COAST to COAST WALK - DAY 4 Grasmere to Patterdale: 9 miles |
|
| You would think after 3
awful days and after some brightening up late yesterday
that today would be an improvement - absolutely no chance.
Today was to be the worst weather so far with the only
positives being that a) the strong winds were behind us
and b) we only had 9 miles to do. We walked it with just
a couple of brief stops. When we first set off after 09:00hrs
it was dry but after seeing the tops totally shrouded in
cloud we already had our overtrousers on - think we are
losing our optimistic attitude now. We stocked up with
some food from the village bakery before setting off and
then promptly bumped into the Kirkby Stephen gang again
as they set off for Borrowdale - we wished them luck and
warned them of the boggy conditions up there.
Helm Crag on the way out from Grasmere
Plod, plod up towards Grisdale Pass At least the conditions underfoot were far better today; this is a well used path and has been improved higher up and even where it hasn't the ground is a lot rockier which keeps your feet dry but can make it harder at times - you can't have it both ways! We just kept plodding upwards with our heads down eventually catching up with a mixed group of Brits and American Coast to Coasters. This group had slowly gathered themselves together since St Bees; when we left Shap for home they were all together setting off for another day eastwards. They will all be great friends by the time they get to Robin Hood's Bay. When we got to the top of Grisedale Pass and it's Tarn the wind was whipping across the water; it was pretty bleak up there.
Grisdale Tarn wasn't a place to be hanging around - straight down the other side we went We had a brief stop at 'hard rock cafe' which was luxury in that it was a huge boulder which we sheltered behind, out of the wind, and had ourselves a quick cup of coffee and a snack before heading on downwards. There were a few intrepid souls coming up as we descended; it was far tougher going for them. The ground got easier, it was more sheltered and then it actually started to brighten up and we saw blue sky and then it got warm and sunny - but only for an hour at most before it went downhill again.
Spot the blue sky as we got closer to Patterdale By the time we hit the road the sun had disappeared and it started to rain again so we retreated to the local cricket pavilion where we ate a late sandwich lunch under it's canopy. It was a short walk from here to the White Swan pub where we had a coffee and then we fancied a whisky - so we did. We returned here later for our evening meal and beers along with lots of other Coasters. Everybody sharing their experiences of the day. We sat chatting with Neil and Maddie who we first met back in that shelter at Sandwith.
Patterdale village - the large white building is the White Swan pub |
