Daily Postcard from the Lake District #3; Saturday

Just pootled around the lake today to give my feet a rest, but took an evening stroll along the disused railway track.  A few pictures below:

Looking through one of the arches of the bridge carrying the A66 main road.  Voted best concrete structure of the (20th) century, apparently.

One of the old railway arches carrying a road.  Built of brick, so probably never voted on.

Above and below: a couple of pictures of the River Greta in a calm mood.

Back to normal walking tomorrow!

Until the next postcard, be well all.

Daily Postcard from the Lake District #2; Friday

Well, this was a walk and a half!  From Keswick to Rosthwaite, along Langstrath and up Angletarn Gill (the path is supposed to go up Allencrags Gill, but that looked pretty untrodden to me) to join the path leading up to Esk Hause.  Then turn right, over Allen Crags and Glaramara, before dropping down (not too literally!) the north-west ridge of Glaramara back into Borrowdale.  Pictures below:

 Couldn't resist snapping this hawthorn tree in blossom.  Make the most of spring, it will soon be over.

Herdwick sheep demand all mod cons!  No cheapo sheep-dip for them.

Looking along the path to Eagle Crag, which is between Langstrath and Greenup Gill.

A calm pool from the bridge crossing Langstrath Beck.

Now Langstrath opens up.  Got some distance to go before the serious uphill starts.

Looking up to Stake Pass.  Not going up this one, which leads eventually to the Langdale Pikes.

Waterfall in upper Langstrath.

Looking up Allencrags Gill, where there is allegedly a path.  My route swings to the left before then.  The fell beyond is Esk Pike and the white dot near its summit is a patch of snow.

Retrospective look down Langstrath.  The advantage of carrying a camera is that every time you want a breather, you've got the perfect excuse to stop.

The patch of snow on Esk Pike.  Much closer to it now.

Another view down Langstrath, this time from somewhere above Allencrags Gill.

Same view, zoomed in.  Note that the haze has built up again.

Hazy view from Allen Crags.

And again, looking towards Glaramara.

The Langdale Pikes.  I could see Windermere from here, but I don't think the camera's picked that up too well.

High Lakeland fells, taken from Glaramara.

Retrospective view of Glaramara, on the descent path.

 Hazy view through the Jaws of Borrowdale towards Derwentwater, Keswick and a distant Skiddaw.

Zoomed shot of Watendlath.

View of Honister Crag, a superb vantage point in its own right.  (Another day though)

It was almost completely dark when I returned to Dorchester House, and my feet are still throbbing now!

Until the next postcard, be well all.

Daily Postcard from the Lake District #1; Thursday

Today's walk was up Catbells and along the far side of Derwentwater.  A nice gentle one to break me in again!  Photos below:

Above and below: on the approach walk from Keswick.  I'm avoiding using the car as Bank Holiday weekends in the Lakes are fraught with motoring frustration!

View of Catbells from the approach path.

View of the approach path from Catbells!  The gate the previous photo was taken from is just about in the centre of the picture (white line of the path cutting across a field leads you to it).

Looking towards Bassenthwaite Lake, which is the only stretch of water in the Lake District to be called a lake.  The rest are meres or waters.

From the ridge of Catbells, looking at Blencathra and Keswick.

Skiddaw in the distance.

The small bump in the distance is Pike o'Stickle.  As well as being rather warm, the day is also very clear, with little sign of the haze that spoiled long-distance photography last week.

On the descent path, looking down into Borrowdale.

A lunatic, paraglider who has just jumped off Catbells summit.

View of Skiddaw from the head of Derwentwater.  The man who owns the boat at left of picture should have bought a motor boat.  Why buy a sailing sloop when you're just going to motor everywhere?

Jaws of Borrowdale, with the Keswick launch.

But not half as stressful when ewes and lambs are separated in the autumn, and said lambs are then "processed" for dining tables.  Just a thought.

Hope you enjoyed the photos - and I hope the weather holds!

For my stay, I'm at Dorchester House in Keswick.

Until the next postcard, be well all.

Daily Postcard from the Scottish Highlands #5; Tuesday

Well, I hoped for the good weather to continue and so it did.  Nice long walk through Glen Sligachan on the Isle of Skye today.  Could have done with going a good bit further, but as I didn't start walking until nearly one o'clock, time was a little bit against me.  Photos from the day are below:

Having arrived in Mallaig five minutes too late to catch the ferry, I had an hour to kill in the town before the next one.  Looking across the water to Skye.

Zoomed in on the ferry I missed, now almost at its destination.

Mallaig harbour.

Cormorant (I think!) stretching his wings.

The fishing boat "Elina".  Note the sails - some things are still done properly by some people.

Ho ho, look who's in pole position for getting off the ferry.  The Micra's mine :-)

Leaving Mallaig.

Looking into Loch Nevis.  "Ring of Bright Water" was set at least in part here.

Finally on Skye and walking in Glen Sligachan.  The hill ahead is Marsco.  The cone in the far distance to the the right is Sgurr Hain, the slopes of which were as far as I reached before calling it a day.

Part of the Cuillin ridge.  Mount Scary to the right, Scarier in the middle and Scariest to the left.  (Bruach na Frithe, Am Basteir and  Sgurr nan Gillean respectively)

More of the Cuillin ridge comes into view.  Peaks include Sgurr nan Eag, Sgurr Alasdair, Sgurr Mhic Coinnich, Inaccessible Pinnacle (InPin) and Sgurr na Banachdich.

Retrospective of Cuillin hills already passed.  The almost sheer sides of Sgurr nan Gillean (centre) are clearer in this picture.

Looking back down Glen Sligachan.  The tiny white dot near the centre of the picture is the Sligachan Hotel, near which I parked my car.

The peak of Sgurr nan Gillean, peeping from behind the ridge I'm climbing.  I've heard that some people refer to the summit of this one as the "Flying Carpet", because when you're on it, you can't see the ridges leading off it.  Hum, OK, think I'll give that one a miss!

Glimpse of Loch Coruisk from the ridge summit.  Because of time restraints, a closer look must wait until another date.

Glimpse of the sea from the same spot.

Blaven (or Bla Bheinn for purists - pronounced the same though) from the same spot as the previous two shots.

Restrospective shot of Marsco.  The white line just below the centre is my ascent path, now to become my descent path.

Looking back at Marsco near the end of the walk.  The dip just to the right of the cone (Sgurr Hain) in the centre was the furthest and highest point reached.

Travelling back to the guest house, this time over Skye Bridge, shown here.

Paddle Steamer "Waverley", tied to the jetty at the Kyle of Lochalsh.

Evening shot of Glen Garry.

That was the last day of my visit to the Highlands, staying at Rhu Mhor Guest House.  Tomorrow I leave Fort William and head for the Lake District, for the second half of my holiday.

Until the next posting (imaginatively called Daily Postcard from the Lake District), be well all.