Day 4: Grasmere to Patterdale, 8 miles (Lisa’s Version)

Photos

For breakfast at the hostel we shared our English breakfasts in a cafeteria-style dining room from our red and blue lunch trays. It just wasn’t the same as a B&B. We ran into Al and Bill again (two retired teachers from Ohio) on our way out of town. We were all turned around and, as it turned out, so were they. We spotted them in someone’s driveway with furrowed brows studying maps, arms pointing, asking a resident for assistance. Once we all made it back to the path, our climb quickly turned steep. It was misty at first and by the top we were navigating through a dense fog. The heavy veil of fog made the whole hike feel like a dream. I was surprised when Gordon pointed out waves to our left and I realized we had been skirting along the shore of a lake. The lake and fog blended after a few feet and were barely indistinguishable. The land here is beautiful in all weather, it’s nice to have a little variety.

In Patterdale, we stayed at the Greenbank Farm, a 17^th c. working farm. Our hostess Beverly, was telling us about their sheep, that they lambed 1800 (mothers) and are still in the process of counting and marking the lambs (potentially 3000, she said). She explained that if the weather is warm then the chemicals that they put on the sheep soaks into their skin too quickly and “they go all doo-lally in the head,” so it’s a slow process. One of the stripes on their back is to show who owns them and the other is a chemical to protect them from blue flies, a very nasty pest, I won’t go in to details. Gordon and I tried on all of the Herdwick wool hats (from their herds) that are knit by her friend. She also made a lovely cover for toilet paper rolls with a little lamb on top. Very cute. I would have bought five if not for our daily budget. We had dinner that evening at the White Lion pub, an impressive slim three-story building that stands alone on the side of a narrow street with expansive fields and mountains in the background, watched the England game, and shared a pot of tea. I’ve discovered that sharing a pot of tea with someone, namely Gordon, is delightful way to pass some time. There was a good crowd gathered around the T.V., a mixture of locals and some familiar faces – Al and Bill again, Melinda and Andrea from Washington state, and 2 of the Californians, Gary and Jeff. Earlier that day on the mountain, Jeff explained to Gordon and me that the 4 of them, Gary and Jen, Sarah and Jeff, were all implants, I mean, transplants, to California.