Lake District 25th July 2012

Lake District 23rd July to 27th July 2012

A five- day break in the Lake District, we arrived on Monday 23rd July to a wet and dull day (the sun was shining in Lincolnshire when we set off!).  On arrival at our hotel the weather had improved a little, and we checked in at Lyzzick Hall, courtesy of KGB deals (£119 for two nights inc. breakfast)

The hotel was very nice, a large old looking building looking down upon its own gardens and the beautiful Northern fells in the (near) distance.
We unpacked a few things and as the sun was now shining (briefly) we sat outside on the hotel terrace with a drink admiring the views. Before long however the rain started, and so we retired back to the room and relaxed and changed for our evening meal.

Web Site:  Lyzzick Hall Hotel

The dinner was offered at a reduced rate (for KGB deal guests) at £29.95 per head for 4-courses. This turned out to be very good value, as the food was exceptional in every way from choice, presentation, flavour and the service. The only negative comment from us was that the restaurant was very warm and could do with either air conditioning or some ventilation.

Tuesday was a wash out day also, and shopping in Ambleside and Windermere was the order of the day. We ate at the hotel again on Tuesday evening as the food was so good. 


Lakes 25th July 2012 - Barrow & Outerside
(Pathfinder Guide North & West Lakeland) 
(5.82 Miles,4hrs,50min) 2 Wainwrights

We woke to a much better day (and forecast) on Wednesday, and so decided to head out to Bratihwaite nearby and tackle both Outerside and Barrow Fells. Reluctantly we checked out of the hotel, as we would be moving on Wednesday evening to our next location.

We parked a short distance out of Bratihwaite village in a free (rather "hilly") car park on the left hand side on Whinlatter Road. From there we walked along the road back into the village, crossing a stone bridge in the village, left past the Methodist church, and up a stony track past the Coledale Inn.

From there we followed a lane and High Coledale farm, a rougher track led us out onto more open countryside.

After a mile or so along an easy (and fairly busy) track we diverted off right from the main track (and everyone else!) to a less distinct grassy track rising up onto Stile End.

This was fairly steep but we were soon at the top of Stile End, with good views ahead to our first objective of Outerside fell, and all the fells around such as Causey Pike, Grisedale Pike and Sail.

A short descent led us down onto boggy ground, before the ascent up Outerside.

Finally on the Summit of Outerside (1863ft) we bagged our 1st Wainwright of the day and stopped to enjoy the views all around (and a long rest).

After resting we descended from Outerside down a grassy bank (not too steep) and followed a very distinct path at the bottom leading between the fells of Outerside and Causey Pike. At Barrow door we took the less distrinct right hand track ascending slowly towards Barrow fell itself. The path rose easily and gradually to the top of Barrow fell (1492 ft), where we touched the cairn and sat down admiring the clear views down to Keswick, Derwent Water and beyond. 

Before long it was time to descent via a long grassy track for about a mile, before reaching a wall end, and through High Coledale Farm.

We finished by walking back through Braithwaite village, unable to resist the blackcurrant & cream Lakes ice cream on offer at the local shop.

We arrived back at the car park  at 15:00, having taken a steady 4hrs, 50 mins (enjoyed the views and the ice-cream!)


Our Walk Score: 7.5/10

Sunday 15th July - Snowdon

Sunday 15th July - Snowdon

(9.76 Miles, Collins Snowdonia & North Wales - The Snowdon Ranger & Rhyd-Du Paths)

It was very early on a Sunday morning,  we rose at 5am, to prepare for possibly the highlight of our trip...... Snowdon!

The plan was to drive to Rhyd-Du early and arrive there around 7am thinking it may be busy after that. We had heard stories of the Pen-Y-Pass car park the other side of the mountain being full by 7am.

After a quick 'do it yourself' breakfast of coffee/tea and instant porridge we set off for the one hour journey.

The morning was fine and sunny on the drive and near Ffestinniog we stopped for a few pictures of the mist near the mountains.

As you can see above, the car park at Rhyd-Du - we beat the "rush".

Our route shown above would take us from Rhyd-Du following the classic Rhyd-Du path (quieter than the Pyg & Miners Tracks the other side of the mountain). The path ascends reasonably gently at first, getting rockier and steeper and more winding near the ridge of Cwm Clogwyn, before narrowing and then steepening again on the final ascent.

The early section of the Rhyd-Du path, nice and flat and easy, soon changes though!!

The day changed nearly as soon as we set off with light rain, though this cleared up and stayed off the rest of the day. The mist ahead looked worrying....

There was some patchy sunshine that seemed to lift the mist, which did keep re-appearing from time to time. We still had some clear views though right the way to Anglesey, and across the Snowdown range in the other direction, and the Welsh coastline.

The path gets rockier, and steeper.................

There's the Cwm Clogwyn ridge ahead, which starts quite wide and away from the edge with stunning views, then it narrows with a sheer 2000ft drop one side. Though there is a handy rockface the other side to hold on to!!

Sue after the ridge, happier now!!

The Snowdon Cafe in sight for the first time - nearly there - final push!

We arrived at the cafe to be met with crowds off the train and other routes. We sat down, bought some sarnies and hot drinks, and enjoyed the "view" from the summit cairn!!

It's a bit misty, all this way and can`t see anything from the top!!
Glad we didn`t spend 50 quid coming up on the train!

Snowdon summit at 3582ft (Well thats what my GPS said!)

Coming away from the summit - people like ants on the top

Looking down on the Miners track - again lots of crowds.

The train on its way up, belching out another load at the top!

Ah, peace and tranquility on the Snowdon Ranger path, hardly a soul in sight!

Happy, on the way down the Zig-Zags! Then a much smoother path.

Looking back from where we came!

We then diverted left across a stile and cross country on some very boggy "paths" to get back to Rhyd-Du.

Some old slate workings that had to be negotiated, the signpost said go straight over the slate at one point, we did - carefully!

Nearly back now, with the profile of Snowdon in the distance.

We arrived back at Rhyd-Du around 15:30, having taken just over 8 Hours for the loop.

We were both tired, and with aching feet, legs and everything else we set off back for the hour's drive to Tal-Y-Bont.

In my opinion this had been one of the best walks we have done to date with fabulous views, a terrific ridge, perhaps the only downside was the extra boggy path for 2 miles on the finish.
I am not sure if Sue shares this opinion (only the boggy path bit), but there was a sense of achievement for sure at the end of this.


note from Sue: I enjoyed the majority of the walk and loved the sense of achievement upon finishing. The problem is that I have vertigo and so exposed edges and ridges are very challenging for me. Graham is very unsympathetic encouraging though and I usually just get on with it!

Our Walk Score: 9/10