From Elterwater Towards Little Langdale, The Lake District

Last Saturday we came back from a lovely, relaxing seven day break in the Lake District. We stayed in my favourite Grasmere and shared the delightful Hollens Farm Cottage with our dear friends Liz and Dave. The weather was very good, especially the first couple of days. It only rained on our last day but by then it did not matter any more as we had already done a lot of walking, and we were more than happy to stay at the cottage just enjoying its old fashioned charm.
I did not take as many photos as I would have done if I had not been in company, but I did end up with quite a few shots to process and share. It was a socializing and resting holiday in the first place; we all had a great time, and I would not change anything about it.
Sunday, our first full day, was Valentine's day and also Liz's birthday. It was a beautiful, sunny day so we decided to start our holiday with a nice walk somewhere none of us had been before. We chose this walk from my little pocket size, much loved "Walking with Beatrix Potter" book.

Pretty village of Elterwater where we started our walk. In the distance there is a lovely cafe where we had excellent coffee on our way back. I also bought some goodies there like a home made beetroot and horseradish chutney.

Loved the dramatic sky and contrasting white cottages on our way out of the village.

Beautiful lakeland scenery as seen on a fine February day.

The Elterwater lake. We only saw it from a distance on this occasion. It was not a shoreline walk.

Our lovely mates, always a good and welcome company.

With G in the National Trust owned Fletcher's Wood. Loved the light and all the moss.

My beautiful and very dear friend on her fifty first birthday. We made sure she had a lovely day.

Another scene from the magic Fletcher's Wood.

We walked up a drive and passed a Low Hackett Farm outbuilding.

Further along the same drive. The light and colours were stunning! And love the snow on the just visible mountain peaks in the distance.

After climbing over a stile we were awed by this breathtaking view over Little Langdale Valley and Wetherlam mountain. We lingered here for a little while entranced by the magnificent scenery.

From this point we were unsure of our route as there was no evident path as indicated in the book so we just continued in what we guessed was the right direction.

I smiled at this simple scene bathed in beautiful winter sunlight.

The early flowering pink azalea was such a delightful sight at this time of year.

On reaching the road we found our bearings and worked out we needed to turn left to get back onto the walk. This was the view to the right of the junction. How I love the cottage and its backdrop!

Soon we reached Little Langdale Beck and were supposed to go over some precarious looking stepping stones. They were fairly large but with quite a bit of space between them and covered in moss. The one half way across was hardly a stone but rather a jutting rock and unfortunately G slipped over it and fell into the freezing, knee high water (he landed on his feet luckily). Dave tried to play it down by hopping along the stones backwards and forwards but no amount of encouragement could persuade Liz and me to tackle the stones. I regret that amidst the hubbub I never took a photo of the stones. Anyway, with G being soaked through and crossing the beck out of question now we retraced our steps back to the road and followed it back to Elterwater village. We missed seeing Little Langdale hamlet and tarn and Slater Bridge in the second half of the circular walk but we still felt satisfied with our walk. And we know where to go next time to complete the mapped out walk!

In the evening we went out to celebrate Liz's birthday and had a lovely, romantic dinner at Dove Bistro of the Wordsworth Hotel in Grasmere. Because it was Valentine's Day the waiter kindly gave Liz and me a red rose each. They are pictured in this image which I took the following evening. By the time we got back to the cottage it was too late to light a fire. It was a day that will be remembered!