Lake District Holiday - Day 2

31 May 2009 – Sunday

Our first full day in the Lakes.

The day was hot and sunny, reaching around 25C, and we decided to go and walk Catbells, which is a circular fell walk. When we got there we had a bit of a struggle to find parking, as it is just any spot that is off the road! As the roads are narrow, there are not many spots to park. We eventually found a good spot off the road, and in very deep shade (which was needed). It was also only about ½ mile from the start of Catbells, which was handy.

We headed off walking up Catbells. Wow – the scenery was so stunning! The walk ascended quite quickly, and the views became better and better as we went up. The walk was lovely, and at 4 miles (6.4km), not too far, but very steep (up and down) in places. Catbells ascends 1150ft (350m).
We reached the top, and stopped to take in the view and have our lunch. We then went down the other side (steep again), and walked along the lake front in a lovely cool forest.
The only downside was the amount of people up Catbells, as it was a lovely weekend (weather wise) it was like a train station both going up and once up there! The forest was very quiet though – I am not sure where everyone else went, but we were glad they went elsewhere.




Dave on the way up, that is Derwent Water behind him, which we walked next to when we went back down. You can just see a bit of the path behind and below him.



The first picture shows the view off to the opposite side to the water.
The second shows Derwent Water and the path back down into the forest.

I am happy to say my knee did magnificently – I had no pain or problems at all.

On our way home in the car, we stopped at a little dairy farm and had an ice-cream (made on the premises). Then we went into Kendal and walked around the main shopping square. We did not stay long, as most of the shops were closed (it was Sunday).

We headed back to the apartment, relaxed for a while, and then walked into town to have dinner at an Italian Vegetarian restaurant.
Fianlly we went back to the apartment for an early night (too much fresh air!)