St. Bees to Ennerdale - August 2nd

This morning we completed our walk to Ennerdale, which lies on the northwest edge of Britain’s Lake District. For the next few days, we’ll be traversing up and down the hills and mountains in this beautiful area. Today our hill challenge was Dent Fell, with an elevation of 1155 feet, a steep climb but only @ a mile long. The descent, called Raven’s Crag, was even steeper. If it was a ski slope, I think it would have been rated a double black diamond!

We walked in rain most of the day, thr
ough boggy fields and kissing gates, over stiles and across numerous streams, stepping carefully on rocks to avoid getting our feet wet. For most of us, however, that was an effort in futility as many of our walking paths were actually small streams or muddy lakes. My waterproof Hokas, along with my goretex rain jacket and pants, kept me dry all day though.

We got somewhat lost a few times, but with Rich and Gary’s help and that of a few of the locals, each time we found our way back to the trail. There really is very little signage (one sign was a boulder painted with C2C and a directional arrow) and the directions include phrases such as “turn right at the farmhouse” or in some cases, there were no directions at all as to which way to go (these were the times we inevitably chose the wrong path). All in all, however, even with the rain and wet conditions, it was still a pleasant, albeit tiring day of walking and we were all very glad when we arrived at our destination.

Cindy climbing over one of the many stiles










Fording one of our first streams

Judy trying to straddle a "stream" path


Before our climb up Dent Fell










Cindy and I at the top of Dent Fell












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