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" Ennerdale Walk and a Sunset " Date & start time: Sunday 17th March, 2019. 3.45 pm start. Location of Start : Bowness Knott car park, Ennerdale, Cumbria, Uk. ( NY 109 154) Places visited : Bowness, Beckfoot, the Anglers Hotel site, and back. Walk details : 3 miles,150 feet of ascent, 1 hours 50 mins for the walk. Highest point : The car park at Bowness Knott, 100ft above the lake. Walked with : Ann and our dogs Dylan and Dougal. Weather : Three seasons plus a fine sunset. |
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A walk with waterproofs and gloves, due to the cold weather, just got better as it went on and by the end the gloves were packed away and the coats were redundant. The weather didn't stop there as there were more surprises in store for us on the way home.
We're off for a walk in Ennerdale today. This was the horse's eye view of the lake as we drove through Kirkland. There's snow on Pillar and Steeple and some low cloud on the tops. I hope the forecasted rain showers stay away.
Cloud just touching the tops of the fells. The peaks are Pillar (with Pillar Rock to the left), Black Crag and Scoat Fell with Steeple in front by a short head.
We turn right and Anglers Crag now comes into view. [ Good job we turned as it would have been a short walk, few photos and a wet end otherwise !]
Just a few minutes later, whilst we were walking, the first of several very light showers passed overhead. As the precipitation headed up the valley it became more concentrated and started to obscure the fells.
However, in our direction, the weather was good and we continued on the path around the Bowness headland.
The path gets surprisingly rocky as we pass a few fallen boulders . . .
. . . but we're soon back to normal as we reach the furthest part of the headland. There's a lovely piece of rock strata ahead, that dips smoothly the last 20 feet into the lake. It is a quick descent into the deep so don't get too far off-piste if the rock is wet !
Rounding the corner and the scenery changes . . . this section has a more moorland feel, mind the tree roots !
Dougal doesn't worry about the terrain . . . he bounds about exploring the bracken and the small boulders.
Out of the blue . . . some beautiful wild daffodils . . . unless they were planted by someone as a memorial to a friend. They look lovely out here in the wild.
Dougal, with three feet off the ground, rushes down to see what is round the next corner. Ahead is a fisherman, but he has waded out into the lake sufficiently far that the dogs are hardly likely to spoil the fishing.
As we leave the rocky headland behind, we enter a more gentle area of pasture and farmland. It also means that without the scrub and tree cover, we get a fine view of Herdus and Bowness Knott.
Alongside Mireside Farm we're back to hedges and scrub undergrowth. Here the gorse is coming into season and provides great colour though not the classic coconut essence smell this early in the year.
The lakeside has its own water-side vegetation. These appear to be stones with grass growing on top but they might just be tall clumps that have been inundated by the high water level.
We are speckled by a very light shower which was so light it was hardly noticed. But when we turn around we can see a slight rainbow behind the trees.
At the next gateway we were able to get a full view of the whole arc of the rainbow.
Following the shower the sun shines brightly, the wind drops and the temperature rises appreciably.
The fisherman we saw next to the Bowness cottage path has followed us round and is now trying his luck at the outflow of the Beckfoot Gill Beck.
The weather has improved further . . . and even the picture looks warm. I try the bigger lens to see the fisherman in more detail . . . he's there by the first headland.
As it turns out it appears that he's just stopped to adjust his fishing lure or as it is St Patrick's Day, maybe he is trying out his leprechaun impression for later this evening.
At the location where the Anglers Hotel used to be there are a profusion of flowers which seem to be planted on the periphery of what must have been its formal garden.
Where the house used to be there's a very convenient slate memorial seat. I try to explain to Dougal about the fact that dogs should normally stick to the floor not sit on the seats like humans. Still he's a great little dog so he can regard it as a special treat, just for the photo today.
I walk down to the water's edge to check out the old boat slipway.
Not much to show but it does tell us how far we've come and how far we've to walk in order to return to Bowness Knott and the car.
With the big lens on again . . . I capture the view up the valley to the snow covered Pillar.
. . . and across the water to Anglers Crag.
A quick artistic photo before we go . . . the flowers are their own lasting memorial to the old hotel.
We retrace our steps, trying for different photos on the way back. Fences are always a good foreground to a nice lake view.
On this lovely afternoon, if you are quiet then there's the sounds of nature to entertain you as you walk back. High in the tree a song thrush sings his song . . . and the beck babbles back almost as a backing track of musical rhythm.
The vegetation offers its own colourful entertainment, be it the reds of winter holly or the yellows of spring gorse.
The one turn we have to make on the journey back. We've chatted to a 'coast to coaster' who will walk straight on to camp near Beckfoot Farm. We'll go through the gate and turn right to stay on the lakeside path.
Back over the Gill Beck bridge.
Ann's ahead but the dogs come back to find me.
There's no calm reflections on the lake today . . . so you'll have to make do with this one in the puddle.
Three quarters of the way up the lane is the cottage marked on the map as Bowness. The sunshine beautifully highlighted the walls and Bowness Knott .
Sometimes when we both take similar photos it is a shame to discard one, even though they are mere pixels in the ether. So as this is slightly more focused on the fells I include it here. I'll leave you to decide who took which one ! Answers by email through the ether too please.
As we rounded the corner into our valley we were greeted by a vivid rainbow once more.
I parked half way down the Fangs Brow road and included the Grange Hotel in this photo.
The rainbow was holding on, even as we reached Loweswater Village Hall. Visitors who were just passing said it had been a tall double rainbow a short while back.
Time to gaze up in awe as the setting sun not only deepened in colour, but also lit the clouds from below giving it a glow as if the sky was on fire.
The colour crossed the sky . . . highlighting all the different varieties of cloud above us. Click here or on the photo above for a larger, annotated panorama.
No time to go inside to feed the dogs or even unpack the car . . . it was too interesting out here.
The sun must be nearly set as the colours have deepened considerably as it dips down to the horizon over the Irish Sea.
The sunshine has left the valley but the spectacle continues. Just the high fells and the clouds can catch the last of the rays of the sun.
The rain shower heads away into the upper part of the valley beyond Buttermere and gaps appear in the cloud base here, allowing us a glimpse of blue skies above. Let's hope for another equally fine day tomorrow. - - - o o o - - - Technical note: Pictures taken with either Ann's Panasonic Lumix TZ60, or my Panasonic Lumix Gx8 Camera. Resized in Photoshop, and built up on a Dreamweaver web builder. This site best viewed with . . . a red sky ay night Go to Top . . . © RmH . . . Email me here Previous walk - 12th March Storm Gareth blows through A previous time up here - 3rd June 2017 - Ennerdale lake with Pete, Ian and Nicky Next walk - 22nd March Our Swansea Visit
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