One of my favorite things about going for walks in the desert southwest is the three dimensional nature of said walking. Yes the landscape is beautiful, but the extra magic comes in the form of the outdoor museum - the history of people who've come before. Often, simple day hikes are undertaken simply to see some elaborate (or simple?) rock art or a ruin. These remnants of another time add a quality that elevates the outing from something other than simply a scenic jaunt.
So its no surprise that this walk was so meaningful to me. Old churches, graveyards, ruins, . dot the 192 mile path bisecting the northern UK putting the walk into an altogether other category.
There are a lot of different ways to do this walk. Cam and I couldn't get away long enough to do the 4+ weeks a slow pace requires, while my parents - both retired - had ample time to do it right, including the tradition of taking a small pebble from the east coast and carrying it to the west coast below.
This trip was anything but rugged. The whole hike can be done (as we did) as a series of walks of varying distance from one B&B to another. The mornings would start with a large breakfast and the hike would end as we came down off the fells to some quaint Lake District town where we'd walk into a pub, order a few pints of beer, rehash the highlights then walk a few blocks to where we would sleep. Pack weight was minimal as an established shuttle system takes "luggage" from one location to the next. Hot showers, gourmet food, cold beer, and great scenery. One could get used to traveling like this.......
A few days in we reached the western border of the Lake District. The following 4 days of walking were sublime.
Maybe the highlight memory of the summer was sitting here with my folks and Cam. Ten or so miles and a good deal of climbing brought us here.
And in the evening we'd drop back down into another charming village tucked into the rolling green hills.
Roughing it.
Our days passed in repeating form. We'd walk in the morning, climb out of the lowlands and take a good long lunch up high. Each day in town we'd replenish the designate booze bottle with Vodka for these planned stops. Long afternoons spent gazing out on a landscape far removed from what I have become so accustomed to traveling.
Arriving at the eastern boder of the Lake District it was tough to say goodbye as the previous days had been such an incredibly enjoyable way to experience a new locale. We look forward to coming back and finishing the route .
