Tales from the South West - Castle Combe and Bristol Sights

Sunday, August 12 - Castle Combe, Bristol Cathedral, Brandon Hill, Clifton Village, Clifton Suspension Bridge

With the weather not encouraging much outdoor activities, we had a chill morning instead and then went to Castle Combe in the Cotswolds for Sunday lunch. Gotta treat my dad to a proper roast whilst he's here.
The Salutation Inn was the place of choice, a country pub I had found on Google Maps just North of Castle Combe. With rain on and off and at times quite heavy we were glad we sat in the car. The sat nav sent us along some narrow country lanes which was actually quite enjoyable. More than a boring broad A road.
Arrived just in time at 12:30, got some drinks and were sat at our table. Very nice staff and a very welcoming atmosphere in the pub, although it was still very quiet.

Good find. That's a keeper.

Food came fairly quickly and whilst not being exceptionally good, it was a very decent Sunday roast. The Maize fed chicken my dad had, had a a lovely flavour, and Rich's and my beef was one of the best we ever had. Pink as it should be and very tender. Only downside was the small Yorkshire pud which was supposedly not home made. Boo to that.
Still, Rich and me decided that this was a great pub to come out here for food and then a walk or cycle afterwards. It's a keeper.

After a very nice lunch, we drove the five minutes into Castle Combe proper and parked on a rather big and free (!!!) car park at the top of the road into the village. It was fairly empty and soon we knew why. People chose to park alongside the road. There was limited space and it seemed a bit of a hassle when you had to turn around and look again. Why so few choose the free (!!!) car park at the top is something I don't get. There must be a lot of people who have knee or hips issues so they can't walk even 10 minutes.

Even though Rich and me had been here before, we marvelled at the amazing Cotswold houses just as much as my dad did. It is simply stunning and beautiful. Not just the houses, but the well kept gardens and driveways, too.

Paid a visit to the church and there learned from a few posters about the history of Castle Combe, that the word "Combe" comes from an old Saxon word meaning "valley". Ha. I didn't know that. Was just wondering why so many places in the area have it in their names.
There had been settlements here at least from 2300BC on all through Roman and Saxon times until today. Very interesting.

Strolled down to the bridge and the river and then lazily walked back to the car park. Again we decided to come back again and combine a visit to the local pub with a walk or cycle ride.

Back in Bristol it was now a bit too late to head to the SS Great Britain. Rich headed off to visit a friend near Reading and I took my dad for the tourist tour through Bristol.

Walked all the way from the town centre past Bristol Cathedral which was sadly closed to Brandon Hill. The rain had stopped a while ago and heading up the hill we had a good sweat on. So much so, that we didn't climb Cabot Tower and instead headed towards Clifton Village. That was enough climbing already.
Shops were closed, but we were really here for the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Walked over it and back enjoying the brilliant views of the city and the Avon Gorge.

One last climb up onto the cliff to get another view. Again there was information on display about the local fauna and flora. Apparently, Leigh Woods across the gorge hosts some trees that only grow there and nowhere else on the planet. Wow! How amazing is that? And there are some plants that grow on the cliffs that are similarly rare. One of them the Bristol Onion. Who knew?! Gosh, we learned so much today!

Still, started to head back eventually. At least it was downhill from here and soon we were at the docklands picking our boats and house boats we liked and enjoying the view over Hotwells across the river.
Quick break with a shandy outside a conveniently situated pub and then simply walked back to the centre to catch a bus just as the next shower hit.

Amazing how time had flown. It was already 8pm, so we had walked easily for three and a half hours or more. Good to make the best out of a day most probably spend at home chilling. More to come though. No rest for the restless.

Tales from the South West - Welcome to England, Dad

My dad and me had been talking about him coming to visit me in England for quite a while now, probably even for a year even, but somehow it never really worked out with two busy schedules and stuff getting in the way... until now.

He had literally announced about a month ago that he was coming over and had booked flights for one week in August. Yeah. I had some time to think of and look up some places to go and things to see and before I knew it he was here.

So as we're exploring place I myself haven't been to either, I thought I might actually blog about it and maybe some of you guys feel inspired to check them out as well.

Friday, August 10

Picked my dad up from Bristol Airport Friday late afternoon and we went with Rich to Spoke and Stringer, a nice tapas bar right by the river. 

Spoke and Stringer in Bristol

It wasn't too busy but still quite a vibrant atmosphere. The small open kitchen was right by the entrance and the two chefs greeted us friendly before one of the waitresses showed us to our table. I sat right underneath a shiny fancy fixie bike hanging off the wall. Interior was modern and had quite a few bits and bobs to look at on the walls. 

The guys had some local beer (Left Handed Giant brewery) and I tried a Rioja which was fantastic. We had pretty much all the tapas from the menu sharing them between us as you do. We agreed that the manchego and ham croquetas were the best of the lot. Whilst my dad and Rich both don't speak each other's language I think we still got a good conversation going with me translating back and forth.

Nice place, Spoke and Stringer. Unique interior, friendly staff, probably a bit nicer on a sunny day when you can sit outside with view over the docks.

Quite stuffed we walked along the riverside back into town centre and took a bus home. Day 1 done. Yay. Much more to come yet.

Saturday, August 11 - Symonds Yat, Goodrich Castle, Tintern Abbey

Wales, England, Wales, England, Wales, England... That's what we could've repeated as we drove along the river Wye Saturday morning, crossing the border between the two so many times on our way to Symonds Yat.

Symonds Yat is something Rich had suggested to have a look at. It's a village/town in the Northern part of the Forest of Dean. What's more important is, that it has a very popular viewpoint over the wooded hills and the river valley.

We parked up at the spacious car park, paid our fee and had a look at the various colour coded trails. The obvious one was the one up to the view point which had an estimate walking time of 45 mins. We chose to do that first before the crowds arrived and then go for a longer woodland walk. 

45 mins turned out to be like 10 mins to the view point which was already populated by a handful of bird watchers with their impressive binoculars and camera lenses. Size does seem to matter in that area.

Although a bit overcast the views were stunning. It's hard to explain, you really have to go there. It's not very high, but higher than anything else around so you can see far and wide. There is obviously the meandering Wye, fields of green and yellow, the wooded hills, people canoeing, cows grazing and if you're lucky buzzards or falcons circling. We weren't lucky, but still spend a good deal of time up there letting our eyes wander over the scenery.

Back at the car park we went straight for the signposted woodland walk. 6 miles and 2 1/2 hours was the estimated duration. Perfect for a lunch time walk.

The trail was super easy to walk and led through fairly wild and mixed woodland. It was great fun to spot the many different types of trees and once you do so, you're amazed how many different ones there are actually. We were all alone so far and not long into the circular route, we passed loads of blackberry bushes. Perfect time to stuff our faces. My dad was all over it. The bushes were full of big black ripe fruit and before we knew it we had each a big handful ready for the next one.

The trail was expertly signposted and we could blindly follow the big pink signs for it. It crossed the cycle and another walking trail a few times and we met a few people on the way, but generally it was a solitary walk, much to our enjoyment.

Rich was keen on coming back here to run it. At 6km it had just the right length and wasn't very technical at all. The cycle trail also looked generally easy and enjoyable and even the 17km circular walk we had seen on the map at the car park was something we would love to do another time.

Back at the car park after a rather lovely walk we decided to head over to Goodrich and its castle. Something that Google had suggested to me when I had looked up Symonds Yat. Winner.

It's only like a 20 min drive and we parked at the side of the road right outside the site car park, which is free by the way. We didn't know and thought us clever. Next time we just go in, haha.

The sky had gone a shade darker and was threatening with rain, still we opted for coffees and a wee snack at the cafe/shop. Soup of the day for Rich and me along with a coffee. Dad tried his first scone ever with butter and found it very delicious. Same goes for our soups with a cheese scone on the side.

Staff at the cafe and aligned shop were super friendly and in such a good mood despite the place being unusual busy. We bought our tickets for the castle which apparently had a "Fighting Knights" event on today. Awesome! 

Goodrich castle really is a ruin, but a quite impressive one. Built from red sandstone (?) it had all the best defence structures of the time. Four towers at the corners, a barbican, gatehouse, draw bridge, moat etc. Built in the 13th century by a french lord who was a friend of Edward I.

We took our time wandering around, reading all the information displayed around the castle ground. The only surviving mortar from the Civil War is currently displayed here as well. It had been used to bomb the castle when they tried to drive the Royalists out and apparently it had worked pretty well, once they had destroyed one of the towers.

We had a good hour to spend before the knights tournament was on at 15:30. It wasn't very busy and the reenactment group only really had a handful of tents. To be honest, it actually took us an hour to see everything anyway. However, a cold and steady wind was blowing and it was threatening with rain. Rich and me were freezing a bit, too lazy to go back to the car to get our jackets, haha.

Rain started right when the knights tournament kicked off. I'm sure everyone was really looking forward to polishing and cleaning their armour afterwards. The small crowd (at least half was children anyway) and the knights with their entourage didn't seem to mind and gave it all.

It was properly raining when we walked back to the car after a surprisingly enjoyable visit. Drove the half an hour or so to Tintern Abey which we had passed on our way to Symonds Yat. I'd been here a few times so far, but never actually entered it. And today we also didn't fancy going in with the rain pouring down relentlessly and the abbey ruin not really providing any shelter.

Instead we fled into the pub and had a later afternoon Earl Grey. Again we had never actually sat inside this one, always just outside with a cold drink. And once more we were quite surprised how nice it was.

Back home around 6pm we just chilled and cooked up some food with wine and beers to follow. Good start to exploring the South West despite some.. well... I guess actually normal weather (after a quite not so normal heat wave lately).

Run Hiking or Hike Running?

Today was day two of my short escape to mid Wales. Slept rather well again, but woke up with all my countless midges bites itching. And whatever bit a chunk of flesh out of my arm yesterday during lunch break, will be happy to know that as of this morning it's no longer stinging but itching and covering half of the inside of my upper arm with a red patch. Nice one.
Also found a tick on my calf just chilling and hanging in there. Didn't bring my tick tweezers so I left it for now. In fact, I was surprised to only have found one with all the high grass I had waded through the day before.
My chocolate tan had also not prevented me from getting a bit sun burnt under the overcast sky. Uh, the great outdoors, eh? I had certainly paid a price for all the fun.

Sun was shining from a blue sky speckled with clouds. Tea, left over chilli for breakfast and off I went into Rhayader first to pick up some sun cream, then ever East all the way to a small village called New Radnor at the foot of Radnor Forest. Now, Radnor Forest may have been an actual forest once, but now it was just a series of hills with small spots of forest or rather plantation on it. Still, quite lovely to look at and three of those hills were amongst the numerous Welsh 2000s.
Today, I wanted to run to whole round. Is quicker and a different kind of workout. Got my new trail running backpack with pockets for water bottles in the front as well as storage for gels etc. Felt like a pro.

I set off around 10:15am along the main road through the village, then turned left uphill where the small tarmac road soon turned into a narrow - in places overgrown - path ever uphill. Looked like the perfect place to pick up a new friend for Mr. Tick. No one was interested though.

My initial light jog turned into a brisk walk, then a walk, then huffing and puffing as I made my way up as fast as I dared without exhausting myself too much already. It was very hot, so walking wasn't an issue at all. I had a lot of uphill still to go.

Passed through a plantation and then onto the open hill side. Lovely views over fields and hills not too far away. Very different compared to yesterday. The way up Bache Hill wasn't clear at all on the map. Fences around fields full of sheep were in the way. I found a broad path up along yet another fence very close to the summit, but it ended at the next field. Crossed it to pick up another path along a forest but between me and the summit was still an endless field of heather and not even the faintest path. Arg. In trainers and shorts I gave that one a miss. I'd come so close! But there were two more to go and I didn't fancy looking around for a way up. I'll come back for this one in hiking outfit. Then it would be no problem.

Over to Black Mixen. The hill top that is dominated by a huge mast of some sort and easy to see from far and wide. Slightly downhill (yay running!) to a col full of sheep shit and an armada of flies preventing any kind of relaxation for a short break, uphill straight after to the top of Black Mixen. The path was steep at first but then flattened out and the soft ground made for good progress of the running kind. Done enough walking so far.

Views were lovely still and I enjoyed them at the top for a well earned lunch break. A steady light breeze helped me cool down a bit, but the place wasn't inviting enough for a longer stay.

Really loved the next bit. A faint path led slightly downhill, the soft and almost bouncy ground made for great running, but winding it's way through a field of heather I bumpy enough to be great fun, I had to stay concentrated to not twist an ankle. After all there was not a soul in sight.

Reached another plantation and as I made my way over to the hulk of Great Rhos I actually met someone. A man walked the other way, said "Hi", then a pause, then "Wow...". And walked on. Felt well chuffed at that. In my cool trail running gear and all and running most of all. Didn't tell him I had walked most of the steep uphill. Hrhrhr.

Great Rhos top was marked by a trig point and after all easy to find. A see of heather surrounding it just like Bache Hill, but at least there was a nice bouncy path through it. Well, that was it, just had to get down now.
Followed the path as it was, but somehow got lost in the danger zone of the nearby shooting range. Ah! Danger! Somehow the path had turned into a sheeps track once more. So had to freelance down a steep slope upsetting a lot of sheep chilling there to climb over the fence at the bottom (long legs for the win). Phew.

Found  the path again and followed it all the way back down into New Radnor. Quite a lovely grassy and steep downhill bit that must be a killer going up. Splashed some spare water into my face, ah the relief!!! Back at the car after just under 10 miles (15k+) and over 1000m of ascent. Had taken me 2 hours 45mins excluding lunch break. Not bad at all.

Sat at the car for a bit sipping some recovery sports drink, splashing more water over my legs and arms.
After all a great day out. Some bits had been a bit meh, other bits great fun. It all had worked out pretty well. I had run the bits I could run and walked the bits that were just too steep. No shame in that. Still had taken time to take some photos or have a wee snack. It hadn't been a race or anything.
I think I'll do more of these. It's a bit hit and miss if you don't know the route or area and you may end up looking for the right path or have to walk a bit etc. But it's still worth it and you can explore so much more by just running instead of walking.

Back to Bristol in about 2 hours, unpacked, showered etc. Feel quite knackered now after two great days up in mid Wales. Go there if you're after outdoor adventures without the places being overrun by people.

Now, where exactly are you?

That's what Rich texted me last night when I was chilling at Elan Oaks campsite. I told him,  that I was just West of Rhayader and he still had no bloody clue.

To me and probably a lot of other hill walkers the space between the Brecon Beacons in South Wales and Snowdonia in North Wales is pretty much non existent. I've driven through this big area called Mid Wales a few times on my way to Snowdonia and every time I felt a bit lost. An endless undulating journey through  countless grey Welsh villages.

But there are places worth visiting if you dare to look for them. The prospect of two free days with Rich away on a boys weekend, made me look. Look at the map for some Welsh 2000s I have not yet climbed. And indeed I found five of them just East and West of said Rhayader.

Today I climbed the first two. Pitched in the rain at Elan Oaks campsite East of Rhayader Friday afternoon after a two and a half hour drive from Bristol.

Rhayader

A lazy overcast morning turned brighter as I took my time cooking breakfast. Headed into Rhayader first for a coffee and a wander around before heading back the same away and deeper into Elan Valley.

The place is a hidden gem. Ten minutes off the main A road you have hills rising left and right and rivers, reservoirs and dams in between.

It was overcast and muggy when I started my walk and heading slightly uphill in a broad path laid out with small slate chips, I already had sweat running down my back.
The path turned into a proper narrow grassy one half an hour later as I wound my way up a valley.

The scenery here is far from spectacular, but its barren absence of striking features bears a solemn dignity in its own.  This is a place for people who don't need to be entertained, who don't need the next thrill every five minutes. It's for those of us who like peace and quiet and nature in whatever shape it presents itself.

But places like this come with challenges still. The challenge of finding a/the path for instance. All too often you wander along a perfectly visible one, deep immersed in your own thoughts and all.of a sudden it's gone. You look back, yes there it is, you just came along it, you look forward and nothing. Just endless undulating hillside and grass.

Or you know you have to turn right, even your two GPS devices say so, but there surely is no path.  This is what happened to me an hour into the walk. Map said I'm in the right place, GPS said so,  reality didn't. Well, I went right (West actually) anyway labouring through endless knee deep grass with who knows what hidden by its green and yellow leaves. Oh and it was wet, too.
Keeping my eyes peeled all I could see were faint sheep's paths. Well better than wet grass, so I kept to those until I eventually saw what looked like a path well South of where it was on the map. Headed for it, stepped into a hidden hole, fell onto my knees, kept going. This stuff happens. Just doesnt look very elegant, haha.

On the path finally I was back on track for my first Welsh 2000 of the day: Drygarn Fawr. A steady breeze had set in, which was quite welcome and just after mid day I arrived at the top. Lengthy lunch break with views all the way to the Brecon Beacons. I could clearly make out Pen y Fan.

Drygarn with its two massive summit cairns in the distance

Distant Brecon Beacons

I could also see my next objective from here: Gorllwyn. Headed back down the nice path with boots and socks still wet from my grassy detour all the way to the main path and crossed straight over to head up to Gorllwyn. Map and GPS were absolutely certain that there was no path.  No. Yet there it was on the ground. Loosely following some wooden poles.

Great. Easy peasy,  I was loving this. And this was supposed to be the difficult part. Ha! Could already see the summit cairn to my right and bang... path gone. Like what the heck I was just on it a second ago. Screw it,  I freelanced to the top through crunchy bog. Gosh, don't wanna do this in the wet,  you'll sink in to your knees here.
Views at the top were... well, vast. There was just a lot of nothingness between anything of note in the distance. 

Time for the home stretch. Quick map check and I found a faint path heading into the right direction. Thank you, I'll take that.
I had already walked 17k, but still felt fresh. Saw a small llyn where the map showed a proper path again. Since I had just lost mine once more, I freelanced to it along some more sheep's paths, no problem.

And again nothing on the ground where the map said. Uh, well. Started walking into the general direction and eventually found something that could well be a path. Checked the map regularly just to make sure I was not following the wrong lead,  I eventually saw the valley and the river again from where I had started. Only had to circumvent a farm where the owner had decided that the path was not going through this time.

Made it back to the car around 4:30pm after having walked 22k today. Brilliant walk, but not for the beginner. I wouldn't want to do this in bad visibility or wet conditions. Had to keep my concentration up most of the time just to make sure I was headed the right way.
Back at the campsite at 5pm, I found it a lot busier. There's a party going on at one end,  luckily not at mine. I have a family with two young kids. Take that any time over party people.

Off to Radnor Forest tomorrow for another three Welsh 2000s... trail running this time!

One For the Road

Wainwrights: Great Mell Fell

Last day today for us as the weather tomorrow doesn't look too good and even today thunderstorms were forecasted for the afternoon.

Had a nice morning actually with a bit of sun and no wind at all, you could tell that something was brooding. Fells in the haze and all sorts of cloud formations in the sky and above all it felt really thick again.
Got up at six, I simply couldn't sleep anymore. Just sat in the porch whilst Rich was blissfully asleep.
Eventually cooked up another one of those glorious breakfast baps, and drove off East for a wee walk. The weather looked least menacing this way.

Turned off the busy A66 at Troutbeck heading South. Then left onto a minor road for a few minutes. Dumped the car alongside the road next to our path up the hill and started our walk around 11am.

As warm and humid as it was,  we were soon sweating again as the grassy path led along a wood and then onto the open hill side. Views were quite lovely again despite the haze. The cluster of hills around Glenridding and Ullswater was very impressive and we could even make out Helvellyn.

After only 37 mins we were at the top of this lovely wee fell. 360 degree views were the reward of the sweaty ascent.  The whole Blencathra range was looming in the not so far distance. Sharp Edge just about visible.  Flat farmland to the North and East a nice change of scenery.

Heading up to the top of Great Mell Fell

Blencathra range 

Ullswater fells

Walked down after a short break and were back at the car at noon. We both didn't really fancy bagging Little Mell Fell, so we drove back to the camp site, chilled or snoozed (I was sooo tired! Fell asleep instantly.) and had a shower.

Then headed down into town with thunder rolling in the distance, but we never actually got into any of the thunderstorms.  Boo.
Had coffee and crepes and just wandered around a bit. Went to the butcher once more where we were recognised from the days before and had a nice chat with the guy behind the counter.
Bought some of the gorgeous black pudding sausages, more smoked bacon and some garlic steaks.
Next stop cheese deli. Somehow managed not to spend a ridiculous amount of money.
Some aimless wandering around the numerous outdoor shops with nothing special in mind.

Just having a couple of pints now before heading to the Dog and Gun pub to have some of their famed goulash.

What a fantastic time we've had once more in the Lake District. Didn't do any of the long circular routes ticking off half a dozen hills or so. Instead we had slightly shorter walks and enjoyed every minute of it.
I still got to bag quite a few Wainwrights, having now done a third of the 214.

There is still so much to do and explore up here in the Northern part of the Lake District. Castlerigg Campsite was once more a pretty nice, convenient and affordable place to stay. We can easily come back here two or three more times before we can truly say we've done most of what there is to do.

Leaving tomorrow with no hurry. We still have all of Sunday to acclimatise back at home before the working life hits us again. Every day routine, whilst thinking of Lakeland fells.

Shooting from the hip and hitting bulls eye

Wainwrights: Grange Fell, Castle Crag

Weather was going to be iffy today, so we had no real plan in the morning. Clouds were very low. Probably as low as 300m in places so we took our time in the morning cooking up some more gorgeous black pudding sausages from the local butcher. Along with smoked streaky bacon, an egg each and some cheese we had the most glorious breakfast bap!

Into town we went to get some more stuff from the same butcher and make plans over a coffee. The cloud wasn't lifting much yet, so we decided to drive the 15mins down along Derwent Water into Borrowdale and head up two of the lower fells there. Much of the 10k loop would be sheltered and we had options to cut the walk short too.

Apparently, having the National Trust badge in the car is no longer enough to park for free,  you now need to scan your membership card at the machine. Too bad I didn't mine. Duh. We also couldn't come up with £6 in cash (coins). Who does these days?! So we left the Bowder Stone car park and parked up in a layby around the corner... for free. Clock said quarter to 2pm.

Through woodland we walked and once we left the National Trust property and joined  another foot path we were all alone. Up we went through light woods on a grassy and rocky path. It was so humid... We were drenched in sweat only a few minutes into the climb. Views towards Rosthwaite and beyond were getting better the higher we got.
Glaramara was dominating the scene and I remembered the endless slog I had endured at the end of a very long day clambering over its many summits trying to find the way down into the valley. It's a behemoth of a mountain that on its own would surely get the attention it deserves but right in the middle of so many other big names is probably often overlooked.

Quick break taking it all in

Anyway, we were on the even more overlooked "minor" fells and all the folks that queue up the likes of Scafell Pike or the Old Man surely miss out on something great here.
We dropped out of the trees and climbed the last bit up to King's How. Not a Wainwright, not on any ticklist  I know, and a hell of a great climb up here and a killer view over Derwent Water all the way to Keswick with the Skiddaw Range behind it. Fantastic little fell that one!

View from King's How towards Keswick

Through typical British hill side we went over to Grange Fell. Lots of lumps and bumps, heather and rock. We loved every bit of it!
The top of Grange Fell was a playground for scrambling, left and right of the path rose a handful of rocky outcrops begging to be climbed.
We had some fun for a bit and eventually rejoined the main path again. Down we went alongside some more woods and down into Rosthwaite for some afternoon sandwiches and a lager shandy at the local hotel restaurant.

It simply doesn't look like that in perfect sunshine.

On Grange Fell

Heading down to Roswaithe

It was already 5pm when we left after a surprisingly good small meal.
Up the not so steep grassy slope towards Castle Crag on the other side of the valley we went and joined a broad gravel path turning North back towards Derwent Water. More stunning views opened up. What a varied walk again!
I was keen on bagging Castle Crag and we veered off the main path to tick it off. Would've been a shame not to, since we were already here.

We were not expecting the huge pile of sleet we found not far from the top. What the...?! Up we went on a path winding through all that sleet only to find something of an outdoor art gallery at the next plateau. People had not only built piles of sleet but had also erected slates along the path and built all sorts of installations.
It was just weird and special and something we absolutely didn't expect. You choose a route on the map and it looks nice, but it doesn't prepare you for this! Just awesome!

Sleet, so much sleet!

 On Castle Crag

An art installation on Castle Crag

Cautiously we made our way down to the main path again, and were back in woodland soon after.
Rich found and easy crossing of the river dropping us out at the road where we parked much sooner than going around the long way. Saved us maybe 20mins.

It was already just before 7pm. Love those long days of daylight.
What an amazing little walk we had! 10.5k with such varied landscape. And we had only just made it up over a coffee.

Seems like you simply can't go wrong in the Lakes. Pick any walk from the map. Seriously anything. And you get something great. Today was probably one of the best days I've had so far up here. Maybe because I now simply enjoy what I've got and am not desperately after ticking off hills. I've also realised that you often get a much more epic view from lower hills. Seeing the big ones in dramatic light today was amazing. And feeling like you found something special in King's Fell, Grange Fell and Castle Crag. Cracker of a day, especially when it didn't look like it at all in the morning!

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.