The Walk - Stage 3 - Rosthwaite to Grasmere

Jo Anne's notes 😊

We are getting good at the morning routine of packing our suitcases and bringing them down to be picked up by luggage transfer, eating breakfast, loading our backpack, lacing our boots, grabbing maps and hiking poles before heading out the door.

Look familiar?

The breakfast room is filled with day hikers here for the weekend. Apparently this hotel is very popular for that sort of thing. 

Looking back at the hotel. 

We head down the path to Rosthwaite.

We arrive in Rosthwaite, the capital of Borrowdale. The landscape around Rosthwaite is geologically fascinating. From a very large and obvious “roche moutonnees – huge outcrops of rock shaped by glacial erosion – there is evidence of glacial lakes having been formed here.

There are two steep 2,000' climbs on the traditional C2C Walk in this stage: Greenup Edge and Grisedale Hause, and 17 miles. If one wishes to savor the central lakes a little longer (at least that's our story and we're sticking to it), Grasmere would be the ideal place to break this stage, having absolutely nothing to do with those two fells (a fell is a high and barren landscape feature such as a mountain or moor-covered hill and is a Norse word).

We are soon in a familiar rhythm, enjoying all the sights as we pass along. Lake District scenery is something that never gets old! We just keep oohing and ahing over every little turn in the road. There are so many different vistas to exclaim over.

summits of Base Brown, Green Gable and Lingmell.

This is Lakeland at its best. You could almost say that nature is showing off. God's creation never ceases to amaze!

"For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands." Isaiah 55:12

One of a few stiles today 

Parish church and cemetery. 

Lucy’s Loo. Toilets are very rare on wilderness trails. We take every advantage of them when available. Much better than a wild wee. 

Ok. These are the weirdest sheep ever. They look really mean but run when you walk by them. They snort like a hog and sort of look like a hog. We asked a lady what they were and she looked at us like we were crazy and said they’re sheep. Alrighty then. 

Another stile

Grassy trail

And more strange sheep. Notice they have long tails. 

And the typical English phone booth. 

We followed Stonethwaite Beck (river) for awhile, then Longthwaite Beck. There were lots of waterfalls. Soothing music for our souls. 

More rocky trail. 

Some of these pics are just inspiration for my cards. 

Gorgeous blue/green hydrangea 

Interesting fungus

The stone walls we’ve been following are all the green slate that I talked about yesterday. 

We leave the sounds of waterfalls behind and head into town for a lunch of fish and chips.

Our first f&c this trip but I’m sure it won’t be our last  

Wainwright's book has 6 pages of maps and detailed directions in the tiniest print imaginable for this stage of the walk while the instructions we were given by our tour company was a whopping paragraph. Here's what they say:

"We will pass the Galleny Force waterfalls, which are on the right-hand side of the path. We continue descending for several more kilometres. Further on, when the path splits, we turn right downhill. Here an apex begins to form and we ascend to the left, following along. We have now reached the end point of today's walk." ??? 

What does that even mean?

Calf Crag, Gibson Knott and Helm Crag. 

"For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. Psalm 95:3-4

The summit rocks of Helm Crag are an amazing array of pinnacles and tilted rock slabs, many of which have been named. The profile of Helm Crag is probably the best known of all the Lakeland summits, the Lion and the Lamb. You’ll have to zoom in and look at the highest point on the right hand side to see it. The Lion is the tallest point and the lamb is laying in front of it. The summit rock itself is also known as the "howitzer"

A happy duo made their way into Grasmere.

Grasmere is a little unexpected paradise. William Wordsworth said that one day this place 'must be his home, this valley be his world'. The Wordsworths did eventually live here, where he often wandered the hills. Sir Walter Scott was also a frequent visitor, as well as poet Samuel Coleridge.

 It is here that we have decided to take our first rest day, much deserved after the first part of this walk and before forging on to the next.

There’s a Beatrix Potter shop  just across from our inn. 

And what we were most looking forward to, the gingerbread shop,

where they serve homemade gingerbread ice cream made with actual gingerbread in it. 

Another local specialty is rum butter to serve over the gingerbread (or anything else you want it on). 

It’s a slightly chewy gingerbread with a crumb layer on top. Delish!

Took a little walk along the river 

We arrive at Tweedies Bar and Lodge in Grasmere tired and ready to rest. From the outside it looks like a private country home. History tells us it once was. It is a family run operation with a goal of making you feel at home and is warm, cozy, and steeped in history and filled with tweeds and plaids. 

Mr. Mickey Moscrop (aka Tweedie) is a legend here. He was a travelling tweed merchant with a passion for his native woolen cloth. Every summer between 1922-1976, he would travel to Grasmere, from his home in Scotland, to sell his tweeds while resting with a pint. Sadly his woolen cloth is no longer for sale here but there are pieces of his tweed throughout the bar and lodge. 

The room is clean, with two twin beds, a bathroom, a kettle for tea, and snacks.

Maybe part of the peace we are feeling in our soul is not only due to our pleasant surroundings here in north England, but also because we have taken a news and social media vacation!

It feels good to be “unplugged”, although we didn’t plan it that way. We are now in a bubble that feels like a time warp where life was simpler, slower, prettier, and happier. It all feels like a pleasant dream.

We are in the heart of the Lake District now and so far we have no blisters or leg cramps (that’s not to say we have no aches and pains)! We are excited and relieved to finally be at our first rest day, and we are eager to spend our time exploring this quaint little village…but that's for tomorrow!

Today’s stats

22,577 steps

9.5 miles