The Lake District 2012 - Holiday recap and photos

For the past five years or so our main family summer holiday has been spent in the Lake District.  My late mother in law passed on her love for this amazingly beautiful part of England.  In addition to the beauty of the area, she also introduced me to the writings of Alfred Wainwright.  For those not familiar with Wainwright, he was a gifted author and artist who literally devoted his life to painstakingly map every fell in the Lake District.  All of his guides were handwritten and beautifully illustrated.  He had a wicked sense of humour to boot - so reading his books has become a favourite pastime of mine.  So well known are his writings that the fells in the Lake District have affectionately become known as "Wainwrights".  I've added a new page to the blog, listing my summits thus far!  There are 214 in total - we'll see if I can climb all of them!

We were pleased to add four new summits to our list of accomplishments - we actually climbed five, but the fifth (The Dodd), we've climbed at least ten times previously!  At just over 1600 feet, we tend to "warm up" with this one every year as it's such a pleasant walk (albeit steep) and the views from the summit are some of the best to be seen in Lakeland.  So, this is where we started on Sunday.  But before I tell you about what we climbed, etc, I wanted to just take a little step back to this time last year... While we were away I happened to find a video on my husband's phone of us climbing Blencathra (alt 2848 ft) last year - I was the last one up, huffing and puffing and nearly ready to die when I reached the summit (it's very windy at the top, so apologies about the sound - and I haven't figured out how to edit, so you get to see everyone else reach the summit too!):

I got to the top through pure determination alone, but I think you can see how unfit I was.  This year was a different story altogether!  Unfortunately we didn't take any videos of me bounding up the summits, but suffice to say, though they were all hard work, I didn't struggle to get up one!

Back to the recap: On Sunday, we went to a lovely little restaurant out in the back of beyond for lunch and reckoned we would climb the Dodd to burn off our lunch!  On Sunday's, Mae's Tearoom (in a beautiful old converted school in Uldale) serves a roast dinner - it was roast beef with Yorkshire Puddings the size of my head!  I was smitten from the moment we walked in the door - and the food was delicious too!

At Mae's Tearoom

The initial stiff climb up the Dodd

Me at the Summit of the Dodd

The forecast for the week was dire - rain nearly every day.  On Monday, however, like seasoned fellwalkers - we were out the door with sandwiches packed on our way to climb Great Gable!  Great Gable is one of the higher fells in the Lake District (alt 2949ft), and would also serve as our highest summit of the week.  Our walk began at the tiny little village of Seathwaite - about 20 minutes drive from Keswick.  I wish I had taken a photograph, but there is actually a plaque as you drive into the village that says it is officially the wettest place in England - with the most rainfall each year!  And yes, it did rain while we were there!

We had a bit of a walk to even get to the "start" of our walk to the summit, but there was lots of interest along the way.  I hadn't realised, but this was also a frequently used path to get to the tallest mountain in England, Scafell Pike, and sadly we met a couple on the summit of Great Gable who believed they had climbed the Pike only to realise when they met us (and another couple who had just come from Green Gable) they were on the wrong mountain!

It's a long way to the top!

On the final path up the side of Great Gable

Me at the summit of Great Gable

Descending Gable in the mist...

Tuesday was deservedly a rest day, so we drove down to Ambleside and took a short cruise on Lake Windermere.  This was a very busy place - lots of young families and people who come to the Lakes not for walking (how they could possibly visit the Lake District and not go for even a short walk is beyond me!).  I happened to snap this cheeky picture (pun intended):

Say "no" to crack

Now, it's very breezy on these boats as the sides are open, so I reckon this dude knew what he was doing - in any case, it did make me laugh - a lot.

Wednesday came and the chosen mountain(s) were Red Pike with a possibility of going on to ridge walk the High Stile range next to it.  Again, the weather was not cooperating and as we drove into Buttermere - the village where our walk would start - the tops of the mountains were all in mist.  Our walk started by the lake and ascended steeply to a tarn (a pond) where we would climb again.  We decided to just get up there and see what it was like before making a decision to continue with the ridge walk.  Now I should start this by saying that I can read a map, but I can't use a compass - so navigating in the mist is not going to happen and Red Pike does have some sheer drops from the summit, so I wasn't about to hike off in one direction, kids in tow, trying to find a ridge!

I love Buttermere - it's easily my favourite place in the Lakes.  The mountains there have a sort of fairy tale beauty - tall, black, majestic and inspiring.  But, Red Pike seems to be the odd man out.  The summit is covered with thick red clay and scree (loose rock) - giving it its name.  This would be our very first encounter with scree and with a summit that required a scramble.  I should have known when my father in law recounted his summit with my mother in law quite a few years ago - she sat down and refused to go up.  On her third separate attempt, she made it to the top.

The scrambling described on the route description was "easy" - if that's easy scrambling, I would seriously hate to encounter "hard"! I do not have a head for heights - hard to believe for someone who enjoys climbing mountains, but most of the time when heights are involved, I just take it really slow, keep my head down, swear profusely (because my kids are usually a mile ahead of me!) and get on with it!  Due to the tricky nature of this summit, we all had to stay very close together.  I went up first, followed by both kids and then my husband.  I made it - but it was not an experience I would like to repeat and for once I think going up a mountain in mist was beneficial as I couldn't see the drops around me!

Looking back down the Buttermere valley

The start of the steep scramble - the summit is in mist

At the summit of Red Pike

A particularly tricky bit - about the only time I smiled! (over that ledge is a sheer drop!)

Guess what mountain we've just come down?!

Needless to say, I was happy to get that one in the bag and get the heck off the summit!  The mist was getting thicker on the summit, so we decided to pass on the ridge walk.  The Dodd (separate Dodd than the one mentioned earlier) was literally a leisurely walk next door - so we went to the summit to tick another one off the list.  Sadly, it's not a Wainwright, but it's little more than a hill and unfortunately was shrouded in mist so the amazing views we would have had from the summit were blocked :(.

Thursday again was another "rest" day and we decided to take another lake cruise - but this time at Ullswater.  My father in law came with us and we even had lunch at a pub he used to go to when he was a young man!  It's at the top of a hill in Glenridding and is called The Travellers Rest.  Easily one of the smallest pubs I've ever been to - but what they lack in size of the building, they make up for in abundance on your plate!  HUGE portions!  Thankfully, I just ordered a sandwich, but even that was big!

Friday, we were toying until the very last minute about which fell to climb.  My daughter was pretty exhausted and protested at climbing anything, so we settled on a small climb - little more than a hill just north of Bassenthwaite called "Binsey".  Binsey is pretty much just a grass and heather covered hill - but I was intrigued to climb it because Wainwright says that the views from the summit are some of the finest in Lakeland and I would be inclined to agree.  It took us about 45 minutes to reach the summit and a grand total of about 15 minutes to get down again!  Quite possibly the quickest climb ever - but I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who has a spare hour in the lakes!

Binsey 1467 ft

The beautiful tree lined avenue at the start of our walk

Old stone gate

Heather

The view of lakeland from Binsey summit

You can see why I love it!

And here I am with one of my handy Wainwright guide books! (By the way, I'm talking here which is why my mouth looks weird!)

We drove back yesterday and the rain was seriously heavy!  I hate driving (or even being a passenger!) in the rain!  Thankfully we made it home safely.  All total, we walked 23.5 miles.  I tracked all of my food - even though internet access was sketchy, hopefully all of my logins on MFP will still count!  I haven't weighed myself yet, but will wait until tomorrow.  I did eat more than I normally would, but even if there is a weight gain, I know it will come off as quickly as it went on.  And the best thing is that my leg muscles got a serious workout last week!

Packing, Socks and other oddities

Our annual trip to the Lake District is upon us!  We leave tomorrow and boy, do I feel like I need a holiday!  Sometimes I feel like I'm running on empty all the time and this week especially as I've been nursing a cold - which unfortunately means I've not been for a run since Sunday!  I've been sitting on my backside all week and feeling very frustrated!  Last night, however, I did perk up long enough to fit in a Jillian Michaels Kettlebell workout, so I felt as if I at least made some progress.

Today has been spent packing - probably one of my most hated jobs!  Who remembers Snoopy and his famous "bleah" noise?  Well - that's my reaction to packing!

I've said before that I am not a very organised person and packing requires organisation in abundance!  Bleah!  I hesitate to call myself lazy - because clearly I'm kicking ass and taking names on the fitness front - no way am I a lazy girl!  BUT - when it comes to pairing up socks after laundry, I'm NOT that girl!  Little do I realise that this not only frustrates my husband no end in the mornings when he is looking for a pair to wear to work - but it was also very frustrating for me packing for our holiday!

Sock after sock was pulled from my husband's drawer with literally NO sign of their mates anywhere!  Seriously - where do these socks go?!  Even if they are not paired in the washing machine, they all get washed and therefore they should all end up in the drawer.  I don't use a tumble dryer, so the socks go from washing machine, to washing line, to drawer - somewhere in between these three locations is a veritable Sock Twilight Zone.

Sockie no mates...

Despite the lack of sock pairs, I have managed to nearly complete the packing - including virtually all the contents of my kitchen!  We generally always go "self-catering", which means that despite the fact we're on holiday - I still have to cook.  Strangely, I don't mind this.  I actually really enjoy cooking.  Even more than that, it means that I can still reliably maintain control over my calories while we're away.  By the time you've packed all the dry ingredients like pasta, tins of tomatoes, beans, fruit juices, bottles of water, spices, salt, coffee (a must!) you've virtually filled your car before you've even left the house!  Thankfully my father in law is coming with us and driving his own car, so we can share the load.

This year I'm trying to be as organised as possible with food (food, yes I can organise, socks, not so much!) - so I've managed to get most of our food (apart from the fresh stuff like milk, meat, butter and cheese) here and we will take it up with us.  I've done the 'buy it all from a local grocery store' idea before - but it ends up costing a small fortune!  Another good money saving tip, seeing as I'm on that subject, is packing your own lunches.  Since we mostly go on day walking trips when we're in the Lakes, I always pack our lunch so we can find a scenic stop and enjoy our sandwiches.  This is a must for longer walks, but makes good sense in my opinion anyway!

So - while I'm away from reliable internet access (and it is quite patchy up in the Lakes!), I've arranged for a couple of guest posts, which, all being well, should come up on Sunday and Wednesday, respectively.  In the meantime, make sure you're following me on Twitter (@walksinthewoods), as I'll be tweeting about our summits conquered and other lakeland adventures!  I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Liebster Award

Exciting News!  Abby over at Back at Square Zero has chosen me to receive a Liebster Award!  I'm really thrilled about this for a few reasons.  Firstly, it's a way of sharing some not so commonly asked facts about myself with all of you, and secondly, it means that (hopefully) I get to learn a lot more about all of you too!  So, here it goes...

So what is the Liebster Award:

The Liebster award is given to upcoming bloggers who have less than 200 followers.  The meaning: Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing and welcome.

Rules for receiving this award:

1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves.

2. Then answer the questions the tagger sent for them, plus create 11 questions for the people they've tagged to answer.

3. Choose 11 people and link them in your post.

4. Notify the people you have tagged.

5. No tag backs.

11 Things About Me:

1.  I’m originally from Indiana, but moved to England at the age of 18 with my university (Ball State University).

I still have no idea what's in the box!

2.  My husband and I used to be penpals.  He’s British and when I moved to England to study, I turned up on his doorstep!  This in itself is a bit of a miracle because he hadn’t written to me in a while and so all I had was an old Christmas card with most of his address – [  ]8 Marlborough Road… I knew that I was missing the first number, so I proceeded to walk down Marlborough Road and knock on all the doors that ended in 8!  He lived in the last house!

3.  My husband and I are passionate about amateur dramatics – we have our own club, Mustard Seed Players.

4.  I love Twilight – the books and the films.  I’m not proud of this, it’s taken me quite a while to own up to it, but now that it’s out in the open I feel so much better!  In case you’re wondering, I’m Team Edward without doubt! 

You are the glow...

5.  I love curry.  I love to cook it, I love to eat it.  I actually think I should have been born in India I love it so much!  Oddly, I never actually tried it until about 8 years ago when I worked in London.  A colleague of mine was Indian and took me to the most amazing restaurant called Bombay Palace (I later discovered that literally every other Indian restaurant in London is called Bombay Palace!) – but this one was fab.  It was the start of a lifelong love affair with spice!

6.  I am an only child.  Growing up my parents decided that they would like to host a foreign exchange student, so when I was 14 years old my ‘sister’ Nina from Germany arrived!  She was 18 and we fought like cat and dog for the year she lived with us!  But, 22 years later (yes, I am 36 now), we are still in contact and either she comes to visit me, or we go to visit her in Germany at least once a year.  She became and always will be my sister :-).

Me, Nina, and Will & Kate (and a plate of chips!) at the Royal Wedding

7.  My favourite place on earth is the English Lake District.  It’s in the north of England, about a 6 hour drive from where I live.  We go there at least once a year and climb the mountains there.  The mountains, or “fells” as they are called in the Lake District, are quite small by most standards (ranging from 1000-3300 feet), but they’re still quite a challenge to climb.  And the views from the top are utterly amazing.  I can’t think of a more rewarding experience than climbing a mountain.  There is sheer beauty and utter silence.  It’s an unforgettable experience!

Buttermere Lake - doesn't get much more perfect than this

8.  I love to sew.  My mother passed this passion onto me.  I’ve made various things to sell from time to time, mostly for church fairs, but I have sold some pretty amazing cushions in London!  I went through a period of making wedding dresses to earn a bit of extra money, but the stress that this put on me was SO not worth the reward!  I still make myself and my daughter dresses in the summer and handbags from time to time.  I love vintage fabrics.

One of my own handbags

9.  My favourite colour is green.  I think this stems from my love of nature and being outside.  I grew up in rural Indiana and played among the dogwoods.  I had loads of toys, but nothing captured my attention more than just running outside and playing in the mud!  One of my favourite things is to walk barefoot through the grass – I love the cool feeling of the soft grass between my toes on a hot summer’s day!

10.  I am completely and utterly terrified of flying.  I appreciate this sounds totally absurd coming from someone who clearly had to get on an airplane to get to where she is today – but at the time I came to England I didn’t have the fear.  It only came later and it wasn’t really anything in particular that triggered it, I just suddenly decided that I liked to have both feet firmly planted on the ground!  I never let it stop me going somewhere I really want to go, or need to go, but I am a nervous wreck the entire time!

11.  I have two tattoos.  One is an ankh on my ankle which I got when I was 17 and went to Australia for the summer.  The other is horrendous and I wish it would go away!  It’s a very ridiculous Egyptian eye shade around my belly button (seriously, what was I thinkin?!), which has been stretched and distorted over the years through weight gain, weight loss, stretch marks, pregnancies, blah!  I can’t tell you how many times I heard a midwife say “that’s…interesting” when I went for antenatal checks or scans during my pregnancies!  I’m not anti-tattoo – I still love the one on my ankle – but I wish that someone would have made me think about the implications of getting a tattoo on your tum before you have babies!  Maybe eventually when I lose all the weight I’ll be able to have a tummy tuck and they’ll just cut it off!  Here’s hoping :-)

Abby's Questions for me:


1.    Why did you start blogging?


I actually started blogging after I came across a very inspirational blog called Runs for Cookies.  Katie was such an inspiration to me both in terms of her weight loss and her journey to become a runner.  I really loved how her blog chronicled that journey.  I thought a blog would be an excellent way to keep a record of my weight loss and fitness journey, but also a way of connecting with other people who are going through the same things.


2.    What has been your favorite part of the experience so far?


My favourite part of the experience so far has definitely been connecting with so many amazing people!  It has been so encouraging to read about other people’s experiences, trials and victories!


3.    If you could gain one thing from blogging what would you hope it brings to you?


Well, the main reason I blog is to help me mentally through the weight loss journey, so if I could gain one thing from it I would hope it would be an understanding of how to maintain my weight loss for good.  I have previously lost 100 pounds, but gained most of it back because I didn't incorporate permanent changes to my lifestyle.  I am hoping that by blogging it will keep me on the straight and narrow!


4. What are you most looking forward to right now?


Without doubt, my holiday in the Lake District in August!  I am already planning which mountains we're climbing and studying maps!


5. What do you do when you are stressed?


In times gone by I would have binged.  I would have gone out, bought a huge bag of Mars Planets chocolates and many Dr Peppers, along with pretzels, popcorn, etc and eaten the lot - probably in one sitting.  Now I either go to Pinterest (somehow looking at pictures of stuff I can never afford relaxes me!) or I go out for a walk/run.  In addition to this, I will generally talk it out with a friend.  Nothing compares to good friends when you need to relieve some stress!


6. What is one food you could not live without?


As mentioned already above - CURRY!  I love ALL Curry, chicken curry, prawn/fish curry, beef and lamb curry - from Kormas right up to super, knock your socks off spicy Vindaloos!  And most of all - the Peshwari naan.  God bless the little Indian man (or woman) who thought to put coconut in naan bread!


7. If you could only watch one TV show a week what would it be?


Hmmm... I'm not a big TV watcher.  What my husband and I tend to do is to buy whole series on DVD's and then watch them in bulk.  This is mainly because all the good American TV shows take ages to get over here, whereas they're available much earlier on DVD.  If I could choose only one, however, it would have to be The Office.


8. Where is your dream vacation?


I would love to go to New Zealand.  I went to Australia when I was 17 and loved it, but having seen so much of the New Zealand landscape (confession: via Lord of the Rings!), I would love to go and spend a good month down there just exploring!


9. What is one goal you are currently working towards?


One goal I'm working towards is actually becoming an Interior Designer.  I'm doing a course at the moment through KLC and will have a qualification at the end of it.  It's quite tricky fitting in the time to study with kids and everything else that goes on in my crazy life - but I'll get there eventually!  I love design, fabric, colour and everything associated with it, so think this an ideal career for me!


10. Do you have any children or fur babies?


Yes!  I have two children.  Josh is 12 and Verity is 10 years old.  They are both equally as crazy as I am and I love that about them!  Josh is without doubt more like me and Verity is more like her dad - both in terms of personality and looks.  Josh is very easy to panic (ahem.... yes!), he worries about things (again... yes!), but he's also very outgoing and determined (yes and double yes!).  Verity is incredibly artistic - a trait she gets from both her parents, but she's also very quick tempered (dad!).  The kids get along well together as a general rule and I'm pleased having grown up as an only child, that they have each other.


11. Favorite ice cream or fro-yo flavor?

Favourite ice-cream flavour is coconut!  I love good ol' plain chocolate too - but coconut is awesome!

And now my questions to all my lucky recipients:

1. What inspired your blog name?
2. What do you like most about blogging?
3. What was your dream job when you were a child?
4. Where is the furthest place you've ever travelled?
5. What is the strangest or most exotic food you've ever tried?  And did you like it?
6. What is your favourite film?
7. Who is your favourite TV show character?
8. Do you have a crazy, far-fetched ambition and what is it? (for example - mine is to be an Oscar winning screen writer, or to climb Mount Everest!)
9. If your friends could describe you with one word, what would it be?
10. If money were no object, where would you live and why?
11. What is your favourite book of all time?

And finally here are my chosen recipients for the Liebster Award!


Does this scale make me look fat?
Eating Away Ernie
Minus One hundred
Poonapalooza
Hello Fitness…We Meet Again
Can I borrow that?
Losing It
Burning lbs by Bridge
Goal of Losing
Spicing up my life
Skinny Sonja