Lakeland Birthday Trip

After a day of Instructing at the Climbing Wall on Anglesey, I got picked up and taken to the Lake District! We arrived just after dark at a fine residence on the banks of Esthwaite Water, just south of Hawkshead. After a night of merriment, chat and fine dining with the crew, we awoke to the view of a rainbow over the lake.

Climbing was going to be off the menu, with plenty of heavy showers forecast, but we were still keen to get out and up into the mountains. After a quick study of the map, Clare spotted then suggested that we make an ascent of the not so big 'Big Hill' on the side of the Old Man of Coniston.

Using a bit of inside knowledge, we drove up to the top car park and managed to stay dry while we walked up. It wasn't that windy, so we took a brolly to stay dry as well as our waterproofs, which got us a few strange looks!

After passing Big Hill, a few major squalls blew through while we sheltered by some old quarry workings.

Back down, in Ambleside the sun came back out as we strolled around a few shops and made asome 'pre-birthday' purchases.

Amazingly, it actually dried up enough to have a cuppa (and millionaire shortbread) at an outside cafe by the river. (although it did rain hard in the end, we were sheltered by a big umbrella).

Before heading home to meet the guys for dinner, we stopped off at the northern end of Lake Coniston and went for a sunset swim. The water felt pretty cold at first but was ok once we got going. The light out on the water was magical. We were surrounded by new views, big mountains, blue skies and storm clouds. Bobbing around in the middle of the lake made for a memorable end to a day.