Grasmere, England
Friday, September 20 – A transition day between towns and our longest hike thus far.
Started the day with a little stroll around the hotel grounds before breakfast. Then is was time to get our bags packed and head off.
First stop was for some lunch provisions. Crisp tasting update, we bought one bag each of the roast chicken and prawn cocktail chips to try. Spoiler alert…British crisp game not as strong as first thought…
Today, we moved away from lakes and woods and moved through the rugged terrain of copper mines and stone quarries
The path took us up some pretty good climbs over steep and rocky terrain. Definitely had some challenging footing in places. By the end of the day, we had ascended almost 2,000 feet!
We stopped for a picnic lunch at the Cathedral Quarry, which was really quite cool (literally and figuratively). Then another climb to the village of Elterwater, which had a charming inn, perfect for our afternoon beverage stop.
The downside of that stop, however, was the fact that we still had another 5K to go, including a 600-foot climb… perhaps it wasn’t quite as good an idea as we first thought.
Regardless, we powered through and finally spotted the town of Grasmere, our home for the next two nights.
The hotel is unique. With the bed that is roughly 3 feet high and dormers, which lower the ceiling height to approximately 5 feet, it could be an interesting night, except we are so tired, it probably won’t matter. Well, except for the car alarm outside our window, which seems to be triggered every 5 minutes. I will report back tomorrow.
All in all, a tiring but fulfilling day!
33,391 steps;15.9 miles
Luggage Transfer:
- The guy who handled everything at the Coniston Inn also took care of our bags — we dropped them off in the lobby area and they appeared in Grasmere.
Hotel:
Rothay Garden Hotel:
https://www.harbourhotels.co.uk/our-hotels/lake-district/rothay-garden-by-harbour-hotels
Perfectly fine hotel, but my least favorite of the three — lacked the luxury of the Merewood and the personality of the Coniston Inn. Felt a little more sterile. However, well located, nice amenities.
Hike #5 Options
Hike #5 – we chose Option A
Hike #5 Map – longest hike of the trip
Breakfast:
Breakfast again at the Coniston Inn as part of the package
Lunch:
SPAR stop for picnic provision and a selection of interesting types of crisps (chips to us Yanks)
Drinks:
Eltermere Inn:
Home
A lovely respite for drinks in the garden, only downside was its distance from our final stop
Dinner:
Dinner included in the tour package at the Rothay Garden’s restaurant:
Elegant restaurant with attentive service, food was fine and, most of all, it was just downstairs after a lot of walking.
Definitely glad we took the long way rather than the option that included a bus ride. It was a long trek, and while it did not have as much altitude as the Old Man of Coniston, there were plenty of ups and downs.
However, the wide variety of terrain was wonderful — mines, quarries, a green valley and then the lake at Grasmere. In particular, the Cathedral Quarry was a great place to stop, explore, and have our lunch.
Having a decent ascent and a few KM after our beverage stop was a bit challenging, but I think we all would have regretted taking the easy way out.