It’s Wednesday; we had a good rest day in Grasmere and it is time to hit the trail again. Today, we hiked from Grasmere over to Patterdale. It looked like pretty warm weather, so we got an early start.

Miles completed today: 9.65. Total miles completed so far: 48.7. Miles remaining: 141.3.

We are heading up this beautiful valley and over the pass that you can see at the top. It is a gorgeous morning and we had the trail to ourselves.

We are beginning our climb. The trail is rocky, but not nearly as difficult as a couple days ago. There is a nice cool breeze blowing.

We can see the top now. Ooh, it looks pretty steep.

Here is a beautiful waterfall and a nice Herdwick sheep. This is my sheep of the day picture. If you have been reading these blogs and paying attention, you will know that this is a 1 year old Herdwick. A chocolate brown fleece with white head and feet. They are called “hoggs” at this point in their lives.

We have clambered up to the first summit and Janet is smiling widely. The second picture shows the climb continuing. It seems like I am almost always last.

And now the reward. This is Griesdale Tarn. A tarn is a lake completely encircled by mountains, just like this one. It was beautiful and our lunch spot for today. A good reward for our climb.

The poet, William Wordsworth lived in Grasmere and would hike up here to meet his brother who hiked up from the other side. When they parted, William would stand on this stone and watch his brother descend the path and wave to him. This is known as The Parting Stone. When his brother died, William engraved the stone with the following verse.

“Here did we stop; and here looked round
While each into himself descends,
For that last thought of parting friends
That is not to be found.

Brother and friend, if verse of mine
Have power to make thy virtues known,
Here let a monumental Stone
Stand – sacred as a Shrine.”

There were beautiful pools in the beck (stream) as we descended from the top.

These are Banded Galloway cattle. They are naturally suited to life in the fells. We will see lots of them as we continue. We thought they might be called “Oreo Cows.”

And this is our delightful little Crookabeck B & B for the evening. The gardens are so nice. And they served us these deli platters. Delicious!

Another wonderful day in the Lakes District National Park. We are amazed at how far we have already walked. Tomorrow is a really big day. Eleven miles and almost 2,800 feet of elevation gain. It will be a real work out.

So it might only be 8:00, but it’s time for bed.

God bless,
Coe