Keswick and Lake Derwentwater - July 28th

Rented a car this morning in Penrith and drove 17 miles to the charming town of Keswick (on the shores of Lake Derwentwater), where we’ll be staying the next two nights. It’s a little nerve wracking driving on the left hand side of the road, especially making right hand turns and negotiating roundabouts. I’m sure Rich was ready to push me out of the car a number of times. At least it was only 17 miles on mostly country roads. We’re planning a more extensive scenic loop drive tomorrow. Hope we’ll both feel a little more comfortable navigating the English roads.

Took a boat ride on Lake Derwentwater, but got off at the first stop so we could do the Catbells High Ridge Hike. Rich was a little confused…he thought we were just doing a boat ride around the lake…silly man! The Catbells hike is a steep 1.5 mile climb from the boat dock (1,480 feet elevation gain), with the last bit a rock scramble to the top (Rich and I started this scramble, but then I chickened out and he didn’t try to talk me out of it). Once we got back to the bottom we walked around the lake for another mile or so to one of the other jettys and caught another boat to finish our ride around the lake.

It was a comfortable day for hiking. The sky looked threatening a good part of the day, but we never got rained on and it was warm enough we were able to hike in shirt sleeves. A very good start to our England vacation!

View of the Catbells (highest peak in picture)


Along the shores of Lake Derentwater

Starting our climb
  

On the way up



                                                  Rich and I opted not to climb that last rocky bit at the top




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