Took a much needed few days off work and went up to the Lake District for some time on the fells with Dean and the mountain pups.

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Day 1: We travelled up mid morning and arrived in the afternoon. The weather was decidedly grey but dry so we found a spot to park and went straight up Blencathra, which was situated directly behind our cabin. There was still snow on the tops and we caught a lovely rainbow. The walk was steep but short, so a good way to ease ourselves into some bigger hikes.

Day 2: Forecasted a wash out but woke up to bright sunshine. We headed to the little village of Braithwaite for our starting point, eyeing up the local pub for our finishing tipple.

This was our biggest day, opting for a hard hike from one of the guidebooks.

We ascended Barrow then continued upwards to Crag Hill, Hopegill Head and finally Grisedale Pike. I had a splitting headache but even that couldn't spoil the beautiful views with rocky ridge lines and hardly a soul in sight. 16km with 1,212m of elevation, we definitely earned a drink.

Achey legs and happy souls.

Day 3: Keeping the momentum from yesterday, we chose another longer hike today with 12.76km and 923m elevation. Starting by the river in Hartsop, we headed up the super steep fell side to Hartsop Dodd. We stopped here for a while, to enjoy the tranquility of it all and get our breath back before going up to Stony Cove Pike, Thornthwaite Crag and High Street. We felt so good out that we decided to add on a ramble over the The Knott before the weather finally broke and hailed down on our descent. The dogs handled a small scramble like mountain pro's. At the bottom of the hills we were greeted with a beautiful lake that would've been a prime swim spot if the weather was better (one to return to for definite)! We spent the rest of the day pottering around Keswick for woolly jumpers, chips and cake.

Day 4: After back to back big hill days, I was ready for a rest. Today we took a flat wander around Derwent Water. As a self-proclaimed water baby, I was excited to spend some time around the lakes and really wanted to paddle board, but logistics and dogs who aren't that keen on water... it didn't quite fit our plans.

A nice, quiet day to replenish our energy before a final walk tomorrow.

Day 5: Our last day and an early start since we had to leave the cabin at 9.30. Drove over to Castlerigg to start our final hike of the holiday. A lovely, gentler start to the walk, up to Walla Crag. The weather rolled in and we had a misty, mizzly day so less of a view today but nice all the same. We carried on up to Bleaberry Fell and peaked at High Seat. The evenings of rain caught up with us and we had a big chunk of this walk trudging through bogs, which the dogs weren't thrilled with...

As we dropped lower again the clouds lifted so we had lunch by the stream and took our time with the final part of the hike before hitting the road back home.

Fuelled by chips and wine for the week, feeling fortunate to travel further than our local area and graced with unexpectedly fine weather, another dreamy visit to the Lake District was complete.

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(i like making little videos of my trips - https://youtu.be/QMD9ExfvY6E )