The Lake District

I had no idea England was home to mountain ranges, let alone the striking peaks encompassed by northern England’s Lake District National Park. The Lake District is the most visited national park in the United Kingdom, with more than 16 million people visiting each year, and is also home to Scafell Pike, the highest and most prominent mountain in England (with an elevation of 980 meters/3200 feet). Even though the elevation of the Lake District’s mountains pales in comparison to the ranges in Europe and North America, their bases close to sea level made for some incredible vistas along our hikes through the area and some pretty stark temperature changes as we explored.

Our longest hike was in the northern Lake District near the quaint village of Keswick, an almost 10 mile/16 kilometer loop to the peak of popular Cat Bells and onwards to another couple of summits: Maiden Moor and High Spy. It was a frigid 0.5°C/33°F when we parked the car at the trailhead in the early morning sun, bone chilling but so nice to have a day of clear blue skies, a rarity during the winter months in England. All of us had four or five layers on our torso – at least one of them down and a couple of wool ones to boot – which kept us warm for the duration of our walk. It was a mellow climb compared to some of the ascents we’d done on the European continent, the kids were kept busy with all the frozen puddles along the trail and the mesmerizing ice crystals that had formed overnight in the soil. Long hikes are always a nice way to converse with the kids, each of them usually pairing up with a parent for an hour-or-so at a time and chatting our ears off as we hike. Amazing to listen to what goes on in their heads and hear about the things they take away from each of our experiences along this journey… The ridge line towards our final destination of High Spy seemed to keep going up and up forever, but the time passed reasonably quickly with the stunning views to either side of the trail as well as the occasional sheep. It’s quite interesting in the UK how national parks are almost entirely situated on private land and accessed via public footpaths that crisscross the fields. Unlike countries like the US and Australia, which in the scheme of things are young countries, private land ownership in the UK existed centuries before the concept of national parks, so I guess the national parks setup in the UK isn’t entirely surprising.

We made a loop of our Cat Bells and High Spy climb, taking the steep descent back to the southern end of Derwentwater – one of the Lake District’s largest lakes – from High Spy and then along the edge of the quaint village of Grange in Borrowdale. We had stunning views of the mountains and lake on the way down, although the drenched soil made it tricky going: even with our hiking shoes, Lilia was the only one of us that didn’t end up on the ground at least once! Nearby Keswick – which was home to more outdoor stores than one could poke a stick at – was fun to explore post-hike. It was market day in town, with vendors hawking everything from cheap outdoor clothing to delectable baked goods and delicious local cheeses. Lisa and Lilia were hooked by a Keswick cheesemonger and bought some divine local cheddar blue and a goat cheese flavored with elderflower and covered in dried rose petals. Delicious! Oh, and of course a big hike like High Spy needed a good pub at the end: Keswick’s Dog and Gun fit the bill, some great local ales (the cask ales are growing on me). First time I’d ever seen an IPA with only 3.6% ABV!

I had to do some bargaining with the kids to get them out for another hike the day after our High Spy epic. But the winter months are such a roll of the dice with weather in England, so a second day without rain was too good to pass up. Our climb to South Top was much more remote than the prior day’s Cat Bells and High Spy adventure, a five mile/eight kilometer climb through the barren upper elevations of the Lake District mountains and into the snow covered crags around South Top and Gunson Knott. We only saw one other person on the way up, the views were equally as stunning as the day before but much more rugged than the vistas on our way to High Spy. There was considerably more ice along the path even though the ambient temp was quite a bit warmer: a balmy 7°C/45°F. But the winds ripping across the high elevation ridges made it feel much colder, I don’t think Lilia took off her down hood all day! South Top and Gunson Knott were in the fog at the top, and it was a little precarious climbing through the ice- and snow-covered crags to get to the summit. After being forced to eat lunch a couple of hundred feet below the top of Finstertaler Scharte in the Austrian Alps, Lisa and Max were not about to sit this one out and climbed up with me while Lilia hunkered down in a sheltered crag. At South Top’s peak we only stayed long enough for a quick photo in the sleet (one gob of which is on the camera lens right in front of my face in the family photo below) and then carefully made our way back to the trail. It sure was bone chilling, but so exhilarating up there. Wild Man was just feeding off the endorphins, I don’t think he stopped talking for the entire hike!

We spent our days in the Lake District shacked up in a cottage near the town of Windermere at the southern end of the national park. All the towns and villages were so charming with their slate-walled buildings all lit up for the Christmas season. We explored touristy Ambleside one afternoon following our climb to South Top, not quite as many outdoor stores as northern Keswick but still more than I could count. Ambleside was also home to quite a few classic English pubs, we enjoyed post-hike rewards at the Royal Oak, where I couldn’t pass up Kirkby Lonsdale Brewery’s ale named after Singletrack MTB Magazine.

Other than being a brilliant spot to enjoy the great outdoors for a few days, I want to note a couple of things for myself in case I forget certain specifics of our travels in my old age… Firstly: it was excellent to have a burrito for the first time in over four months at Burrito Bandero in Windemere. It was no Mi Pueblo, but all of us had been craving Mexican food so much that we ate there two nights in a row. I bought a bottle of habanero hot sauce from the restaurant and will cherish it until Australian customs confiscates it from me on arrival. Also: we all enjoyed a trip to the cinema on a rainy afternoon to see the new Disney movie Encanto. None of us could remember the last time we saw a movie at the cinema (which in itself is a little depressing!).