{"id":1873,"date":"2019-10-02T15:37:19","date_gmt":"2019-10-02T15:37:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/?p=1873"},"modified":"2019-10-02T15:47:41","modified_gmt":"2019-10-02T15:47:41","slug":"keswick-day-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/keswick-day-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Keswick \u2013 Day 3"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Setting off down the road.<\/p><\/div>\n

On a beautiful, bright day we set off on different adventures. We all caught a bus in Keswick to a couple of towns a bit distant. Steph and Freya got off at one stop that was the starting point for ascending the mountain we\u2019d seen on the boat trip the previous day, CatBells. It\u2019s billed as a starter mountain, which made it feasible for Steph, an experienced climber, and for five-year-old Freya. It\u2019s not even her first mountain. She scaled her first last year at age four.<\/p>\n

However, my knees are not up to the rigors of a 1500-foot-ascent over 3.5 miles. Actually I could probably have handled the ascent, but descending is murder on bad knees. The rest of us, my husband and I, my son, and three-year-old grandson elected to tackle a more gentle walk, from the town of Grange to Rosthwaite along part of the Borrowdale Circular Walk, which follows the River Derwent.<\/p>\n

We got off the bus in Grange, a tiny community with a caf\u00e9 and a few dwellings, found the trail head, and set out. The path started out as a narrow, paved road, but eventually became a well-marked footpath that sometimes devolved into a less obvious trail. Still, we found our way with only one or two wrong turns that we usually figured out fairly quickly.<\/p>\n

We walked past pastures and a campground before the path descended to the side of the River Derwent and stayed close to it for most of the distance to Rosthwaite. The total distance of the walk was around a mile and a half. We took it at a moderate pace with many stops, mainly due to three-year-old James. He was a trooper, going along with only occasional complaints, mostly toward the end of the hike.<\/p>\n

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James splashing around in a shallow spot in the water<\/p><\/div>\n

In a couple of places a broad rocky sort of beach gave access to shallow parts of the river. James wore his Wellies and enjoyed stomping and splashing around rocks in the water. In other places low cliffs at the water\u2019s edge provided perfect launching spots for throwing stones into the river. There was no shortage of ammunition easily available and almost no end to James\u2019s enthusiasm for testing his arm.<\/p>\n

Scenery was magnificent for the entire journey. At times the hills closed in fairly tightly while in other places, the land flattened out in the valley, providing inspiring views of higher mountains.<\/p>\n

Although it\u2019s generally an easy walk, there were some fairly steep, although short, climbs, and a number of places where the hike was more of a scramble over rocks and scree. Some of the hills around us were rocky and heavily wooded with small caves and niches. In other places the path crossed pastures and led across some interesting bridges.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Eventually we made it to our destination, Rosthwaite, where we stopped for lunch at the Flock Inn Tearoom. After a strenuous walk, we were all ravenous. I got a bowl of Herdwick stew, which is mostly chunks of lamb, potato, carrot, and onion in a rich lamb gravy. It was quite good and very filling, especially when accompanied by a savory cheese scone.<\/p>\n

Afterward we got the bus back to Keswick, and I think we all napped on the trip, being tired and well-fed. Just before we reached Rosthwaite I got a text from Steph saying she and Freya had reached the summit of Catbells and were beginning their descent.<\/p>\n

We knocked around town for a while, then in mid-afternoon headed toward the side of Derwentwater and a caf\u00e9 there to wait for the climbers, who would be returning via the boat. We had drinks and cakes to celebrate Steph and Freya\u2019s achievement before heading back home.<\/p>\n

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The village of Grange<\/p><\/div>\n

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The horse ignored us<\/p><\/div>\n

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Hills around us.<\/p><\/div>\n

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One of several bridges along the way<\/p><\/div>\n

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The River Derwent<\/p><\/div>\n

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James showing off his throwing arm<\/p><\/div>\n

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The water in the rivers and streams is amazingly clear<\/p><\/div>\n

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The purplish flower is heather<\/p><\/div>\n

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The path got a bit rugged in places<\/p><\/div>\n

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More beautiful scenery<\/p><\/div>\n

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A picture-perfect day in a picture-perfect place.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Another neat bridge<\/p><\/div>\n

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Herdwick stew with savory cheese scone<\/p><\/div>\n

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Keswick<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On a beautiful, bright day we set off on different adventures. We all caught a bus in Keswick to a couple of towns a bit distant. Steph and Freya got off at one stop that was the starting point for …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1873"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1897,"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1873\/revisions\/1897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}