Henrikdoc

Hampsthwaite to St Bees (by car) – Thank you Chris and Anne

St Bees to Ennerdale -D1

T0 entailed a lot of ‘resting’ before being driven to St Bees by Chris and Anne

..although there was some last minute advice from ChatGPT too.

…and then the journey to St Bees… as the A66 took us north through Keswick with sheets of rain causing us some elements of trepidation …it’ll be sunny tomorrow (!?)

We arrived at St Bees in good time and Chris and Anne went back to Whitehaven where they were booked for the night before meeting us for dinner at the Manor Inn, St Bees again .

Carb. loading … hmmm.

…and the first crumble of the trip

Soooooo ready to start

After a good nights sleep, a hearty breakfast

… although a bit of faffing had to be done beforehand as H lost a contact lens 🤦‍♂️, which C dutifully found on the floor, so another had to be put in. (Tend to wear contacts on LDW as give better panorama and actual vistas compared to my very myopic normal glasses – although do look like Mr Magoo with the reading glasses 🤣)

I digress…

After breakfast , more faffing as someone forgot their earrings / left them on the bedside table

Might as well take the van then as seems much easier than actually starting the walk ….

Nooooooo!

Off to the beach to collect our pebbles (apparently one has to pick one up at St Bees and carry it all the way to Robin Hood’s Bay). There were plenty of them to be had.

And we were off. Yipeee.

First diversion.

We did pop in to see the Priory as we left St Bees via the inland diversion

Then along the valley which was also rather pleasant… a lot of sheep. Herdwicks, I believe.

..and maybe a few others.. (could become a recurring theme over this blog ?…)

Only slightly slowed down by a Cumbrian traffic jam

Beautiful valley when looking back (good advice Karen P. Thank you . ‘Always look back every now and then’ she said).

Some more friends

..before heading along the old railway line to Cleator.

…still got to be on your toes to not go the wrong way though …

A few more curiosities….

AND MUSHROOMS, YEAAAAH👍

and flora

Before reaching Cleator

Now the first real dilemma.. do we follow the diversion, or do we not…

Mr ChatGPT says do ….but then he / she only goes by what is on the internet , which may or may not be current.

Mr Facebook C2C group page has shown plenty of people in the last week not following the diversion…

…and we have seen a number of walkers TODAY ahead of us not following the diversion ,… and NOT coming back.

We follow our gut instincts… or rather C’s gut instinct, plus a bit of ‘triangulation of information’ and go the red route.

And at last onto the Moor and real open space.

Onwards and upward …being overtaken by someone who is at least 70 years younger than us… and we are not 70 yet 🤣🤣🤣

To the top … where a very nice man from Cleator racing up behind H. took our photo and gave us directions for the other side of Dent Hill.

…before running / speed walking away

…only to meet him again coming back up the other way.. apparently it is his ‘daily’ exercise! ‘Better than a gym’, I say.

There were a few others negotiating the Fell with us…

The guide book then said ‘the way down is very steep and worth having poles for’

…pretty steep indeed.

But who is this?.

….before reaching a bubbling brook, Nannycatch beck, why so named?..

…and a short rest as the legs have been a bit shot to pieces coming down Dent Fell.

The signposts have thankfully reappeared

…so have the sheep

Before finally reaching the Ennerdale valley and a welcome coffee stop before heading to our hotel.

“Nous sommes arrivee”!

…rest and recuperate….

Long day ahead tomorrow.

Zzzzzz.