The creature comforts of our luxurious accomodation helped rejuvenate our tired bodies a little but we still both awoke stiff and sore. To add salt to the wounds it was raining outside. But after another amazing breakfast which included a home made smoothie the rain had eased a little and we headed off.
Today was going to be our shortest day in both length and elevation which was nice as we were definitely feeling it! We also knew the first part was going to be the hardest as we had to get up and out of the valley and then along a ridge and then drop into Buttermere. We spoke to a couple at dinner who warned us that Dales Head (where we were heading) was a steep walk but to tell you the honest truth they didn’t look very hardcore so we dismissed their comments. But we shouldn’t have as it started off at a steady ascent and then once we hit an old slate mine the track got steeper. This is when the rain and wind came in as well. But it gave us a chance to use our newly purchased wet weather trousers. We continued on and came to a lake and then it seemed the only way up was to scale the steep side of a valley. We checked our maps (both of them) and both said we had to go directly up and over. It was definitely the toughest climb we did the whole 4 days. There wasn’t much of a path but it was very mossy so wherever you put your foot it didn’t slip. The rain and wind decided to increase which added an extra little bit of hardship as the wind was blowing straight into us. But we both got into the zone and somehow found it quite funny as we continued up. We gave ourselves a high five as we hit the top and looked around for the view….. of clouds, which would tantalisingly part for brief seconds so we could catch a glimpse of the valley below.
From here we battled the wind along the ridge but thankfully the rain stopped and the sun came out for periods. We climbed up and over another hill to get some pretty special views. We were nearing our decent but had to pass through a boggy field first which proved a little difficult. Tim and I had different views on how to tackle this. I tried to pole vault myself over the stream using my walking sticks which was successful only because my wet weather trousers somehow kept the water out of my shoe. Tim’s strategy was to tippy toe his way through what he thought was the driest section and unfortunately for him his tactic left him with wet feet. 😂😂 But we only had a few kms to go down a pretty steep decent so wasn’t too bad. By this stage our knees were cooked so the decent was very very slow but we made it into Buttermere with a smile on our faces and a feeling of a real sense of achievement. We unfortunately couldn’t stay at the Buttermere Inn again as they were full so had to rough it at the local Youth Hostel. We fortunately got our own room but we were in bunks and it was a vastly different vibe to that of our previous nights accomodation. But it was dry and cleanish so okay. We headed back to the Buttermere Inn for our last dinner in the Lakes and enjoyed a toast or two to our triumphant return. We also both squeezed in another of those delicious sticky toffee puddings.
Even though we had some not great weather and tricky situations we had an absolute blast over the last 4 days and will definitely be doing more multi day hikes in the future. Especially those that end the day in a pub! S