Buttermere and Loweswater

BUTTERMERE & LOWESWATER
Saturday/Sunday 15th Feb 2014
Saturday - 7.17 km (4.46 miles) - 1hr 49 min
Sunday - 6.3 Km (3.91 miles) - 1hr 37 min

To mark the occasion of my brother-in-laws 60th birthday a group of us met in the Lake District to both celebrate Roy's birthday but also to re-create two walks we did 10 years ago when he was (obviously) 50!

Saturday's walk was a simple circumnavigation of Buttermere.  The main drama of the event was actually getting there.  What was rain as we drove past Keswick soon turned the thick snow as we ascended over Whilatter Pass. In fact our daughter, who was some 20 minutes behind us was forced to turn around and find a lower level route to the meeting point at the Bridge Inn, Buttermere (GR : NY 174 169).
The walk itself is very straightforward and well marked.  From the pub you walk down towards the lake and follow the very clear path across the top of the lake and then through Burtness Woods (an area where red squirrels are pre-dominant, although none were about at this time of the year). Whilst the conditions may not have been conducive to driving they certainly enhanced the scenery with all the mountain tops covered with a dusting of snow.
At the bottom end of the lake the path is, again, very well marked and well trodden in this weather and leads across to the road before turning and heading back towards Buttermere itself and descending onto the lake shore for the return and a very welcome drink in the warmth of the Bridge Inn.
Sunday
Thanks go to the Coffee Kitchen in Cockermouth who provided us with a superb buffet on Saturday evening and allowed some party members to furnish Roy with birthday presents. After a good night's sleep we all met up at Loweswater on the Sunday morning for another short walk and the traditional (??) pub lunch.

There is plenty of roadside parking at Waterend (GR : NY 118 225), although on a bright Sunday morning at the beginning of half term it was at a premium.  Once again this is a simple, straightforward route with pathways clearly visible and marked. Once again, the scenery was superb and just what was needed to clear the head after the previous evening. It is worth noting that the return leg has to be completed on the road. There are a couple of stretches where you can, if you wish, descend to the lake shore but in the current conditions staying on the road is the best bet.

Some photographs of the weekend are available from the link.

Postscript
I realise that it is a long time since I updated this blog.  2013 was an interesting year with redundancy, retirement, selling a house, buying a house, becoming grandparents -- as you can see it was rather busy !!  Hopefully, 2014 will be a little less hectic, although looking at my diary that doesn't seem to be the case at the moment - we have two weddings to attend, one of which is my daughter's, the other in Spain.  We also have a number of trips planned, including a week in Italy in the not too distant future. Hopefully, I can become a bit more disciplined and keep this blog up to date when we do get the chance to go walking!!

Ullswater

Saturday, 19th November
8Km (4.9 miles) 2hr 24mins

A number of weeks since we've  been walking due to other commitments and the weather.  Thankfully, this walk proved to be anything but seasonal.  Mid-November and we ended up walking in t-shirts !!
Thanks to friends John and Marilyn who had been given a free night's accomodation at the North Lakes Hotel and decided to share it with us !!  It was only fitting that I planned to Saturday afternoon excursion !

From the hotel we took the short drive to Pooley Bridge at the very top of Ullswater and, after exploring the village (a full ten minutes worth) we bought tickets for the Ullswater Steamer and boarded the boat for the short 20 minute journey to Howtown.  The weather at this stage of the day (midday) was chilly with low cloud over the hills, although there was a hint of blue. I have to say that sitting at the front of the boat I was pretty cold by the time the voyage ended !

Disembarking at Howtown Jetty (GR NY443198) a short walk leads to the road and just by the Howtown Outdoor Centre a gate gives onto the path and a short uphill stretch to another gate which gives on to a track.  The track hugs the wall as height is gained, almost inperceptably and the views spread out below you.

Also, as we gained height so did the cloud and within 10 minutes of starting the fleeces were discarded in favour of t-shirts.  The route was easy to follow and gained height almost without notice and the views became more and more extensive making it a delight to be outdoors at this time of the year.

The apex of the walk is a stone circle called The Cockpit (GR NY 482222) at approximately 330 mtrs. - 150 mtrs of ascent that hardly felt like it.  From the stone circle the anly way was downhill firstly across moorland and then along an old Roman Road that eventually became metalled and landed us back in Pooley Bridge.

A fantastic walk which, had we known what the weather was going to be like, would probably have been longer.  However, if I could  predict the weather then I wouldn't be writing this blog and the next day proved a point as, back in Yorkshire, the day from dawn to dusk was thick fog.

A selection of photos avaiable which probably don't do justice to the fantastic scenery.  Thanks to John, Marilyn and Gill for a fantastic weekend. Let's hope the weather at the weekends is better over the next few weeks and let's us get out - only 20 miles to go to crack the 300 mile mark for this year !