Just as we began walking through the forest two owls swooped above our heads. It happened so quickly but Craig managed to see where one of them flew and we were able to have a look at the wee thing that resembled a 90’s fur-baby. Craig googled the breed of owl when we got home and it was called ‘little owl’ which was a pretty fair name all things considered. The sighting led to a conversation about how owls have been known to attack and even kill people but Craig didn’t believe me. Anyway, we made it out alive and took a stroll along the pebbly shores of Thirlmere lake before we began our uphill hike.

We soon arrived at a beautiful tarn surrounded by forest and rocky hills. Trees are so rare in the Lake District so it was really lovely to see them and hear all the birds tweeting. With the rocky cliffs as a backdrop the scenery felt more Canadian than English. Once we crossed the tarn we found a little spot where we could make some coffee and enjoy the view. Eventually we tore ourselves away from our new favourite tarn and continued uphill, leaving the forest behind and swapping it for grassy hills. We arrived at another tarn which was a fabulous royal blue colour. Wind was whipping across the water and causing it to spiral up in tight circles like little tornados. After a picnic lunch by the tarn clouds began rolling in and they stuck around for hours. It made the views that would normally be impressive look bleak and anti-climatic.

We reached our highest point for the day so it was time to search for a place to camp. On the way we kept our eyes peeled for any water as it was our last opportunity of the day. The water we found was rather questionable with stagnant puddles but we had to use our ears and listen for trickling which is what we needed, flowing water, not a festering puddle of algae. Luckily we found some and soon pitched up on a flat grassy ledge above a valley. It was a really nice, quiet area of the Lake District but we did meet one chap who was also wild camping. He walked over to say hello as he thought it was rude to just walk past. He was pretty funny, a local go who didn’t have much of a plan for his hike and just described his outing as “I’m just fanny-ing around”. His backpack was tiny and we couldn’t believe he had a tent inside…not just a small tent but a two man tent! No doubt he paid top dollar for all the best lightweight equipment…I didn’t have the heart to tell him we’d brought our duvets along on this trip after sleeping so poorly in our sleeping bags.

There wasn’t much wind which meant we were harassed by midges again. They were absolutely relentless and making it hard to relax. We were using spare clothes to swing around our heads and our repellent didn’t seem to keep them away. It wasn’t the most pleasant evening camping with the swarm of midges and lack of sun but as the evening crept towards sunset the clouds dispersed and an orange glow filled the horizon.

On every camping trip I try to manifest a cloud inversion but I’ve slowly given up all hope as it’s just not the right time of year, they’re more likely in autumn and winter. We still set our alarm for 4:30am to catch the sunrise but as we unzipped the tent we saw low-lying clouds. It wasn’t a perfect inversion but to our left we had cloud swooping through the valley and behind the valley we could see even more cloud nestled beneath the peaks. The view was even better behind us though, there was a thick layer of cloud filling the entire valley below us! We were camping on a really wide plateau so we had to frantically run across the wet grass to reach the other side so we could stand above the cloud.

It was bizarre because across the plateau were pockets of fog, almost round circles of it forming to our right and left. Craig ran ahead of me and stood on the edge so I could get some perspective shots as the sun began to rise above the clouds. It was such a beautiful morning and the cloud was constantly changing shape and growing around us until it started rising and suddenly we were within the cloud, wrapped in damp fog. Droplets sat on my head and my socks and sandals were drenched from the dewy grass, but we had huge grins, what a perfect morning!

We warmed up with some porridge and hot coffee before packing up the damp tent and making a quick escape from the midges who had just woken up. We camped at around 600m elevation and our route back down was in thick cloud until we dropped below 250m. It began burning off and warming up just as we arrived at an idyllic swimming hole. As soon as the sun popped out we jumped into a crystal clear pool and enjoyed a very refreshing swim before making our way back to Grasmere. While we were waiting for our bus we stopped at the famous gingerbread shop to see what all the fuss was about…it was overrated in my opinion and Craig was disappointed it wasn’t gingerbread-man shaped. Now it’s time to get some sleep and edit the hundreds of photos I took!