Wet Weather Option

The weekend did not hold out much promise for walking.

With MWIS promising gales, torrential rain with zero chance of sunshine.

Radio 2 more or less telling the world Cumbria was closed

there was little point in heading outside at all – or so one may have thought.

With this dismal forecast on the horizon for several days one by one ‘friends’ dwindled down to .. one!  And I!

Arnside did not offer the dramatic sunsets of October calm.  Salty grey scale sky seamlessly blended into washed out sands.

Clouds muffled the hills.  And wind blew in with the tides.  Despite, there remained, unseasonable warmth.

So followed a 16k stroll.  Along paths I’d been before.  To places familiar from childhood walks and more recent cycle rides.

Grey scale being just as dramatic as a summer sunset, in its own understated way.

Along clifftops with sculpted oaks.  

 

to softer woodlands still radiant with autumn colour.

A reward of cake with other ridiculously enthusiastic walkers.  Steaming and dripping puddles.

This ‘limestone fringe’ guzzles water, given time, but has a rapid release when broken through.  Woodwell almost overflowing.

No doubt it was hardly a strenuous hike.  159m of Arnside Knott being the highest point of the trail.

But there is a slight scramble to the woodlands above.

My plan had been to return via Leighton Moss, chance of another cake stop, but with the rain still falling it seemed sensible to stick to higher ground.  So we rounded Arnside Tower with satisfaction, with much of the lowland turned to lake.

As it was on my way home.

Coffee and cake at Wolf House Gallery on Lindeth Road

Sunny day walking round Arnside here and here.

And here is the route.