Back on the trail...

This morning we decided to leave the extremely busy village behind us and take one of our favourite (and regular) walks to Tarn Hows. The village is full of runners, here for the Lakeland 100 and Lakeland 50 events. Not just the runners, but their families too and with well over a thousand runners, plus their supporters, the village feels very full and hectic. Soon after leaving the village we were into the tranquillity of the woods, beautiful at any time of year, very lush and green at the moment, but already the first signs of Autumn are showing. For over a week now we have noticed that the bracken is turning and the Rowan trees are full of berries, many turning red already.

As the path heads up from Low Yewdale and through Tarn Hows Wood, the view across the Yewdale valley opens up. I could never grow tired of this view into the Tilberthwaite valley and rarely pass by without taking at least one photo.

Some of the umbellifer flowers are not easy to distinguish one from the other, but looking closely at them, they are quite intricate.

An unusual view from the road just above Tarn Hows Cottage. I have never really noticed this summit from this angle before. The sun was on Brim Fell and the foreground was in shade, making it stand out more than usual.

The rather splendid view of Langdale Pikes from Tarn Hows. I love the textures in this image, firstly of all the different trees in the foreground and then the textures and shades in the clouds.

The very gentle, rural, scene of Tarn Hows.

The Rowan berries, heralding the first signs of Autumn.

Different day, same weather

Today the weather was very similar to yesterday. Fortunately we more or less managed to avoid the showers, whereas yesterday we were in the middle of them. Today we walked from Skelwith Bridge, up the Cumbria way to Colwith Force, on to Little Langdale, Slater's Bridge and Little Langdale Tarn. Then we crossed to Elterwater and back to Skelwith via Eltermere and along the River Brathay.

A delightful footpath through land that is owned and managed by The National Trust.

Colwith Force, a beautiful part of the river, but worryingly slippy underfoot today due to the damp tree roots.

A late Speedwell still in flower and one of the last Water Lilies still standing in the river at Slater's Bridge.

Slater's Bridge and views from the footpath around the bridge.

Things to see on a damp day!

Of course The Lake District always looks at it's best in good weather and walking in the wet is no fun for anyone, is it? However, when the distant vistas aren't looking at their best, there is still plenty to see on a walk in the hills. Today was a case in point. We set out to walk over the fells from our home in Coniston to Little Langdale and back via a different route. The weather didn't look promising, but we were undeterred and set off through Yewdale woods towards Tilberthwaite. Showers began to fall and it's all too easy to get your head down and just walk with a view of your boots stepping one in front of the other along the muddy path. But if you start to look around there is always more to see. All kinds of wild flowers and creatures along the way. Here are just a few from today's walk.

Herb Robert, growing in the walls where we entered the wood, but look around, it seems to grow everywhere and has a long season too.

Convolvulous, entwined amongst the trees and other vegetation. A pest to gardeners, but a beautiful wildflower with it's white trumpets.

The woods and hedgerows have their own bounty to share if you are observant enough. At this time of year there are wild strawberries and raspberries along the way.

Look out for some strange and unusual shapes in the woods. You might see something familiar, or something that reminds you of someone!

An unusual find at this time of year. Not sure if it's a blackbird or a thrushes egg, but it must be from a second brood to have just hatched out at the end of July.

Keep your eyes peeled in the woods, you never know what you might be lucky enough to see!

Coming out of the woods and onto the fells, the flora changes and in the wet areas there is cotton grass and the yellow bog asphodel.

And of course there are orchids in the wet places too. Heath spotted orchids.

Another unusual plant that likes the wet acid bogs is the sundew. It is an insectivorous plant and can be quite difficult to spot.

We saw this moth trying to get dry enough to fly again. I haven't identified it yet, but look at it's unusual leopard skin body. A beautiful creature.

And even on a dull, damp day, it's not impossible to get a decent landscape shot. This one was taken in the rain. You can just see Wrynose Pass winding it's way up the side of Pike O'Blisco.

And here's a couple of residents, relaxing and watching the traffic go by.

Boardale and Ullswater

Today we made a long overdue return to a walk that was always a favourite of ours, but lack of time in recent years has meant that it has been far too long since we did this walk. Leaving the car in Patterdale, we walked through Rooking and up onto the path that leads up to Boardale Hause. The path then takes us down the long, perfectly glaciated valley of Boardale. From there we headed towards Sandwick, but before arriving there, we turned left along Ullswater and back to Patterdale. A fabulous round trip, with a great variety of views.

As the path rises towards Boardale Hause, the view back to Glenridding opens up.

The view ahead looks towards Brothers Water and Kirkstone Pass.

Good views towards Deepdale and Hart Crag.

The fantastic view down Boardale and out to Penrith in the distance. You can clearly see the shape of the glaciated valley.

The red deer in the bottom of the valley kept a close watch on us as we passed by about quarter of a mile away.

Not a very clear picture due to the distance and movement, but it was so good to see these two fawns playing.

A becalmed but peaceful Ullswater.

The sunshine came in small doses, but the pleasure was immeasurable.

Time to Reapraise

After much discussion and assessing of our options, we decided to stay put and make the most of it. It would after all be quite costly to find somewhere else for a month. So our search for the wild flowers and in particular, the wild orchids of the Languedoc began and we headed out to search the limestone pavement near Rennes Le Chateau.