Patterdale to Bampton

I met up with David and Sarah last night. They very kindly asked me to accompany them to the very swank Inn on the Lake which was beside Ullswater Inn for supper. It was fun exchanging stories of our adventures.

Today was a wonderful day weather wise as there was no rain or fog and there were some sunny bits. Today was going to be the last day in the Lake district so of course it entailed hiking out of one valley across a high ridge called Kidsty Pike and back down into the next valley. Kidsty Pike will be the highest elevation that we reach on this trip at 780 metres. All told I was in for 21.5 km of hiking and a total of 1100 metres of elevation gain.

I got up early and had breakfast and was on my way by 8:15 am. Fortuitously I met the three Acock brothers also leaving the Inn so I joined up with them. Tim had previously hiked this route on a trip to the Lake District so he knew where we were going. Obviously a good person to follow. It was quite a steep hike out of Patterdale to the Angle tarn before leveling out 2 km before the final push to the top. Dawn the solo Scottish hiker caught up to us on our walk up to the pike. We had last seen her 2 days before on Calf Crag so we were happy to see her again. From the top of the pike, the view was spectacular and I think we all shared a feeling of accomplishment. After a snack and some photos we headed down the steepest part of the C2C trail to Haweswater reservoir. We followed along the shore for a couple of hours undulating up and down on the path which added to the elevation gain for the day. At the end of the reservoir I had to say goodbye to my hiking companions as I was heading off to Bampton 1.5 k off the trail and the Acock brothers and Dawn were heading another 5 km to Shap. They will in the next 2 days hike what I will hike in the next three days. The Acock brothers will end their trip in Kirby Stephan while Dawn will continue on and finish the hike in another 7 days while I will take 9 days. I have really appreciated hiking with the Acock brothers. They were great companions for the first 5 days of the hike. Having someone to hike at the same pace as I hike made the time go by much more quickly and enjoyably. Hopefully I will connect with some other hikers over the next 9 days of the trip.

I hiked off the trail 1.5 km to Bampton and easily found the Mardale Inn where I will staying tonight. I am in the Annex down from the Inn so I am hoping for a quiet night as after 21.5 k and 1100 metres of elevation gain, I am quite tired.

I think that I have been very lucky for the last five days with the weather. I have only had rain towards the end of Day 2 when hiking into Rosthwaite but otherwise have had no rain. I think hiking up ridges, crags and pikes in the Lake District if it were raining would have made the last 5 days much more challenging and hardly as much fun.Läs mer