Had a delicious breakfast with fresh eggs, homemade bread and currant jam. The coffee was rich and freshly brewed too! We again had an unseasonably hot and sunny day here. Much better than rain when you are climbing up and down slippery rocks.

We headed out the front door of our B&B and made a right turn down the walkway along the road. We have met, passed,  been overtaken by, and chatted with many folks doing this route.

Another lovely homestead along the way. There was a quite impressive one to let nearby.

It was only a short walk along the road and then we turned right onto a bridle way that would lead us up to Tongue Gill and finally Grisedale Tarn.

We took the less steep path up toward Grisdale Tarn, but even that was far from easy. Along the gill (ravine) in some places the path skirted the edge.

Almost all of the path was rock strewn.

Parts of the way had wider paths with gently sloping sides. The views all around were gorgeous green hills, studded with rocks in places.

Tony outpaces me and so he would stride ahead and often come back or wait for me. Of course, I also stopped and took pictures too!

Both the gill paths eventually rich the top of Grisdale Tarn, but I thought less steep is better.

Although this was the less steep route, some parts of the path climbed pretty quickly up.

There were stone walls along some sides of the Tongue Gill and I wanted to sing for joy when I walked along them. I give great thanks to the hard labor that built them. I do like a wall or fence between me and a drop onto rocks below.

Some parts of the path required I use my hands to clamber over. Tony negotiated many with just his one pole. His other pole was destroyed in the climb up Loft Beck.

Looking in the distance, you could see that the climb continued for quite a ways.

Looking back you could see how far you had come up from the valley behind you.

There were two sections that had slabs of stone creating a sort of steps up. I can’t imagine how slippery and awful it would be to climb them in the rain. Yeah sunshine!

The work and effort to create these steps boggles my mind. Did they throw them down from above or have to carry them up? A heroic effort was certainly needed.

The closer to the top the rockier and steeper the path became. I used my poles and often just scrambled up on hands and feet, not daring to look down. This wasn’t as scary as Loft Beck, but I was very glad when I got to the top

Even intrepid Wolf was using his hands to get up.

 

I think Tony was also glad to be done climbing up. It was hot sweaty work and there is no shade.

Instead of Striding Edge or some other hellish route, we chose the easier path down the valley to Pattersdale.

Of course even the easier path was not easy to me. It was often steep and scree strewn.

The slope from high above to below was often a slide of scree. They used cairns to mark the path because sometimes it might be hard to see.

One of our tramarketers was this cottage. There was a waterfall behind it too.

 

 

We did cross the little bridge the map warned us not to cross. However, we saw Wolf and Nicola on the other side and caught our error before we ended up climbing some death defying slope.

This farm told us we were on  the right track. There were people out working with the hay baling as we walked by.

 

We stayed on the paved single lane which took us the village of Pattersdale. It has some places to stay and a pub. Lots of baaing of sheep in the pastures all around.

We walked down the street to the White Lion for supper.

 

After supper we headed back to The School House and passed the sheep in the fields across the street.  It is really quiet and peaceful here. What a wonderful way to see the nooks and crannies of a country – walking.