Day 9 - Ambleside

Actual Distance Walked: 22km, Planned Distance: 18.5km,
Actual Time Taken: 6h, Planned Time: 5h 30m
# Times Lost: 2, # Times Fell Down: 2
Ascent: 1106m, Descent: 1189m
Beer: 1 pint Tirrils Red Barn Ale (You Can Drink It)

At least some of the extra distance was due to a planned detour to Grasmere for tea and gingerbread at about the 15km mark.  The weather was horrible today.  It was meant to be fine and not too windy in the morning but go off in the afternoon.  However, the clouds rolled in around 11am and the wind picked up.  Although, it never got so windy it made walking arduous (never a word you want to read in a weather forecast).  However, 11am was about when I started the climb up over the pass at Grisedale Tarn.  It has been raining on and off ever since.  Below is a photo of the fells I needed to climb up and over today.   The pass is somewhere in the dip largely obscured by clouds.

Below is a photo of the view back towards Glenridding before the weather went off.  As I was climbing up this slope (the first blip on the elevation chart) three lunatic cyclists came hooning down on some serious mountain bikes.   When I was gingerly making my way down the wet, slippery main descent I was passed by more lunatics.  This time these lunatics were running down the hill, bounding from rock to rock like mountain goats.  I'm not sure what appals me the most.  That they would run down such precipitous slopes or that they must have run up the other side!

Below is a photo of the mascot outside the Flying Fleece, the pub where I had dinner tonight.  Apologies for the rear view, not the most flattering angle, but it was raining so I just took the photo looking out the window.  I wasn't willing to stand in the street to get a better shot.  For dinner I had the housemade pate, then fish & chips with mushy peas and finally sticky toffee pudding.  It was all Harmless.

The evening was made more entertaining by a live musicial performance - a women with a guitar singing popular 80s hits.  She could carry a tune, but her timing was often out.  Still, everyone knew the songs and would sometimes sing along, even the dogs at times.

This was my last day walking in the Lake District.  Tomorrow I'm off to the Dales to walk the Dales High Way.  This walk is only rated Medium, until this Lakeland Round which was rated Difficult.  Perhaps my knees will forgive me sometime soon.