Day Three: Friday June 10 - Stonethwaite to Grasmere

This day was a relatively short 8.5 mile hike from the tranquil farm hamlet of Stonethwaite, over a few mountains, and then down to the iconic Lakes District village of Grasmere.  The trail begins in a lovely valley with the usual assortment of sheep.  As you can see above, the valley narrows as we follow a little brook up to the pass, known as Greenup Edge.  Here's Laura coming over the top:

Our trail then climbed, unbelievably, up to Lining Crag, from which it seemed we could see everything on earth.  The wind was howling and we got chilled very quickly.  After this, our path crossed a boggy saddle where it was difficult to follow the trail markers.  The ground was very soft, with ankle deep mud everywhere.  Over the saddle we began a long downhill slog over slippery rocks until reaching Greenup Edge, with a great overlook into Far Easedale, the valley leading to Grasmere.  We took the high ridge route instead of the valley walk, and were rewarded with many spectacular views of the hills ("fells") and the village of Grasmere.  Here's one:

It was a shorter day today, but with the boggy saddle slog and the high route on the ridge, we were both ready for a hot bath and some dinner at the end of the day.  Tomorrow is a rest day for us.  More later ...