A week off work for me, usually means a packed rucksack and bag, followed by a 400 mile drive the the Lake District. The first week of April was such a week for me and I picked the right one to go up. The weather was good, just two cloudy days and a bit of rain over night on the Monday, other than that it was white fluffy clouds and blue skies. Not too shabby for Steve at all!!! Staying again in Keswick meant that the northern, northwestern, central and eastern fells were best for walks, although to be fair I did get down as far as Hawkshead and Tarn Hows on one day, showing that Keswick is an ideal place to explore all that Lakeland has to offer. To start the week I opted for an easy walk around Aira Force (waterfall) near Ullswater, before lunch in Grasmere. It was a good start to a great week.
| Start – Aira Force National trust car park |
| Route – Aira Force bridge – High Force – Aira Force – National Trust car park |
| Distance – 2 miles Start time – 9.45am Time taken – 1 hrs 10mins Highest Point – High Force 230 metres |
| Weather – Blue skies and sunshine, lovely |
© Crown copyright 2016 Ordnance Survey FL 2016 SF
Through the trees at the start of the walk, following Aira Beck upstream
A glimpse through the canopy of the waterfall
The trees thin and give this fantastic view to a dark looking Place Fell on the left and St Sunday Crag in the distance
Looking back along the path
Looking down from the bridge above the falls, plenty of water and noise!!! At this point I decided to carry on up the path to High Force, before crossing the bridge above those waterfalls and heading back to Aira Force
Part of High Force
Looking back downstream from the bridge above High Force
And from the other bank having crossed over the bridge I look back up at High Force and the bridge
St Sunday Crag again appears over the trees
The beck narrows as it reaches Aira Force
Aira Force from the lower bridge, the upper bridge above
That’s the lower bridge from the path back to the car
The lower part of Gowbarrow Fell, this fell can easily be climbed from the High Force bridge, taking a left after crossing and following the path from there
After reaching the car I headed for Grasmere for lunch, this involves heading around Ullswater, through Glenridding and Patterdale before climbing over the Kirkstone Pass, descending to Ambleside and then to Grasmere. This shot is of Ullswater not long after leaving the car park
And a shot from the top of the Kirkstone Pass
treksandtors 