Kentmere

A wet, dull start turned into a lovely day. Alan was not able to join us on today's walk so it was just Irene who accompanied us on our walk around Kentmere. A Wainwright was of the opinion this is one of the fairest valleys in Lakeland and I have to admit he had a point.

We didn't start off too well as it turned out. We parked in the wrong place on the wrong road but somewhere along the actual route we were planning to take. Except that we walked the opposite way around to the guidebook. In the end it turned out to be a good move as almost all the high level walking was done early in the walk.

The first section was not without challenge though. There had been a lot of rain overnight, meaning the tracks were drenched and the becks in full flow. The first obstacle was Mickle Moss which as the name suggests is an area of bog. The path was flooded, too deep to wade, so we had to do a huge, squelchy detour to get around the bog and the flooded path.

We successfully negotiated the bog only to find the next hurdle was a ford across a swollen beck. With my long legs I was able to find away across but for Susan and Irene it was a different matter. We cast up and down the stream for a suitable place to cross and were beginning to despair when we came across a discarded plank lying amongst the moorland grasses. The plank enabled us to  bridge a gap so that Susan and Irene could cross.

After that it was plain sailing down into the village of Kentmere where we consumed our lunch on a windswept but sunny bench overlooking the valley. From there we walked just above the River Kent back to the car.

This shot is looking north into Kentmere, looking towards the village of the same name. It really is a very special place and will replay further visits both into the northern, higher and remote part of the valley and to complete the Kentmere Round which takes you on a 12 mile stroll around the high ground that encloses the valley.