July 06, Coniston to Great Langdale

At 5:03 I was out the door, dressed in rain gear—not because it was raining (it wasn't) but it was supposed to rain, so why not use the rain jacket as a "layer?"  Not only did it NOT rain for the first time in days, the weather was gorgeous, the scenery was spectacular, and the elevation, about which I had worried quite a bit, was manageable, most likely because the air quality was really good!  Anyway, it was an exquisite, spectacular stage in every respect.

I have deleted a lot of photos of the scenery because they just don't make the cut!

But here are a couple:

AND view from bench where mid morning, that being 9:00 a.m, snack was consumed and enjoyed:

(Or should that be enjoyed and consumed?  Kind of like,"You can't have your cake and eat it, too, which really works better if you say, "You can't eat your cake and have it, too."  Or maybe it does not make a difference!)

Three new friends.  

Stripe-ee:

Brown-ee:

Snuff-ee: 

I am sure his mama loves him very much!

My style of stile (side a):

Yes, they should all be like this! (side b):

High end bridge:

Tree...roots?

There were several groups of high school kids doing the Duke Of Edinburgh Challenge, which is a scouting sort of thing that has several levels.  This one involves something like 5 days of backpacking.

Jolly good!!

AND they navigate using MAPS, would you believe?

Officially, one was supposed to stay on the road:

But I took a gamble on the narrow track.  It paid off!  But you never know with these things.  There could be a locked gate at the other end, only there wasn't.  Then, about a mile or so from the hotel, I chose the low road through pastures instead of the high (official) road.  The app kept yelling at me, "You are 150 feet away from the route.  You are 200 feet away from the route........" but sometimes you just have to assert your independence.  Since I arrived around noon, I had plenty of time to take another walk, so I went back to the turn off and did the official high route back to the Old Dungeon Inn.  I am so glad I did! In addition to the enjoyment, it allowed to to figure out where to start tomorrow.

The hotel is simple, the room is small, but it is bright, clean, has a window that opens as much as you want, a place to put everything, and most important, a nice hotel employee, carried my suitcase up the three flights of stairs to my room and promised to do the reverse to-morrow after I left.