Plans Are There to Be Changed

We tried for an earlier start again this mooring and sure enough we left the camp site around 9:30 heading for Glenridding to do Striding Edge today,  as it was the last good weather day if the forecasts were to be believed. I wanted Rich to have his Scramble of the holiday and Striding Edge had been on our list for quite a while now.

We were stopped short only five minutes after setting off having to divert due to the A66 being closed off. West instead of East we went, stopped at a layby to find an alternative route.
With all those deep valleys in the Lake District,  a detour normally adds a lot of time, since you rarely ever can go the direct way.  There are usually mountains in the way.
We considered doing a long horseshoe walk much closer to our location, but a 5-6 hour commitment didn't seem attractive.
So we changed plans from Striding Edge to some hills near Thirlmere, which was only a five minute drive from our camp site.

Wound our way through traffic and arrived near Thirlmere 10:15am only to find our intended route closed off due to fallen trees. We simply couldn't win today. Quick look at the map we found a short walk from here,  up the hill, along the ridge and down again. Funny enough it was rather close to our original plan, just tackling the same ridge from a different angle.

Finally started walking at 10:30. Once more we had to overcome a very steep ascent straight from the start which had us sweating soon. It was generally overcast with a few sunny spells,  but it was warm  again and quite humid.
Scenery was different one more. Yesterday had been rock, rock and then some more rock. Today was some rock, some grass and the hills yellow, brown and barren.

Nice views back down towards Keswick. 

 Brown Crag and behind it some Lakeland V.I.Ps

After just over a kilometre the angle eased a bit, time for a quick break hunched behind a rock which sheltered us at least a little bit from the fairly cold and very steady wind today.

Up on the Sticks Path we went to a saddle were it led down to Glenridding. We turned right to do some more climbing until we reached the rocky top of Raise. 

Heading up Raise

View from the top

Being on the Helvellyn ridge it is easily forgotten with such a famous fell so close nearby. We actually quite liked it. The view over to said  Helvellyn and its two famous ridge scrambles was fantastic. All the fells in the the distance were gradually being obfuscated by more and more haze, still we could make out the likes of Pillar or Bowfell amongst the bluish great silhouettes.

Down we went and the short way up to Whiteside then down once more on its other site to a saddle. Here we had some lunch first and were supposed to pick up a path but couldn't see one really. Only something resembling a sheep's track further on. Well it was heading into the right direction so we freelanced a bit along the grassy hill side until we found the actual path, which still was far film obvious. The joys of British hill walking. This time it was actually quite fun.

Found the path

Eventually reached the outcrop of Brown Crag. And steeply wound our way down through low bracken and lately along a wall back to the car. Bugs were bidding around us aplenty and we both constantly ran hands through hair and along arms to brush away any blind passengers.

Back at the car 14:30 We headed back to the campsite, had a bit of a chill, a well earned shower and afternoon tea at The Hayloft. Some more chilling in the tent as the by now very low cloud finally released some rain.
Rich had a wee snooze before we headed out to the renown Pheasant Inn near Cockermouth, for our 8pm booking.  We had been here a few days before and really found a liking to the place. It's classy without being posh, it's cosy and if you look up "Country Pub" you might well find a photo of it.

The starters were amazing, mains good, but a bit disappointing. We were missing the twist with our pies. Rich had a fish pie, I had a cottage pie. In a place like this you expect everything to be exceptional and especially traditional dishes must stand out from all the other places that serve them.

 Haggis Scotch Egg with mushroom dip. Superb. 

We had just about room for a dessert. Not often I have one, but can't say no to cheesecake!
We were both rolling out of there, back teeth floating. I didn't even finish my dessert, and I rarely ever leave anything on the plate, but I physically couldn't stuff more in.

Not yet sure what we're doing tomorrow. The weather is a bit so-so. We have an idea but will see how it all looks tomorrow morning. After so much food, a later start is they only thing that is for sure. And some walking.