Family Selfie, Rannerdale Knotts

After a week or so in Northumberland we headed west for a few days in the Lake District. We weren't planning a lot of walking as Ted is rather too heavy to be carried but rather unreliable about how far he will walk, but after a morning on the beach at Crummock Water we thought we'd try Rannerdale Knotts. It's one of the smaller fells and we would usually be up and down it in a couple of hours. I brought the sling so I could carry Ted if needed... but he made it all the way up (and down!) on his own 2 feet! OK, several bribes were required (jelly babies and Party Rings!) but he managed the steep ascent (lots of scrambling) and was so proud of himself when we reached the summit. He kept referring to it as 'my mountain'. He practically ran all the way down - we took the gentle grassy ridge path then dropped down into Rannerdale for the final descent - and arrived back at the van over 4 hours after we'd started out..! It made our evening meal at the Kirkstile (Loweswater pub) taste all the better for having earned it.