Waking to a clearer and drier day we were even more grateful for having had our rest day yesterday. After a good breakie and getting our left over cheese (from last nights cheese board) and some free bread we headed back out into the trail.
At 14km and 600m it was a shortish one but involved 2hours of ascent straight out of Grasmere. Despite some huffing and puffing along the way, the climb actually went by pretty quickly, following country roads and gravel track up into the valley, (catching a sheep farmer and his dog actually hearding sheep with lots of different whistles and noises), then bendy rocky tracks, often with water running down them, the further up we went. This meant some stunning waterfalls though, and hidden tarns (‘lakes) between the peaks as we made it up and over into the next one. Most of the ascent then done, it was all down hill from there, following the winding path down, stepping over streams of water.
Wed also been enjoying some sunshine , and it remained warm when overcast with just a couple of brief showers. Carrying less water today, knowing we could filter some from the many
rivers, we pulled over to do sojust as the rain shower started again and got heavy! Seeing we were in a thick cloud of rain we quickly pulled on the waterproofs, trousers and all, and after topping up some water carried on. Whilst this downpour did dampen my mood a little, it wasnt long til the sun was back and our waterproofs dried out quickly. A relaxed lunch stop by the bottom of the river helped lift my mood again, fancy cheese & bread with some left over gingerbread fudge, and we continued happily following the path along the river, past woodlands, and over streams into Patterdale.
Pitching up at Side Farm Camping, next to Ullswater, we showered and changed, made a cuppa and a new friend (German girl, just doing day hikes), and ate with her at the near by pub in Glenridding. Lots of walkers but no obvious new C2C trekkers today, maybe tomorrow.
