Tag Archives: hiking

In order to fully enjoy the beauty of the Great Langdale Valley, we decided to give ourselves two nights in Dungeon Ghyll. On our second day there, we ventured off the Cumbria Way. I was secretly tempted to lounge all day in a comfy chair with my feet up, a book and some tasty home-cooked food (not trail food!) from the hotel. But I knew how excited Brodacious was to climb some of the nearby pikes, and I didn’t want to miss out myself. Rest and relaxation would wait.

Initially, the dream was to hike Scafell Pike on our day off. After consulting a couple of maps, though, we quickly decided it was too far from where we were staying, making it too big of an undertaking. We ended up hiking 14 miles through some of the other peaks closer to the trail—Bowfell and Crinkle Crags. It was a misty day, which was a nice change from the heat of the two previous days. There were sheep everywhere, even up on the highest peaks. We ended up being really happy that we had scheduled for this day off the trail. It was absolutely gorgeous and we had a lot of fun.

[click the images above for the full image set]

Even though we have been back from the Lakes for over a month, we thought we’d better post pictures and a brief report on the trip for two reasons: first, to bring this blog back from the dead, and second, to fulfill our many promises of pictures and stories to friends and family.

Our trek began in Ulverston (famous as the birthplace of Laurel and Hardy), the southern start of the trail. Ulverston was kind of industrial, and not the most picturesque of towns, but we stayed in a nice little vegetarian B&B and spent a leisurely evening there before starting out on our hike. It had been unseasonably warm and dry in the Lake District in May, so the area wasn’t as green as expected. We hiked 16 miles the first day, to the town of Coniston. There were a few people who started out on the trail at the same time as us, and we ended up meeting them and exchanging friendly conversation several times over the next few days. The last couple of miles on this first day were the best, as the trail ran along the shore of Coniston Water and into town. The lake and the town were both beautiful. However, all we could do once we arrived (after showering and eating, of course) was flop down on the bed, stare at the ceiling, and wonder if we’d really have the energy to hike 71 more miles.

[click the images above for the full image set]