Mires Beck and Lanty's Tarn. Sounds impressive. Well it was, and we loved it. We climbed up 350 metres, on a well built and maintained path. No clambering over huge rocks for us.
First of all we drove over a very high pass, from Windermere to Ullswater and parked in the carpark in Glenridding. The carparks in the Lake District are not free, by the way, so it is important to always make sure a car parking ticket is purchased before each walk. The cost is roughly about £7 per day. A source of local income.
After packing our lunches and four bottles of water into my rucksack, we set off, the intrepid four, Walter, Nola, Jackson and Isabel. Emma and Steve were undertaking a much more ambitious walk, but more about that later.
After leaving the carpark, and walking along a lane, we found the path that went uphill. This path was easy to find as a) it was well built, b) it was going uphill, and c) the sign pointed to Helvellyn, the third highest peak in the Lake District. Not that we were going there. The pictures, seen in the travel book, of the final ascent, were very off putting, especially in the snow. And there was snow up there. I could see it.
The picture below shows the path as it went downhill. The gradient here was minimal. The best was yet to come. We looked up and saw people way above us. A long climb ahead. Breathe deeply. Or puff, puff, puff.
We crossed a beck. A lovely shallow stream. The beck appeared a few times as we climbed the hill, or at least I think it was the same beck. Mires Beck?
One of our many, many rest stops on the way up. Any excuse for a chocolate stop.
A view over the open fells.
An even better view of Ullswater, and its surrounding fell land. The ever changing colours, caused by the sunlight and clouds, were magnificent.
And finally we are at the top, and it is lunchtime. I found a very comfortable spot on mossy grass surrounded by a curved rock. Just like an armchair. Walter, Jackson and Isabel perched on rocks. And the views were just amazing. One could sit there all day. Luckily we did not do so, otherwise we would have been very wet people.
So up or down? The path continues up beside the wall, and climbs up onto moorland and Red Tarn. Not too far, a mother, father and young son informed me. They were heading for Red Tarn. But not for us this time. We followed the wall down, via the grassy slope. Keep the wall on your right, the instructions said. And we did. Just as well we could use the wall as a guide, as the paths went every where, mostly sheep tracks I think.
And before we left we took one last look at the view of the Helvellyn range. Can we see Steve and Emma up there? Walter was sure he could see people walking along the top. And not shown in the picture but right at my feet, is a dead sheep, only wool and bones now. Jackson and Isabel were fascinated. Sorry I forgot to take a photo.
There are also no pictures of Lanty's Tarn, due to bypassing it, accidentally. We became a little confused by the number of tracks, and followed the wrong one. Typical.
And finally the walk was over, and we went into a cafe for coffee and hot chocolate. Jackson had an extra large cup. He felt like he deserved it.
And he did too.
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