Our Cumbrian Summer

Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, the clouds which had persisted over our part of England parted and the sun finally emerged. Even more amazing, the clouds stayed away......for days and days and days. Summer had finally arrived in Cumbria! Last year we had a nice day or two every couple of weeks with the rest of the time being cool and cloudy. We never wore sandals, let alone shorts. This summer has been hot and humid, definitely "shorts and sandals" weather! We recently heard in the news that it was the nicest summer in the past 8 years. Scott and I had decided to stay in Britain this summer and see a bit more of our beautiful adopted country. As it turned out, it was a great decision! We actually live in one of the most popular vacation destinations in Great Britain: the Lake District. Beautiful lakes surrounded by tall mountains are a normal part of our scenery. Walking is a huge pastime in England, and there are all sorts of great walks one can take. Scott and I spent several weekends out and about in the fells walking, relaxing, and just enjoying being out in nature.

First up: Ennerdale Water
Ennerdale is the closest lake to our home in Whitehaven. It is a glacial lake, and is surrounded by some of Cumbria's tallest mountains. The circular path around Ennerdale is 6.5 miles long, and there are really no structures on the lake. It is in an area surrounded by farms, fells, and a few tiny little towns. Interesting to note, however, that it was here, at Ennerdale Water, that former President Bill Clinton proposed to Hillary!

This stream flows into the lake. 

Next: A trip to "Cat Bells" via "Maiden's Moor"
We have many friends who have told us about a wonderful walk that involves a bit of a fell climb, but nothing overly strenuous, called Cat Bells. On a beautiful Sunday afternoon we set out to do this walk. There are a couple of ways to access the path up Cat Bells, one of which involves taking a small boat over across Derwentwater. That's the option we decided on and we set off. We intended to just reach the top of Cat Bells, which would have been a nice easy climb. Somehow we ended up climbing to Maiden's Moor first, which is a bit farther along and higher. We did come over Cat Bells on our return and we were definitely not disappointed in either our walk or the views!

The boat to take us across the lake.

Our destination: Cat Bells!

Looking back along the climb. That lake is Derwentwater.

Well, we reached the ridge. Cat Bells behind me, Maiden's Moor, higher and more difficult, up in front.
Of course we chose to do Maiden's Moor first.

Beautiful views of the valley and fells beyond from near the top of Maiden's Moor.

We are standing on the top of Maiden's Moor! No, I don't have "hat head" or a new hairdo. The wind was really that ferocious up there! The views were definitely beautiful too!

One of "the locals" we passed on our way back down to Cat Bells.

Another "local" checking us out!

We reached the bottom, hot and tired, and realized that it was well after 5:00 p.m. on a Sunday. We began to get quite concerned that another boat might not be scheduled to arrive at our stop until the next day. It's a long walk into town from where we were too! Finally, a boat came into view and did, indeed, stop and pick us up. We later learned that it was the very last boat of the day! Whew! Glad we made it!

Looking back at Cat Bells as we pulled away from the dock.

 We took one more long walk. THAT one is more of an adventure and merits it's own blog entry, coming soon!