While we had big plans of camping throughout the summer the weather had other ideas with June through August being a soggy mess so instead we opted for day hikes during the dry spells. We managed to do a pretty good job of hiking in the good weather-windows and exploring a few new routes. On the last really hot sunny day however we had a delightful time relaxing and swimming at the dreamiest of tarns with a mountain backdrop and fighter jets flying right overhead which is always exciting.

One popular hike led us up Raven Crag, a rather dramatic, rocky mound at the northern end of Thirlmere lake. It was short but steep with a boardwalk at the end that led us to a viewing platform above the sheer-cliff. The weather looked a little questionable from the top with menacing clouds looming but the sun was shining at the same time so we got a great view of the lake below us.

Some days were raining until the late afternoon so we decided to enjoy a packed-dinner from a scenic spot in the hills. We opted for the hills above Rydal Lake and on the way we stopped at a lovely little tarn which looked very appealing for a swim. It was only a small tarn so the water was nice and warm but it was riddled with underwater creepy-crawleys. I don’t know if it was just fish or tadpoles but things kept touching me and I jumped straight back out the water. Craig was much braver and began doing laps across the length of the tarn.

The shore-line and pathways around the lake were covered in an abnormal amount of baby frogs. There were hundreds of them and it was actually quite a challenge to walk without stepping on them. Once we reached the windy top of the hill we picked a spot to enjoy our dinner and cider with a view of the lakes below us.

There’s a couple of walks we can do from our house, one is up a hill nearby and offers views up Windermere lake and the surrounding peaks and the other is across the lake, accessed via a chain-pulled ferry. It’s been nice to just start a walk straight from our house as appose to waiting for a bus first.

We explored a little valley in the Eastern Lakes near Brothers Water which is a pretty tarn surrounded by lovely shaped hills. There weren’t enough views of the water from the trail for my liking but we continued up the valley until it began to ascend, at which point we turned back, forcing ourselves to take it easy for once. We stopped at the lake for a swim on the way back and were amazed at how full the water levels were. We were wading through grass for the first few meters but it was quite a treat on the feet walking on such soft ground instead of fumbling along sharp rocks. The heavy rain had created huge, clear puddles of water on the grass too and we had a lot of fun jumping in them like Dawn French did in The Vicar of Dibley. We later caught a bus through this area and the driver told all the passengers that the tarn got it’s name because apparently two brothers died in the water. He said when he asked a 90 year old regular passenger of his if the story was actually true she said it wasn’t just two brothers who died in those waters…maybe that’ll be the last dip we have in that tarn!

We did brave one camping trip in the late summer, an impromptu after-work trip up a 600m hill. It was an incredibly steep route but only about 1km distance so within 45 minutes we’d reached the top. The forecast wasn’t ideal and we had some pretty grey clouds looming around us and absolutely no sunset, but I did set my alarm for sunrise.

There were lots of low clouds drifting around the mountain tops which took on a peachy haze as the sun began to rise so it was worth waking up for. We were back home by lunch time so it was a nice little trip but we just don’t get a wink of sleep while camping so it wiped us out for the rest of the day.

Luckily we live in a very beautiful area and I’ve been loving taking photos of the sunsets, cloud inversions and wildlife in our garden. We’ve started feeding the birds who now tap their beaks on our window if their feeder is empty, a polite little reminder for us to top it up. We’ve also had a family of deer visit on a few occasions, a fox, tawny owl and a stout who was ruthless, killing a bunny rabbit (which was bigger than itself) and dragging into a bush to devour!

We’ve had some really spectacular sunsets with huge sunbeams, orange tinged skies and fiery red clouds, it’s been such a treat being able to photograph them from our doorstep. Now things are winding down and Autumn is on it’s way which I’m very happy about after such a muggy and rainy summer, bring on the crisp, cool days!