Author Topic: First time Lakes visit walks and photo advice please!  (Read 3345 times)

Petrolhead

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Hi guys, my lovely wife and I are heading to the Lake District this weekend for the first time. To say we're hugely looking forward to it is a massive understatement.


As usual I'm looking for a bit of your sagely advice please.


So the hitlist for a VERY busy few days from Friday to Monday is going to be:


WALKS


1. Catbells
2. Bowfell
3. Walla Crag / Ashness Bridge
4. Borrowdale Valley
5. Haystacks


PHOTO LOCATIONS


1. Lone Tree at Buttermere
2. Kelly Hall Tarn
3. Blae Tarn
4. Loughrigg Tarn
5. Pooley Bridge Boathouse
6. Tarn Hows


So the advice I'm looking for is if you had to drop ONE of the walks (we might not have enough time for everything) which one would it be?


Also does anyone have any parking advice for Loughrigg Tarn, I've had a look but it doesn't seem like there is any available.


Finally, have I missed any walks or photo locations that are an absolute must do for first time visitors? We have no maps nor navigation skills so we're going to be winging it to some degree but we're ok with that. I've found a few walks with proper text descriptions to follow for four of the five we have planned so we should be ok.


Thanks for your help as always guys.


Mes.

richardh1905

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Re: First time Lakes visit walks and photo advice please!
« Reply #1 on: 11:23:36, 23/10/18 »
My first thought is that you have a big list for 4 days!


Where are you staying? It might be best to just stick to that area, as the roads in the Lakes are often windy and slow, and it can take longer than you think to get from A to B.

My advice is to be adaptable and be prepared to deviate from your list - at this time of year it is highly likely that weather will disrupt your plans. The forecast even suggests that we may get some snow on the hills! Bowfell, for instance, is a big walk up high in remote country, and it would be good to have a Plan B.


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Petrolhead

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Re: First time Lakes visit walks and photo advice please!
« Reply #2 on: 11:35:31, 23/10/18 »
My first thought is that you have a big list for 4 days!


Where are you staying? It might be best to just stick to that area, as the roads in the Lakes are often windy and slow, and it can take longer than you think to get from A to B.

My advice is to be adaptable and be prepared to deviate from your list - at this time of year it is highly likely that weather will disrupt your plans. The forecast even suggests that we may get some snow on the hills! Bowfell, for instance, is a big walk up high in remote country, and it would be good to have a Plan B.


Helpful as always Richard. Thanks.


Yep, we're as prepared as we can be for bad weather. If we can't get to do something we won't be stuck for a plan B. We'll just relax near one of the lakes probably, which won't be a problem.


And yep, I know it's a lot to do but we're generally very good at packing a LOT into a short trip. We might need to cut some walks a bit short but we'll see about that at the time. We generally get a good move on while walking and don't make many stops. Bear in mind that the photo spots will be a very quick hit and run and the amount of walking we have planned should be just about doable, but that is why I was asking if we needed to drop one, which would you lose. Bowfell was the one I was considering skipping due to the reasons you mention but then it's not too long a walk and looks very much worth the effort...


We're staying in Grange just south of Derwent Water so we're pretty well situated for most of what we want to do and I'll plan the hell out of the itinerary to make sure we maximise our time spent.

Slowcoach

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Re: First time Lakes visit walks and photo advice please!
« Reply #3 on: 12:09:41, 23/10/18 »
Two great spots for photos of Derwentwater are Castle Crag and the Terrace. Both in the Borrowdale valley.
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April

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Re: First time Lakes visit walks and photo advice please!
« Reply #4 on: 12:34:47, 23/10/18 »
Enjoy your trip Petrolhead  O0 You have some nice things planned but I echo Richard's advice about snow, there is some forecast for this weekend on the higher fells.
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Petrolhead

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Re: First time Lakes visit walks and photo advice please!
« Reply #5 on: 12:50:43, 23/10/18 »
Two great spots for photos of Derwentwater are Castle Crag and the Terrace. Both in the Borrowdale valley.


Hopefully we'll hit those spots during our Borrowdale walk. Thanks a lot for the pointer.

Petrolhead

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Re: First time Lakes visit walks and photo advice please!
« Reply #6 on: 12:52:50, 23/10/18 »
Enjoy your trip Petrolhead  O0 You have some nice things planned but I echo Richard's advice about snow, there is some forecast for this weekend on the higher fells.


Snow would be PERFECT! I really hope so. If it gets too sketchy up the tops we can always stay low but it would make for some great photos. Honestly, we're not too fussed what we do, it's all going to be new and wonderful for us. It's just nice to go with as much of a plan as possible.


Anything I've missed? Nothing you'd change? Weather allowing obviously!

Pitboot

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Re: First time Lakes visit walks and photo advice please!
« Reply #7 on: 15:18:47, 23/10/18 »
I would drop Cat Bells and Tarn Hows, it gets very busy there unless you drop lucky. Save that for a day with bad weather. I live in Kendal and always try to avoid busy times in the tourist traps.

Petrolhead

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Re: First time Lakes visit walks and photo advice please!
« Reply #8 on: 15:32:04, 23/10/18 »
I would drop Cat Bells and Tarn Hows, it gets very busy there unless you drop lucky. Save that for a day with bad weather. I live in Kendal and always try to avoid busy times in the tourist traps.


Hey Pitboot, thanks for the reply. To be honest, we're expecting it to be quite busy so sharing the walks with others isn't a problem as such. We have plenty of chance for alone time too so we're prepared for a few busy spots. As it's our first visit and it's five hours from home, we feel we need to tick off the showbiz locations so then we can be a bit more serious for our next visit.

richardh1905

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Re: First time Lakes visit walks and photo advice please!
« Reply #9 on: 17:32:22, 23/10/18 »

Helpful as always Richard. Thanks.


….

We're staying in Grange just south of Derwent Water so we're pretty well situated for most of what we want to do and I'll plan the hell out of the itinerary to make sure we maximise our time spent.



Thanks.


Borrowdale is beautiful.


I would also recommend the walk around Buttermere and Crummock Water if the clouds are down on the fell tops. But if you do get up Haystacks, why not carry on over the hills to the NW (High Stile, Red Pike)?


Either way, hope that you have good luck with the weather. We certainly had some good days last week.
« Last Edit: 09:40:06, 24/10/18 by richardh1905 »
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April

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Re: First time Lakes visit walks and photo advice please!
« Reply #10 on: 18:51:49, 23/10/18 »
I think there are better things to see around Ullswater than the boathouse near Pooley Bridge. The Patterdale end of Ullswater is one of my favourite places in the Lakes. The view from Arnison Crag, for instance, is pretty special.

If you do go up high at the weekend mind on it is going to be very cold, the wind chill may be minus ten or more on the higher fells, there are strong northerly winds forecast.
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Petrolhead

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Re: First time Lakes visit walks and photo advice please!
« Reply #11 on: 22:30:10, 23/10/18 »

Thanks.


Borrowdale is beautiful.


I would also recommend the walk around Buttermere and Crummock Water if the clouds are down on the fell tops. If you do get up Haystacks, why not carry on over the hills to the NW (High Stile, Red Pike)?


Either way, hope that you have good luck with the weather. We certainly had some good days last week.


Thanks again Richard, that's definitely a good shout!

Petrolhead

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Re: First time Lakes visit walks and photo advice please!
« Reply #12 on: 22:35:39, 23/10/18 »
I think there are better things to see around Ullswater than the boathouse near Pooley Bridge. The Patterdale end of Ullswater is one of my favourite places in the Lakes. The view from Arnison Crag, for instance, is pretty special.

If you do go up high at the weekend mind on it is going to be very cold, the wind chill may be minus ten or more on the higher fells, there are strong northerly winds forecast.


Looking all this up April. I knew you'd have a spot or two up your sleeve.


As for the weather, yep, looked it up. It does look a tad on the scary side. But we dealt with -14 in Yosemite... for a bit! :)


If all else fails, as Richard suggested, we'll stay low. Just a wander around some of the lakes will be fantastic for us, remember it's all new!


Just, if we can maximise it, we're damn well going to! But everything is going to be glorious whatever we do. :)


Thanks for the help.

Brandywell

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Re: First time Lakes visit walks and photo advice please!
« Reply #13 on: 09:24:55, 24/10/18 »
Also does anyone have any parking advice for Loughrigg Tarn, I've had a look but it doesn't seem like there is any available.

There is a small parking area near the Tarn Foot road junction east of Little Loughrigg GR 346040 it fills up quickly most weekends.
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Petrolhead

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Re: First time Lakes visit walks and photo advice please!
« Reply #14 on: 11:41:39, 24/10/18 »
There is a small parking area near the Tarn Foot road junction east of Little Loughrigg GR 346040 it fills up quickly most weekends.


Brandywell, thanks a lot for that, most helpful.


We'd planned to hit that area early on Monday morning so hopefully we'll be ok.

 

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