as we could in the hopes that the wind would die down in the valley on the other side (it did not).

We made our way down around the Haweswater Reservoir, a lake that used to be small but is now dammed to provide drinking water for the city of Manchester. In the process of creating the reservoir, the builders drowned a town. All that was left of little Mardale was an abandoned farm on the edge of the lake. Hiking around this massive lake was the most arduous part of our day. It just went on and on, with little shade and little variation to the landscape.

High above Hawsewater Reservoir

Once we were around, however, the two mid 50s sisters from Canada caught up to us. The whole time we saw them (they stayed at the same B&B as us the first night) they were never quite sure of their navigational skills. They tagged along behind us for a while, to the point where we felt responsible for ensuring they made it through a relatively unmarked section of field.

The sheep were always posing for us

We were leaving the Lakes district at this point, and the landscape was definitely changing. It was becoming like that of James Herriot fame, green pastures with stone barns and clean white sheep, narrow winding country roads and rolling hills.

A crumbling decaying barn

Before reaching Shap we passed by Shap Abbey, an old Roman Catholic priory. Much of the stone had been reused for surrounding buildings but the main bell tower remained, along with the foundations of the other buildings. We spent a while looking around the site, imagining how the priests must have lived their lives. We found the "toilets," the fishing hole, the pantry, the garden and a lot of other interesting functional aspects of life at the Abbey. Very interesting.

Brent checking out the pantry

Two new kinds of gates in the stone fence.Shap itself was a cute little town. Relative to many of the other places we stayed, it was quite large, with several restaurants, a library, a school and a grocery store. Our B&B was right at the furthest edge of town, so far that we were starting to wonder if we had missed it or if it even existed. By this time our feet were very tired, and hiking on pavement is the hardest: there's no cushioning in our boots designed for withstanding concrete.

When we did arrive at the B&B, we were most pleasantly surprised. The owner was a very sweet lady who, small world indeed, had been to Red Deer! She fed us tea and scones and jam, did our laundry for us, and was very friendly and kind. Our window overlooked the Lakes District and the peaks to the west in the distance, and up close we could see a dairy farm across the road. It was a lovely stop. Brookfield Guest House was most definitely another one of our top places to stay.

Just a cute little house was Brookfield Guest House

If our overnight stay wasn't good enough, we ordered a packed lunch from the lady that was by the far the best we had the whole trip. We only had 13 km to go that day, so we didn't need a ton of food, which was too bad, because she had all kinds of tasty homemade options for us. We each had a sandwich, mine of which was chicken and stuffing--home made and very good--, we also each had a piece of fruit, an almond tart and a tea biscuit with cheese. Everything was carefully wrapped in wax paper and carefully made. So we highly recommend both staying at Brookfield and ordering her packed lunch!

We went to a pub for supper that night and, not really knowing where to go, chose a pub that turned out to have virtually no one in it. We ate in the dining room all by ourselves and our food took forever to come. However, it turned out that because we were the only ones eating there, the cook had to make it from scratch (hence the long wait) and it was fresh and hot and home-cooked. We both had Cumberland sausage and mashed potatoes (more commonly known as bangers and mash). It came with a moat of brown gravy and steamed vegetables on the side--and all for only five pounds each! By far the cheapest meal we had the whole time, and still definitely tasty.

The sunset from Shap

Day Four: Grasmere to Patterdale

Grasmere to Patterdale: 13.5 km along the low route, more along the top.

Today was our third full day in the beautiful mountainous (or should I say fellanous?) Lakes District. Today was also our third day where we had the option of a valley walk or a ridge walk, and we again chose the mountain tops. My arthritic knees were seriously complaining about the over-use, but once I got them working each morning, I was ok.

A Quaker B&B...I've never actually seen Quakers before

It was foggy and rainy out when we started, which was actually a nice relief from the sunny wind the day before, but it didn't last. By the time we got the top of the ridge, the sun was out in full force again. It was a long slow slog up the valley at first, surrounded by sheep and with fields divided by stone fence along the way. We passed several waterfalls but didn't stop to take pictures this time. There were also quite a few other people on the trail because it was getting towards the weekend. This made it harder to discreetly stop for bathroom breaks, which I certainly needed after drinking several cups of tea at breakfast.

We met the ex-RAF pilot part way up and he took our picture. His wife was taking the bus that day because her feet couldn't handle the hills for another day. He phoned her from the top of the ridge--there was cell phone reception up there!

There were actually two alternate routes this day. The first one everyone seemed to take as it climbed the valley at a more gentle rate and was cobbled. The second one took us up on the third highest peak in Britain and over a really neat craggy ridge called Strider's Edge (I kept thinking of Aragorn from Lord of the Rings when we were hiking it). At the fork between the two routes we met Allen again, who was taking the low route, and he told us he would buy us a pint in Patterdale if/when we made it down off the peak.

On our way up we met volunteer park workers digging up the seriously eroded path and putting in rocks that would make a cobbled new path. Hard hard work on a hot day.

The top of the peak had a shelter shaped like a plus sign so that no matter which way the wind was coming, there would be relief from it.

We sat on one side and were quietly inspected by the local sheep. We found out that the breed that lives up here is called the Herdwicks, and they spend all their lives up on the peaks, only coming down to lamb. They are an important part of the Lakes District ecosystem because without them, the fells would grow brush again and eventually fill up with trees as it was originally. The sheep's presence means the mountains remain grassy and full of ferns and heather, which is conducive to tourism. So very different than the management of the Canadian mountainous parks!

The Summit Cairn of Helvellyn (isn't that a great name?)

Strider's Edge definitely pushed our comfort zone for scrambling. We could have gone around the ridge, but we wanted to walk it. The top was absolutely beautiful, high and exposed above the valley.

Strider's Edge: Our route down along the ridge

The low route far below
Our first shade all day

The White Lion Inn in Patterdale was...interesting. Patterdale is actually an extremely tiny little center, with a major hotel, and the Inn and a church. The Inn itself is several hundred years old, but we were to learn that just because a building has an interesting history doesn't necessarily mean it was functional or comfortable. Further down the road was Glenridding, a larger center with a post office and an outdoorsy store and two grocery stores. It is on Ullswater Lake, which is a popular tourist destination. We walked to Glenridding and bought some things for our lunch the next day. We were not very impressed the other time we'd bought the packed lunch from the Inn we were staying at, so we thought we would not do it again.

The White Lion Inn and the A592

Fields of Bluebells

The Inn itself was an extremely narrow building and the front door emptied immediately onto the highway. The pub was quite cozy and friendly; we ate supper with Gordon and Charlene, the two Canadian sisters and Allen. Gordon and Charlene were staying an extra night in Patterdale and Allen was traveling only this far. So it was a bit of a farewell supper. It's funny that after knowing these people only four days, we were very sad to leave them. Gordon and Charlene in particular, we really enjoyed getting to know.

The six Canadians and Allen, a farewell supper

We had dessert, which was chocolate cake and hot custard. Custard is an English dish, and one that both Brent and I are big fans of. Dessert is called "pudding" in England, regardless of whether you're actually having pudding or if you're having cheesecake. We had pudding several more times on the trip, particularly when we saw custard on the menu.

While the pub was cozy, our room was not. Our window was directly over the door of the pub, so we heard the pub traffic late into the night. The staff were grumpy to us and the food was just ok (except for the pudding). ;)

Day Three: Rosthwaite to Grasmere

Rosthwaite to Grasmere: 14.5 Km

We had breakfast with a couple from Florida who were both militarypilots and then became commerical airline pilots. They were very friendly and had great stories and we saw more of them in the days to come. We also ate with a younger couple--the only people we saw on the C2C trail close to our age--who were going east to west while we were going west to east. They only had two days left whereas we had thirteen more days! Our breakfast was served in a special breakfast room on fancy china with silverware. Brent had the full English breakfast and I had porridge (yum). We ordered packed lunches from Rachel the hostess, and they were the cheapest we paid for all trip--only 3 pounds! And just as big and tasty as any of the others. We highly recommend Gillercombe Bed and Breakfast at Stonethwaite.

We moved quite slowly this day because we knew we only had roughly fourteen kilometers to go--a bit more than that because we were taking two alternative routes to the main trail that would put us high above the valley bottom. We hiked slowly at first and took lots of pictures of the valley and waterfalls and bridges we saw along the way.

Details of fence: There's nothing like this in Western Canada

A Stone Sheepfold

Much of the day was spent walking along the ridges of the mountains down the valley, so once we made it up the first big climb, it was just gentle up and down until we reached the end of the valley and had to go back down into the town of Grasmere. One fell that we climbed up and over was called the Lion and the Lamb because that's what the shape of the rocks look like.

First cellphone reception in a three days: the Australians text home

The valley below us, where the other route went

The Lion and the Lamb

Hiking along the ridge. Can you tell how sunburnt we are?

Our B&B was called Ivy Dene and it was a peculiar arrangement. When we arrived, there was a note saying go next door to get in. So we did and the lady next door let us into our room. Only later in the evening when we finally sought out our hostess did we actually find and meet her and found out that the lady next door was our B&B owner's daughter, who also owned a B&B. Otherwise I don't know how we would have figured out the breakfast arrangement! Nevertheless, the room was clean and comfortable and we had no complaints other than the strange hostess arrangement.

Ivy Dene Bead and Breakfast, and the daughter's B&B next door.

Grasmere was kind of like a miniature English Banff. There were lots of touristy shops, including a bookstore that we spent a good while purusing and spent a fair amount of money at. Grasmere is also home to an amazing Gingerbread Factory. We had to sample some of their fare, and it was unlike any gingerbread we've had before. It was thick and and spicy and chewy and had chunks of candied ginger in it. So good...they do mail order internationally, perhaps we shall have to indulge. :)

We also stopped at Dove Cottage and the Wordsworth Museum. It was in Grasmere that William and Dorothy Wordsworth spent a large amount of their writing careers, and it was interesting seeing how they lived and where they wrote and the beautiful scenery they wrote about. I was quite disappointed, however, about how much William's efforts were emphasized over Dorothy's. Dorothy wrote quite good work as well, and William based a lot of his poetry off of memories captured in her journals. Yet from the museum one gets the picture that he was the sole creative genius. But maybe that's the feminist literary analysis coming out in me...I've written several papers on Dorothy Wordsworth's work.

Dove Cottage, in all its glory.

Day Two: Ennerdale Bridge to Rosthwaite

Ennerdale Lake behind us

Ennerdale Bridge to Rosthwaite; 23 km.

We had our usual porridge in the pub below our room and headed out to the trail shortly after eight. We ordered a packed lunch again but were a little disappointed with the results this time. A sandwich, a chocolate bar, crisps (aka potato chips) and a piece of fruit. Not the healthiest or best hiking-oriented lunch. But nevertheless, there was little opportunity to stop and buy lunch on the way so, we couldn't be choosy.

The hotel was quite old, dating back to the 17th century and smelled of old wood and woodfire smoke. It was quite a pleasant dining room/pub, but was not as cozy as the previous night's B&B.

Today we had two options for our route, and feeling tough and up to the challenge, we took the higher route, which was supposed to have taken us over three summits on a ridge walk, but we ended up missing the first summit, hiking up and over High Stile and Haystacks but missing Red Pike.

We hiked through and around many many sheep pastures. At first we tried to avoid getting manure on our boots but eventually we just gave up. It'll wash off later anyway. We enjoyed seeing all the baby lambs frolicking. We passed a sheep farmer coming the other way on her quad, with her border collie keeping watch from behind her on the seat.




The three peaks that we were supposed to do are quite popular day hikes and we saw many people on the trails along the ridge. There were also a lot of sheep and sheep trails at the summit, showing us that however tough and fit we thought we were, the four-legged mountaineers could make out just fine too.

High up on the fells.

A Mountain Tarn, England style

After we came down the far side of Haystacks fell, we walked through an old quarry site and then through a present-day slate mining operation. At the mine headquarters there was a gift shop, a tea house and a big window so you could watch the employees carving up the slate. What a great idea! We stopped for a cup of tea and admired the slatework, wishing that we could buy some--but that would be a lot of unwanted added weight. I was again reminded of Obelix and his menhirs. (If some of you are wondering about the repeated references to Asterix, here is a wikipedia link about the comic books-I highly recommend them.)

A building on the old mine site

We arrived at our B&B at around five thirty, and were greeted at the door by our hostess, Rachel, who told us that of the seven people staying there that night, we were the first to arrive. We were surprised because it was five thirty and we took the long route down! We had much needed showers and then Rachel made us tea. She told us that because of the big football game between Manchester and Chelsea taking place in Russia that night, we'd better get to the pub at a decent hour if we wanted a place to eat.

Gillercoombe House at Rosthwaite in the distance: almost done for the day!

We ate at the pub at Stonethwaite just down the road. I had poached trout with butter and parsley. It was very tasty. I have certainly gotten over my childhood dislike of fish! Brent had ham and chicken pie that was also very good. We talked for a long while with an old man sitting in the pub, who recommended to us several other hikes in England.

Donna the Parrot

Rachel the B&B owner has a pet parrot, who we met the following morning as he awoke us with car alarm sounds, truck back-up alerts and wolf calls. Funny little fellow.