We had such a nice time yesterday -- a little (ha!) grueling, but the prettiest scenery ever!

We hiked from Stonethwaite to Grasmere. I woke up super nauseated, by the way. Like pregnancy nausea. Then breakfast was an omelette with sausage. I picked out all the sausage because it was hurting my tummy to look at it. lol Rut roh. All I had medicine wise was medicine for acid on the stomach, so I took the Pepcid and hoped it cleared up as we went along. Focusing on making it up an extreme hill takes away a lot.

As soon as we headed out of The Langstraith, we hit the path which was right around the corner and headed upwards. And upwards and upwards. I don't know how high we hiked and then climbed (literally gave up poles and hand and feet to rocked it in a segment), but it took 2.5 hours. What a step up workout! Thank you God for my trekking poles! lol If I'm repeating myself on that fact, it's because I love my trekking poles. :)

Once we made it to the top, we enjoyed some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. Just gorgeous. It was then that Brian discovered he didn't have our passport or our money. It's VERY unlike Brian to lose anything, so it totally freaked him out. I was thinking, "Well, I'm not going back down there to get it." :D He called the Langstrath and they said no passport. I reassured him it was probably in his luggage. He was sure someone would steal all the money. :) I told him to assume the best about people. :D He hates my Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm pep talks. lol

So, we ate half of our sandwich and a piece of fruit and headed on. We went up and down a lot as we headed on and eventually down through crazy rocks. I should take photos of the crazier/extreme paths, but when I'm on them I'm just thinking about getting down uninjured. :) It's difficult not to misstep stumble as one is heading down. The key is correcting and catching oneself.

We ended up hiking around six and a half hours total. It was fun and Grasmere is a lovely town!

More photos loaded last night. We finally have a really good Internet connection. If any of you plan to take the trip, The Silver Lea in Grasmere is wonderful! The rooms are big, the bed is comfortable, there is a bath/shower combo and a sitting area in the room. Plus, Wifi. :D

We're about to get ready for breakfast and head off to Patterdale.

Oh - and I've had angels help me along the way. One nice man gave me a rub for my calf and another nice lady gave me a Compeed for my blister -- nice cushiony bandaids with a lot of sticky power. I bought more at the pharmacy in Grasmere for my feet today.

More photos uploaded:

https://www.facebook.com/gococks.gosteelers/media_set?set=a.10152462533207631.1073741854.749912630&type=3

Today’s hike from Ennerdale Bridge to Stonethwaite was quite the hike. First we went by (Lake District National Park) and it was rock after rock after rock. The path got rockier and rockier. We even ended up scooting down a particularly precarious section. The entire time I was thinking, “I’m stupid. I’m going to kill my injured calf self.” :D Brian, Jr. announced, I can’t imagine anyone shorter than me doing this. Ummmm. That’s me! The Lake District Park section was absolutely beautiful, a little terrifying at times, and absolutely beautiful. It went on at least three miles and we crawled along like snails. It was so rocky at times, I felt like we were maintaining a one mile per hour pace across the park on the side of the lake. It was a big lake and beautiful. Eventually, we made it to the other end.

Once we finished the lake section, we got a little lost, crossed rock after rock, and then ended up at a Youth hostel. We continued this steady climb up hill – not totally steep – but just a constant grind for quite a while.

We finally ended up at another youth hostel at the bottom of a steep hillside. Up we headed. It went on for at least a half a mile to a mile at a very steep incline. Between going by the lakeside cliffs and up this incline – I was not feeling wonderful about it. :D I think those were the two places where I thought “If my calf cramps up or gets a tear, I’m going to scream in agony – take one misstep – and end up at the bottom of this rocky formation with a smashed head. Those are the type of thoughts I was having today because it seemed pretty precarious to me.

We finally scaled the summit, with me feeling quite pukish and started going downhill. Guess what was downhill the entire way? Rocks, rocks and more rocks. Our feet ached badly! I slipped one time and totally bruised my hip on a rock. Purple. ☺ So after we went several miles down rock after rock slipping and sliding, we finally hit more of a gravel path (still very hard underfoot) and went on another I don’t know how many miles until we trudged into Stonethwaite.. Holy Hell. This walk is making me think that anytime I think we are at the end of our walk, to at least add three more.

We’re having fun. :D The scenery is beautiful when I’m looking up at it and not watching where I’m stepping next.

I’ll upload photos from this day as soon as I can given the very sketchy Internet connections.

Injuries today:

Blisters – at least five.
A raw spot under my arm where it was rubbing against my shirt.
Another raw spot on my boob, where my arm was rubbing against it.
Sunburn.
Tender spots on my hands from the trekking polls.

I think that’s it.


Dinner was absolutely delicious at the Langstraith. Beyond delicious. I had a salad, lasagna and some wine. Slurp.

Another steep incine tomorrow. :o