On this day we decided to venture north to Buttermere, a journey of 32 miles which should have taken just over an hour… however in Leigh’s huge truck, with twisty single track roads and a road closure it took getting on for 2 hours!
We found the agreed car park however there were no spaces so Leigh had to park on the grass verge next to the car park. Matt and the passengers of his car were nowhere to be seen… we didn’t have much of a signal so the comms were difficult… Chris managed to call Matt but it turned out they were in a different car park a couple of miles away.
The 5 of us (Leigh, Dee, Russ, Chris and me) decided to make our way up to the pools in any case. We had taken a footpath from behind the farm opposite Gatesgarth car park which was flat to begin with as we crossed the valley.
We took the steep path with the treeline to our left and as we climbed higher, spectacular views of Buttermere Lake began to open up. At a crossroads path we turned right and followed the rocky but flatter path traversing the side of the mountain.
We sat just off the path and had our picnic lunch while waiting to catch up with the other half of the party. The above photo was the fabulous lunch view we had.
Matt and co still hadn’t appeared so after lunch we made our way higher up and soon found the waterfall and the pools.
The waterfall formed several plunge pools as it carved its way down the mountain. Chris decided to have a bathe in one of them… but the water was freezing! Apparently…
After about 30 minutes, Chris dried himself off and the 5 of us decided to make our way back down the mountain towards the lake.
This time we followed a footpath next to the waterfall. As we neared the bottom we came across Matt, Yvey, Ray and Laura who were sitting beside another plunge pool!
Deciding it was time to make a move, we returned to our respective vehicles and drove back towards Hawkshead.
But with a pitstop in Ambleside where we had a drink or two in the pleasant Wateredge Inn, which overlooks Lake Windermere, the largest lake in England at 10.5 miles long. Tonight Chris and I heated up a Co-op pizza in the large aga oven in the holiday house!
Summary
A long drive… the distance wasn’t too far but with single track roads and the need to keep stopping and letting other vehicles pass meant progress was slow. Buttermere Lake is in a gorgeous jaw-dropping location however we decided to spend the remaining two days closer to the holiday house!
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