Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Escape to the Country...
We have come away to our favourite place....the Lake District. We couldn't have chosen better weather if we'd tried (not that you can chose it but you know what I mean).
Yesterday we went to visit my most favourite spot up there and indeed anywhere....the gorgeous Moss Eccles Tarn which is where I scattered Bunny. Previously owned by Beatrix Potter and now owned by the National Trust, I thought is an apt place for her to be.
The first photo is taken with my sunglasses over the lens for dramatic effect!




This is taken from the spot we always visit and dip a hand into the tarn to say hello to Bunny! Isn't is a gorgeous place?

This is taken to the left of the above shot, looking out towards the path up to Wise Een tarn. This part of Lakeland is so pretty...not many mountains around but pretty nonetheless. 

We are staying in the Langdale Hotel, in Elterwater in one of the Romantic Gothic rooms which is just my kind of colouring! We've stayed before and it is very nice and there is a great pub round the corner that sells you baskets of chips which are just what you need after a day fellwalking. 

Speaking of fells....one of the main reasons we visit the Lake District is to walk the Wainwrights. There are 214 of them and we are over halfway. One of the fells I've wanted to walk up for a long time is Crinkle Crags, but a broken foot, foot operation and bad weather have stalled us on this...so imagine my joy when today, in beautiful April sunshine, we managed to get up there. 
You can see Crinkle Crags in this picture taken from the valley below. 


It is quite a long walk through the valley before you start to climb, and climb, and climb! My poor legs didn't know what had hit them and my inhaler was handily store in my walking bag but was thankfully only used the once! 

After the first Crinkle, you descent to the bottom of the second Crinkle and one of the routes up is up and over the 'Bad Step'. There is an alternative route for those who don't want to scramble or can't quite make it up there. The photo doesn't really show how big the thing is, although if you look closely you can see two people at the top for scale. 
The way up is to the right of the fallen chock stones which block the gully, it's the part on the photo that looks like a vertical slab of rock....because that's essentially what it is, 10 foot tall. Compare to the daring rocks that seasoned climbers scale, this is nothing, but for the humble walker, it's a bit of a challenge!
We then moved over the Crinkles (five in total) and up onto Bowfell which is one that Hubby has wanted to do for a while and a name he seems to quote when looking at almost any fell in the area...at least now he knows where it is!

It was a please walk down back into the valley and as usual, our favourite sheep adorned the fields. Herwick sheep should be outlawed for being too cute...don't you agree?

This lovely 'mama' and her lamb posed well for us and seemed to be enjoying the sunshine, unlike these two who wanted the shade....bless....


And if you think the real thing is cute, just check out Herdy to see even cuter things. We'll be popping in tomorrow before returning home. 

So after a hard day's walking, I had a lovely bowl of homemade Leek and potato soup and a basket of chips, and then treated my self to a 20 minute manicure at the hotel spa....the first manicure I've had in my 37yrs! 

I hope you've enjoyed the pics...as ever, please feel free to Rabbit On....