Back in The Lakes

We enjoyed last weekend so much we decided to return again this weekend.  The forecast was for thundery showers but we decided to risk it and hopefully be able to dodge the rain.

Also I was too excited to wait any longer to try out my new toy! 

Saturday

Alarm set for 5 and out by 6, that was the plan and we managed to get out before 6.  We arrived in Buttermere just before 8.  Although technically we have moved slightly closer to the Lake District than we were before, we were living closer to the motorway then so the journey time is just the same.

Quick coffee and toast before setting off on our walk to Rannerdale Knotts.  This was a straightforward walk which I picked purely for the reason as it looked easily doable for a morning walk.  

We set off and headed down towards the Bridge Hotel.

 The gate at the start of the walk is opposite which then leads into The National Trust's Ghyll Wood.

The walk through the wood is very picturesque and eventually the path leads to some steps which then lead out onto the fellside.

The path goes steeply up through the ferns and looking back there are already splendid views down the valley.

Turning left to pick up the path along the ridge to continue our walk to Rannerdale Knotts. 

 There are a number of small grassy knolls to walk over before reaching the summit.

Looking back towards Buttermere

Rannerdale Knotts is overlooked by a number of surrounding fells including Grasmoor and Whiteless Pike and it is thought that it was a the site of a battle between the native Cumbrians and Norsemen and the invading Normans in the 11th or 12th Century

Just after taking this photo the heavens opened and the weather turned to torrential rain, so on with our waterproofs and we beat a hasty retreat to the path down the fellside.

Steep slippery steps

Fantastic views of Crummock Water

We eventually made it back down the steps, taking it slowly as the stone steps were slippery in the rain.

We crossed the road at the bottom and took the path near the lake which we've done a few times before to head back into Buttermere.

We had our lunch back at the van then spent the next couple of hours relaxing and reading before heading off for a walk around Buttermere.

Buttermere lake is 1.25 miles long, 0.25 miles wide and 75ft deep.  

We decided to walk the full circuit of the path around the lake which is 4.5 miles long.  We've walked the route in stages over the years but never in one go.

Buttermere takes its name from the adjacent village of Buttermere and is owned by the National Trust. The origin of the name possibly comes from 'the lake by the dairy pastures' as in the Old English 'butere (butter) mere (lake)'.  

View from Peggy's Bridge

Then it was back to the van for our tea before heading back out again to the lake for a play 😄

After cloud and showers all day the sun came out and it was a beautiful evening.  All the daytrippers had gone home and we had the whole lake to ourselves....

We hired a couple of stand up paddle boards when we visited Traverse City, Michigan back in 2018 and I've wanted to get one ever since.  

Flashback to May 2018

Main problem we'd held off from getting one was being able to transport a rigid board easily in the campervan. Then the inflatable ones started to get more popular so I've been eyeing them for up a while now.  We bumped into a couple of people last weekend at Derwent water with a couple of SUPs they turned out to be cachers unusually-me!  Anyway, they highly recommended the ones they had so I decided to take the plunge, I couldn't hold off any longer.

 Absolutely brilliant fun!  Hopefully get another go before we go home tomorrow.

Sunday

We had planned a walk at Troutbeck this morning but as we were passing Ullswater we decided to stop off so I could have another play on the SUP as the sun had come out and rain was forecast for later.

The water was much choppier here and it was a real challenge to stay on the board.  After about an hour or so it started to get much busier so we decided to call it a day and head to Troutbeck for our walk.

About 5 minutes into our walk it started to spot with rain so on with the waterproofs then about another minute later the heavens opened and the road soon became a river, we sheltered under some trees but it became clear the rain was set in for some time so we decided to head back to the van - Troutbeck isn't going anywhere and it will still be here on our next visit and hopefully with clearer skies too.

Well that was a short walk

We detoured to Kirkby Lonsdale on our way home to do a set of Adventure Labs.  We haven't visited before so it was lovely to have a stroll around this picturesque little market town.

We'd arranged to pick something up in Carnforth on our way home so as we weren't all that far from Morecambe we decided to have our tea there and do the set of Adventure Labs before heading home.

Watching the rain

Thanks for reading!