I spent this weekend in the lake district, or more specifically, Hawkshead. It was by far my most naturey trip yet, so if you are in to that sort of thing, hit the jump.
Weirdo.
Here is a handy interactive map of England. Imagine that! The A is where I am studying, and the B is where I stayed this weekend. It was around 200 miles away.
View Larger Map
It became quickly apparent that we would be seeing lots of sheep on this trip. So excuse the plethora of Caprinae pictures.
Our hostel was nothing to shout about. It wasnt bad, but I'm not sure the *** rating was adequate, unless the stars were actually letters of a particular word being censored.
We arrived Thursday night at around midnight or so. We decided maybe it was better to wait to the next morning to do any adventuring. So, at the crack of dawn, or 3 or 4 ours after... we hitched a ride into Ambleside, and started walking. our first journey led us to a small trail that went up a road and along some waterfalls.
The stream wasnt particularly fast moving, but it did remind me somewhat of the creeks from back home, which was nice. This did take some pretty dramatic falls, but we had to walk a little farther uphill to see that.
It was very picturesque once we finally got to the top.
When we got to the top, a bridge crossed the stream, which is where this picture is taken from.
On the way down, we walked on the other side of the stream, and surprisingly, the view was much different. It may have been an entirely different stream, I dont know. I wasnt paying much attention, as the trail was slippery.
It is at this point that I have to note something. While the green grass may make it seem like a warm summers day, this is by far one of the coldest trips I've gone on so far. While it wasnt nearly as cold as Stonehenge, it did rain nearly the whole time we were there. Luckily, hiking constantly kept us warm, but we still felt it.
I kept seeing these stumps where people would hammer in coins. It made it look a lot like a lichen growing on the top.
Accident waiting to happen
The water was very clear, and very very very very cold.
There seemed to be streams coming from every direction.
Dont tell me how to live, signs!
After wandering around town, we found our trip sponsors and decided to follow them with the assumption they knew where they were going.
They didnt really, but eventually they decided to climb a 'small' mountain, so we followed.
Sheep really do like to stare at you.
It had some lovely gardens and architecture which was somewhat reminiscent of Harlaxton.
It was after the hall, that we began our long climb upwards.
It didnt look that high from the bottom, so I wasnt worried about our apparel or the weather.
we got about half way up and stopped to eat candy and soak in the view.
After a good 15 minutes, our sponsors left to go do other things, but we vowed to reach the top.
As it turned out, each time we reached the top, there was another top just ahead.
Apparently fence building is not high on some peoples skill list.
The higher we got, the more sheep we found.
through the mist you can see windemere lake, which you can find on the map above.
Eventually we did reach the very top. About that time it started to pour rain (hence the mist). So we hastened down the now very slick mountain. We ended climbing about 1500 feet above ground level. Which is roughly the same prominence as Longs Peak in Colorado.
We did notice that not everyone was dressed in nice clothes though. We considered ourselves similar to the Victorian explorers of Africa. Nice clothes, no water or food, and a gentlemanly attitude, rather than wearing plastic and carrying our houses around with us.
Almost back down to the bottom!
When we got back down, we took a different road back into town.
A scary road.
Mountain warehouse. for all your mountain building needs.
For lunch (3pm) we ate at the most delicious Thai place ever.
After that we staggered back to the Hostel for a birthday party. Eventually we built up enough energy to go out and have some drinks in Hawkshead.
The next morning we were going to go mountain climbing (again). and in the afternoon kayaking.
Because it was a group tour, and everyone (but me seemingly) was concerned about rain, this was my view for much of the tour. I kept my distance.
When I did manage to catch a glimpse, the views we were seeing were vary different of those from the previous day. While those had been tall gentle mountains with nice lakes, this was more rocky. Although we only climbed to around half the height, it felt like we were at 10,000 feet just by looking at the rocky outcrops.
There used to be a copper mine on these mountains, so the valleys are littered with these rubble piles.
Around this time, It started snowing. Which was fun! And it continued to snow for the rest of the day, though its hard to see in most of the pictures.
We sort of wandered off from the group, and found this cave, which went very deep into the side of the mountain.
There were bottomless pits and all sorts of interesting cave features.
It was nice to get out of the snow anyway.
Snow and mountains and water. There were lots of opportunities to pose while we waited on the group.
You could start to see the snow collect on the top of the mountains, and by the time we were out on the lake kayaking, they were white.
yeah.... I wasnt cold. stylish, but not cold.
After some more posing, we started on the remarkably fast trip down.
Well, some of us were going down.
The next morning, we set out for home. fortunately we were sitting in the front seats on the top row of a double decker bus, so I was able to take lots of blurry pictures.
We stopped Windemere for an early lunch.
Lots and lots of caravans for such a cold weekend.
This man at the gas station apparently is trying the new fashion sense of buying an item of clothing from every single decade.
Home sweet Home.....
View Larger Map
It became quickly apparent that we would be seeing lots of sheep on this trip. So excuse the plethora of Caprinae pictures.
Our hostel was nothing to shout about. It wasnt bad, but I'm not sure the *** rating was adequate, unless the stars were actually letters of a particular word being censored.
We arrived Thursday night at around midnight or so. We decided maybe it was better to wait to the next morning to do any adventuring. So, at the crack of dawn, or 3 or 4 ours after... we hitched a ride into Ambleside, and started walking. our first journey led us to a small trail that went up a road and along some waterfalls.
The stream wasnt particularly fast moving, but it did remind me somewhat of the creeks from back home, which was nice. This did take some pretty dramatic falls, but we had to walk a little farther uphill to see that.
It was very picturesque once we finally got to the top.
When we got to the top, a bridge crossed the stream, which is where this picture is taken from.
It is at this point that I have to note something. While the green grass may make it seem like a warm summers day, this is by far one of the coldest trips I've gone on so far. While it wasnt nearly as cold as Stonehenge, it did rain nearly the whole time we were there. Luckily, hiking constantly kept us warm, but we still felt it.
I kept seeing these stumps where people would hammer in coins. It made it look a lot like a lichen growing on the top.
Accident waiting to happen
The water was very clear, and very very very very cold.
There seemed to be streams coming from every direction.
Dont tell me how to live, signs!
After wandering around town, we found our trip sponsors and decided to follow them with the assumption they knew where they were going.
They didnt really, but eventually they decided to climb a 'small' mountain, so we followed.
Sheep really do like to stare at you.
On the way up the hill, we found a historic hall. I know nothing about it, simply because I didnt read the sign. feel free to zoom in and educate yourself though.
It had some lovely gardens and architecture which was somewhat reminiscent of Harlaxton.
It was after the hall, that we began our long climb upwards.
It didnt look that high from the bottom, so I wasnt worried about our apparel or the weather.
we got about half way up and stopped to eat candy and soak in the view.
After a good 15 minutes, our sponsors left to go do other things, but we vowed to reach the top.
As it turned out, each time we reached the top, there was another top just ahead.
Apparently fence building is not high on some peoples skill list.
The higher we got, the more sheep we found.
through the mist you can see windemere lake, which you can find on the map above.
Eventually we did reach the very top. About that time it started to pour rain (hence the mist). So we hastened down the now very slick mountain. We ended climbing about 1500 feet above ground level. Which is roughly the same prominence as Longs Peak in Colorado.
We did notice that not everyone was dressed in nice clothes though. We considered ourselves similar to the Victorian explorers of Africa. Nice clothes, no water or food, and a gentlemanly attitude, rather than wearing plastic and carrying our houses around with us.
Almost back down to the bottom!
When we got back down, we took a different road back into town.
A scary road.
Mountain warehouse. for all your mountain building needs.
For lunch (3pm) we ate at the most delicious Thai place ever.
After that we staggered back to the Hostel for a birthday party. Eventually we built up enough energy to go out and have some drinks in Hawkshead.
The next morning we were going to go mountain climbing (again). and in the afternoon kayaking.
Because it was a group tour, and everyone (but me seemingly) was concerned about rain, this was my view for much of the tour. I kept my distance.
When I did manage to catch a glimpse, the views we were seeing were vary different of those from the previous day. While those had been tall gentle mountains with nice lakes, this was more rocky. Although we only climbed to around half the height, it felt like we were at 10,000 feet just by looking at the rocky outcrops.
There used to be a copper mine on these mountains, so the valleys are littered with these rubble piles.
Around this time, It started snowing. Which was fun! And it continued to snow for the rest of the day, though its hard to see in most of the pictures.
We sort of wandered off from the group, and found this cave, which went very deep into the side of the mountain.
There were bottomless pits and all sorts of interesting cave features.
It was nice to get out of the snow anyway.
Snow and mountains and water. There were lots of opportunities to pose while we waited on the group.
You could start to see the snow collect on the top of the mountains, and by the time we were out on the lake kayaking, they were white.
yeah.... I wasnt cold. stylish, but not cold.
After some more posing, we started on the remarkably fast trip down.
Well, some of us were going down.
Feeling pleased with myself.
After that, we went kayaking, which I have no pictures of because it was too wet for a camera. Which in retrospect was a good decision, because many people tipped over into the freezing lake. I didnt. But some did. Just imagine 15 or so giant pieces of ice floating around a lake for three hours, and you'll get a pretty good idea. After that though, we rode back to the hostel and dried out for a few hours. later that night, we went back into town, and did what we do best, represented by this picture.
The next morning, we set out for home. fortunately we were sitting in the front seats on the top row of a double decker bus, so I was able to take lots of blurry pictures.
We stopped Windemere for an early lunch.
signs....
Lots and lots of caravans for such a cold weekend.
This man at the gas station apparently is trying the new fashion sense of buying an item of clothing from every single decade.
Finally we returned to a slightly snow dusted Harlaxton.
Home sweet Home.....
Well there ya have it. As usual, comments and things are welcome.
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