Windermere Walk Part 3

Distance 11 miles
Ascent 650m
Weather cloudy, some drizzle but drier than expected
Things on gates: slugs and mites

I have changed the name of this post to Windermere Walk rather than the Windermere Way, as we've not been following the actual route of the Way. This is our own version, it's very similar but is shorter and has fewer muddy bits.

We caught the first sailing of the day up to Ambleside, spotting goosanders at the landing in Bowness (the one we saw the other day was a female) and then an otter out in the lake not long after we had set off.

At Waterhead jetty the rain eased off, so we decoated and set off around Borrans Park into town. There were a couple of goldeneyes at the mouth of the Brathay.

We bought lunch at the co-op in Ambleside and then headed up along Stockghyl Force, which was in full flow. The rain had by now stopped but it was still very humid, and we made our way slowly but (sweatily) steadily up to Wansfell Pike. There were a lot of swaledale sheep, a distant horse on the skyline and ravens croaking overhead.

We descended the hill down Nanny Lane into Troutbeck, using a handy bridleway through the village that avoids the traffic and stopped for lunch on a bench near to Troutbeck Church. There was a brief patch of blue sky.

Walking along the road we saw a buzzard and a Vole. Work is underway on replacing the footbridge and much of the riverbank that washed away in 2015. It looks to be some serious construction work.

There was a buzzard being chased by crows,  fieldfares and flocks of starlings as we crossed Orrest Head, and of course people at the top. It was just dusk as came down into Windermere, and getting dark as we walked along Longlands Road back to Bowness.