Windermere, Orrest Head, & Louhgrigg Fell

The weekend of October 6th & 7th saw us have a relaxing break in the Lake District where we had booked into The Ravensworth Guest House Windermere. This wasn't a heavy weekend of walking, more a gentle take it easy break where on Saturday we lazed about on the boats as we took in the cruises on Lake Windermere and also the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Steam Train.
The weather on Saturday was sunny with a few clouds here and there and fairly warm with just a gentle breeze blowing across the lake. Great views of the surrounding fells and with the leaves of the trees just about to change into the Autumn colours it was a great day to be out and about.
Just a few photo's of the day's trip on the boats and train

It ended up being quite a long day and it's surprising how tiring doing nothing can be so we ended the day by having a swim and sauna for a couple of hours before we had a nice meal and a beer :-)

On the Sunday after a good long breakfast we decided to pay a visit to Orrest Head as the short walk up to the summit is right across the road from the guest house. At 784 feet, some excellent views over the surrounding area can be had from its summit and is considered by many to be the best viewpoint over Lake Windermere. The weather today was even better than Saturday as there was little in the way of cloud and wind, making it feel quite warm. In fact it was more like summer that summer it self this year!!

After Orrest Head we then caught the Windermere Ferry and had a drive through the villages of Far Sawrey, Near Sawrey, along Esthwaite Water and in to Hawkshead. From there it was a drive up to Rydal Water where we parked up and had a walk around. This is where the Autumn colours were just about coming through and it certainly made for a great backdrop. We had a short walk that takes us up on a path looking down onto Rydal Water and also to the Rydal Cave

 This is where Jill decided that she would take it easy by the lake and make her way back and wait by the River Rothay while I went up to the summit of Loughrigg Fell  This is a fairly easy walk with a well laid out path to the summit although quite steep in places. It stands at about 1100ft above sea level and it was certainly warm going and the summit offers views all around with great views back down to Windermere. There was also great views down over the lake at Grasmere

 This was certainly a great weekend in and around Windermere with fantastic weather and we took in some places that we haven't been to before. Although it was busy around Windermere, Bowness and Ambleside, it was also very relaxing and a great way to recharge the batteries and get some late summer/early Autumn sun :-)

Cheers
Andy