Miles walked today: 6

Total trip miles: 42.3

Elevation gain: 800 ft.

Trip total elevation gain: 6,490 ft.

Accommodation: Heidi’s Grasmere Lodge

Today was another make -it-easier day. After a leisurely morning and saying goodbye to our host at Yew Craggs, we caught the 9:25 bus to Keswick. We had about 45 minutes to kill before catching the bus to Grasmere so we made a loop through downtown Keswick. It looks like the sort of place it would be fun to spend a couple days to explore. We arrived in Grasmere at 11:30, another cute little place, but very touristy. (50 pence—60 cents—to use the public toilets and you can only pay with credit card!) We looked at the Trailblazer map and tried to get oriented. (Good thing Nancy is much better at this than I am!)

Our plan was to walk the valley route up to the junction where we went the other way across all the crags in 2015 and back. As usual, it was confusing leaving town and we ended up on the path to Easedale Tarn and a waterfall. This worked out okay since Marie at Yew Craggs had told us about a really nice loop we could do there.

On the way out of town, Nancy spotted a sign inviting people in to enjoy their garden. It was an absolutely gorgeous spot to wander around. There was no charge but they did have a donation box.

Back on the path up to the tarn we found a beautiful, quiet spot beside the stream for lunch. Then there was a steep climb up to the lake. Nancy had her climbing legs on today, she was really moving up that hill! I kept stopping to take pictures and talk to people (and catch my breath) but eventually caught up to her near the top. We rested a bit, made a tricky stream crossing, and headed back down. There were a lot of boggy parts along there but also handy stepping stones. Further down, the boggy path was lined with many big bags of rocks waiting to be set in the trail. That trail eventually reached the C2C valley route and we followed it into town.

With the cafes closing and no reservation for dinner, we hit up the local co-op grocery store. Back in our rooms we found that our baggage had not arrived. I was beginning to think our bags must be in a ditch somewhere when the van finally arrived at close to 7:00. I’m glad no one was around to observe us getting our bags up the steep, narrow set of stairs. The top section doesn’t have a handrail so I got down on my knees to help Nancy pull hers up as she pulled and crawled up the last bit. We didn’t exactly look young and fit. Nancy will be sending some things home in order to lighten the load!

Today was a nice easy day and tomorrow will be a rest day. I’m just going to walk around town and not do much of anything. This is good timing because tomorrow is supposed to be rainy. After tomorrow we have four days of walking and then another rest day. It’s hard to believe we have already been traveling one week. Time is going quickly!