Patterdale to Shap - August 6th

Today’s official route from Patterdale to Shap was 15.6 miles with 3,651 feet of elevation gain over the highest peak in the Lake District, Kidsty Pike. We opted for a shorter, easier route that our innkeeper suggested last night: take a boat ride on Ulswater Lake to Pooley Bridge and then walk 10 miles via roads and footpaths to the village of Shap.

The boat dock on Ulswater Lake was in the village of Glenridding, a quick 20 minute walk. We left our lodging at 9:00 am and were able to catch the first boat of the day at 9:45 am. The ride itself took @ an hour, which went by quickly as it was a nice morning to be on the water. We met a couple from The Netherlands on the boat who were also walking to Shap and, once the boat docked, we all set out together. 

Enjoying our boat ride on Ulswater Lake

It was pleasant and warm enough the majority of the day that I was in a short sleeve shirt. After @ 2 hours of walking, we were able to find a grassy spot on the side of the road to have lunch and rest for a few minutes. As the day went on, however, the sky grew darker and darker and, @ an hour away from Shap, it started raining quite hard. Quickly donning rain jackets, we trudged on. At one point, our GPS had us take a “public footpath”, which required to us climb through a narrow opening in a stone wall, walk diagonally through a pasture of sheep (who ran from us as if we were herding them like a sheep dog, all the while baaing like crazy), and then go through a gate into a cow pasture (who we all swear stared at us as if they were going to charge us, until they all started running frantically around the pasture). We were relieved to finally exit the cow pasture only to discover we were walking through a wastewater treatment plant. I’m pretty sure we somehow missed the official footpath!

A docile cow eyeing us as we walked by -
not one of our charging bulls!

By the time we got to our lodging in Shap, we looked like drowned rats. Our innkeeper had us remove our shoes in the breezeway (which were filthy with mud and who knows what else from our adventure on the “footpath”), took our wet jackets to hang in the drying room, and then offered us tea, coffee and homemade scones. What a wonderful way to end the day.

Stopping for a quick bite of lunch


The scenery has changed dramatically -
we're now in the Yorkshire Dales

Tromping through the sheep pasture






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