The Lake District

When we were first dating, Adrian and I went hiking a lot. The weekend would come around and we were off. We were young, in love, and in shape. Things have changed a little. We are no longer so young and no longer in such good of shape – though I am proud to say that after almost a decade of being together, we are still in love. <3 Despite these changes, we both still love to hike, although we haven’t been able to go as often as we used to. So last week, Adrian and I dusted off our hiking boots, loaded up our backpacks with rainproof gear, and left London for the Lake District.

The Lake District.

Unfortunately, Adrian and I both came down with the plague on our way to Ambleside, which made our hiking adventure a little more complicated. Hiking is great, but it’s not so simple when you can’t breathe, your nose is leaking like a drain pipe, and you can’t take four steps without coughing up a lung. Even with the threat of death looming over us, we did manage to go on at least a small hike each day we were there.

Adrian looking handsome in his rain gear.

Our first day, we went on a small hike to Stock Ghyll Force, which is a waterfall right outside of Ambleside. It was amazing how close to the center of town it was, and yet, how far away it felt.  (It was only about a 200 meter trek up a hill, but it damn near killed Adrian – his plague was worse than mine at that point; mine would start in full force later that night.) Once we turned off the main road, it felt as if we had been transported to a magical fantasy world! 

We followed the rapids all the way up to the falls.

Everything was lush and green and dripping with rain. The leaves were wet and heavy and drooped down low over the trail. You couldn’t hear anything but the rain and the rushing of the stream. We reached the top of the hill, careful to avoid slipping on the moss covered stones, wiped the fog and rain from our glasses, and saw the waterfall in full force.

Stock Ghyll Force

It had been raining a lot recently, so the water was falling with some intensity. It was magical. The water spilled over boulders, crashing its way to the forest floor. All we could hear was the roar of the falls. Adrian and I looked at each other, knowing that the difficult journey had been worth it. We were hypnotized by its beauty and sat there for a good long while before deciding to make our way back down the hill.

After the waterfall, we strolled through the town. Ambleside’s streets are lined with brick and stone buildings, but instead of little shops and homes, they are hiking equipment stores and restaurants. We also visited The Armitt Museum and Library and saw their Beatrix Potter exhibit. She spent many of her summers in the area and it is where she wrote many of her books. The museum had a lot of her naturalist watercolors, which were absolutely amazing. There was so much detail in her paintings that you expected them to leap off the page at any moment!

Beatrix Potter's sketchbooks

Bridge House!

Oddly enough, after a night of fevers, coughing, and not much sleeping, Adrian and I were feeling mildly better, so we decided to tackle a longer hike. After stopping by the pharmacy to pick up more cough drops and cold medicine, we were off! 

Stone walls lined all of the pastures. They were covered with moss and ferns.

The first leg of the hike led to Rydal Hall, an old manor house atop a large, steep hill. Unfortunately, there was a private function going on so we couldn’t explore the house, but we were able to walk through the gardens.

Rydal Hall

Should have married Mr. Darcy...

 At the side of the house, a little ways down the hill, was a little shed. We walked down to it, wondering what it could be. It was only one room, but the back wall was all glass with a window seat overlooking a waterfall (I know – another one!). 

View of the shed and waterfall

It was breathtaking! I could have sat there and watched the water for hours. Apparently, the little shed was built with that exact purpose in mind. It is thought to be the first building built purely for the purpose of viewing a romantic landscape. I can completely understand – if I were eccentric and rich and had a waterfall on my property, I would want to sit and look at it as often as possible!

A tree that people have been sticking coins in for years!

We continued on, climbing over roots, passing through gates, stepping over streams that had decided that the shortest route down the hill was over the path. Everywhere I looked, I saw another shade of green; the entire countryside seemed to be saturated with it. The landscape was dotted with sheep and lined with stone walls that had been there for generations. Call me a romantic, but it made me want to put on a long dress and go climb a tree with a book of poetry in tow. I don’t know how many times I stopped in the middle of the pathway, turned to Adrian, and told him how I wish I had grown up there. I can’t think of anything more magical than being a child in that fairy-world of green. Honestly, I have never seen countryside so beautiful… It truly was awesome in the original sense of the word.

Our hike ended four miles from where it began in a town called Grasmere. We walked around the town a bit, ate some lunch overlooking a river, bought some chocolates, and then caught the bus back to Ambleside. Ambleside sits on the edge of England’s largest lake (10 miles long) and has a ferry service, so we decided to take the boat down to Bowness, a town about halfway down the lake. Sitting on the water, with green mountains around you as far as you can see – it really was a wonderful experience. 

The dock at Bowness

 

When we got there, we realized that we were a bit tired after our excursion that morning, so we decided to get some tea and a snack. And that is when I fell in love with scones. We visited a little tea room that had horrible service, but amazing scones! Warm with jam and whipped cream… They were delicious! (They were so good in fact, that after we got home, I immediately made scones!)

Remnants of our tea and scones

Writing postcards on the boat back to Ambleside.

Adrian wrote some, too!

Our final day in Ambleside, we intended to hike up the tallest of the mountains, but unfortunately, all the exertion of the previous day caught up with me… We made it a fair way up the fell, but my cough made it a little hard to breathe, so we had to turn back before we reached the top. I felt a little ridiculous not being able to reach the peak, as we were passed by a very friendly octogenarian with a cane and a troop of first graders, but I feel like if we had continued, Adrian would have had to carry me down. Despite not reaching the summit, we still had an amazing view! From where we were, we could see all of Ambleside. It truly was beautiful.

The view of Ambleside

Still looks pretty high to me...

I’m really hoping that Adrian and I have a chance to go back to the Lake District before we have to leave the UK. I feel like there is so much more of it to explore, so many more greens to be seen! I was overwhelmed by the beauty and would love to be breathless there again – for reasons other than sickness.