Our first glimpse of the mountains

We started our day at Castlerigg Stone Circle just outside of Keswick. The weather was cold and sleeting but it was majestic! From there we headed down A5091 to Caudale Moor Slate Mine. We hiked our way up through a Sheep pasture with an inch of snow covering the slippery rocks and grass. Lydia had to help me cross a roaring stream as I was sure it was too slippery for me to jump. We climbed a thousand feet of elevation in 1 mile! Strait up! The mine was cool, great views, but it would have been better without the slippery stones. The view for the hike down was awesome with the half snow covered mountains.
Windermere is both a cute little village and a Lake. The Village was full of shops and people. I couldn’t believe there was a line of people waiting for boat tours of the Lake. It’s was too cold for me to even consider it! I made friends with a bunch of Swans and Doves and ducks.... the birds were accustomed to getting hand outs and flow right up on my arm to get some oaks. We also saw Owls ‘on display’ from a rescue place. I loved seeing the birds, it made Lydia uneasy. We than continued driving south around the southern end of Windermere and to Claife Folly for another look at the Lake.
Our last stop of the day was at Ashness Bridge, a narrow “I can’t believe this is a road” stone arched bridge surrounded by towering mountains and a view of Keswick. We hiked up a little knoll to the best view of the day. The sun was shining, the green moss covering the rocks and trees glowed with life. It was the perfect end to our day!

PS no where did we find St Patrick’s Day. It is definitely not a holiday here.

Caudale Moor Slate Mine