It was a dark overcast morning as I set off to catch the 7:30am bus to Chorley. A recent price hike has put the single ticket up to £1.60 for just over 2 miles. A slight drizzle had started when I arrived at the railway station but the weather was unseasonably warm. The 8:23am to Windermere was a few minutes late but nothing to be concerned about.

Chorley Railway Station.

A wet wait for the bus in Keswick

The temperature had dropped and the drizzle increased by the time I reached Windermere. I waited in the new waiting area of the rebuilt station building and noticed a major design flaw. The main outside double door is automatic and is activated by anyone passing nearby, even if they are not passing through. And there are not two successive doors to help preserve the heat. So every time the door opens, which is frequently, the interior heat is lost. The 10:03am 555 bus arrived for Keswick. I think it’s the first time I've seen a single decker on this route. I don’t know if its due to falling passenger numbers or just the winter period. I bought an £8.50 explorer ticket as I guessed that the single fares for the next 2 buses I'd have to catch would exceed this.

There must have been a huge amount of rainfall recently as all the fields were waterlogged. Rydal water was higher than I'd ever seen it. The minor road at the north end of Thirlmere was about a metre under water and I began to get concerned about the 79 bus I planned to catch to Seathwaite. Some parts of the road are prone to flooding. In Keswick I had 25mins to kill before my next bus so walked to Needlesport to enquire about a replacement wind shield for my stove. My existing one is made of thin soft metal that folds away but constant use has caused fractures and the base plate is now in pieces. I've tried temporary repairs with duct tape. They had the same make in stock but at £13 I though I'd try and squeeze some more use out of my existing one.

A very wet Grange in Borrowdale

Fortunately the road was open and the 79 bus went. I was the only one on it. The level of Derwentwater was the highest I'd seen it and the ferry landing stages we passed were all under water. It looked like the cellars at the Lodor Hotel had flooded as hoses were coming out of them and strewn across the forecourt. The driver told me the water levels were still rising slowly but sometimes could rise with alarming speed. It was just before 12noon when I got off the bus at Seatoller, the end of the route and the bus's turning point. It was still raining so I put my full waterproofs on and headed along the lane to Seathwaite. A lot of water was still lying in large puddles and luckily not too deep to wade through.

Towards Sourmilk Gill from Seathwaite

Up ahead I could see Sourmilk Gill cascading off Seathwaite Slabs in a wide curtain of foaming white water. It was raining too hard to take any pictures but when I arrived at the farm buildings of Seathwaite I found shelter in the covered way between barns that is also a footpath. One of the few incidences of a path with a roof. I tried a couple of pictures then continued up the valley along the riverbank. I stopped for a short rest at Stockley Bridge before heading up the steep path to Styhead Gill. The wind had now dropped considerably and that was one of my main worries out of the way. After the steep climb the trail levels and becomes less obvious as it approaches the footbridge over the Gill. I looked up to see the bridge ahead and a couple walking down towards me.

They were out on a day walk and after exchanging a few words we continued. At Styhead Tarn the weather was just clear enough to see the far side of the tarn but the overall visibility was quite variable. I continued to the top of the pass and turned left to where the Corridor Rout leaves it. This is the way I went and I climbed steadily until I reached a point below Lambfoot Dub. There is no path up from this point but I climbed up anyway and didn't find it too difficult as long as the slippery boulder fields were avoided. At 14:50 I reached my planned campsite and pitched my tent. It's one of my favourite pitches but is frequently shrouded in bad weather. I was very wet and my trusty Goretex jacket does not seem to be performing as well as used to. I'd put my newspaper in one pocket and this would usually have kept it dry. It was a very soggy mess that I pulled out to try and catch up on the recent news.