Hiking to the highest point in England - Scafell Pike

On Sunday, we hiked up Scafell Pike, the tallest point in England at 3,209 feet. The hike up was not technically difficult but still fairly strenuous as it was steep in the form of rock steps for most of the way. The biggest variable in the hike in general is the weather, as many hikers get to the top to find that there is no visibility due to clouds and therefore miss out on the breathtaking views.

Here are a few pictures of our hike:

During the early part of the hike, we walked from the campground through some very green fields.

Steeper than it looks in the picture, the trail turned into a series of rock steps

After the series of rock steps, the trail become a dirt trail again. In this picture of Scafell Pike, we went up the right side through a field of scree, walked across the summit, and came down the let side.

Even at higher altitude, we still ran into some scattered sheep feasting on the luscious grass.

As we got to the top of the scree field and scrambled up a gully to what we expected was the top, it got really windy as Leigh-Anne almost floated away.

The final scramble in the gully!

At the end of the gully, we expected to find the summit, but instead realized that our workout was not yet over since we had to cross this huge field of rocks to get to the actual summit, at the right side of this picture. 

Finally at the summit: do you notice how we are right at cloud level?

As we start on the way back down, clouds are coming in to the disappointment of hikers still on their way up.

Rolling mountains with scattered lakes

On our way down, Leigh-Anne was just really excited that we made it to the summit before it got clouded over.

Our campground is in the little woods, right above my head in the picture.

All the way back down the mountain, we had to take a victory shot before heading to the pub!

On most days, Scafell Pike is in the clouds completely, as we saw many times from the campground.

During Camping Trip - Hike Around Wastwater Lake

 Our campsite near Wasdale Head really was amidst beautiful surroundings. The first day there we decided to do the 5 hour hike around Wastwater Lake (the deepest lake in England). The hike took us through so much different scenery, path types, and levels of difficulty that we felt it was a truly well-rounded hike offering great degrees of beauty & challenge. Towards the end of the hike, I remember remarking that had we seen a bit of desert we would have covered pretty much all types of scenery. An excellent outdoor spot for lovers of unspoiled natural beauty and adorable sheep :-)

Early part of trail, nice and easy

Some of the many sheep we came across while hiking

Just such a nice area to experience

Now the trail gets a bit less obvious but still pretty

What happened to the trail? That is the trail and boy was hiking across that scree scary (for me anyways...Olly loved it)

Out of the scary stuff and back to more relaxed hiking

One of the many little country roads we drove on (in the dark) which now looks completely different

It is a body of water right, how could he not get in?

The coolest & best placed farm ever (in our opinion)

This was the nearby 'village' to our campsite where we enjoyed our Sunday night meal

Camping in the UK - Wasdale Head

We went on our first camping trip in the UK and camped/hiked in the Lakes District for 3 days. Was it different from camping in the South East US? Yes. Was it good fun? Yes!

Here are some of the differences we observed between the two:
- Wilderness is limited in the UK when it comes to camping. It appears that most people camp in actual campgrounds as opposed to primitive camping, mostly because there is little public land. That being said, we were also told by some blokes from Yorkshire that it was accepted to camp outside of campgrounds, as long as LNTB is practiced (Leave No Trace Behind).
- The campground did not allow open campfires, nor did it allow open flames in grills. As it turned out, we brought our portable charcoal grill for cooking, and (surprisingly) did not miss having a fire, instead sitting around the warmth of the grill. In addition, as the Lakes District receives the most rainfall in the UK, the trees and vegetation are healthy and green, and anything not dead is likely wet, so that using it as firewood would be challenging anyways.
- The views in the Lakes District are amazing. Because there are so many open fields and pastures, one can always get amazing views, unblocked by trees as commonly happens in the South East US (especially North Georgia).
- We found that during our three nights of camping, we actually got the best sleep we EVER got camping. The nice thick green grass under the tent made such a comfortable pad that it was almost like sleeping on a mattress.

Finally, here are some pics of the area we were in -- more details coming during descriptions of our hikes.

We got to the campground late at night, after driving on some interesting roads, like Hardknott Pass

Our camping spot: notice the thick and comfortable grass. We met and hung out with the couple in the tent in the background, who were Molecular Biologists from Manchester.

The campground is surrounded by mountains. There were quite a few tents at this site, mostly because we went on a holiday weekend.

Another picture from the campground: the trail to go up Scafell Pike (tallest point in the UK) is barely visible going up the side of the mountain.

This was the view walking out of our tent

Portsmouth - Our First UK Beach Experience

We recently visited the Portsmouth/Southsea area on the southern coast of England and had an excellent time. The B&B where we stayed, Ashby's, was great with large rooms, delicious full English breakfast, and a location that kept us central to everywhere we wished to visit during the trip. While Portsmouth is on the water, we wanted to visit one of the award-winning Blue Flag beaches and decided on West Wittering beach. West Wittering was a great choice and even though a bit chilly we really enjoyed watching all the kite surfers, sailboats, waves, etc and relaxing by the water. Olly was brave enough to get into the water even though he could not feel his fingers for about 30 minutes afterward :-)

We thoroughly enjoyed the trip with everything including; walking to & around Old Portsmouth, Historic Dockyards, Southsea Castle, the Renaissance Trail, playing Pitch & Putt next to the sea, sipping afternoon tea with scone/cream/strawberry preseves at a little tearoom, and eating 2 fantastic dinners on opposite sides of the spectrum. Our first night we enjoyed a fine dining meal at Montparnasse and oh my gosh was it delectable (Olly's pork belly & cheek took the medal for most delicious and least expected) and the second night we ate at a local pub The King Street Tavern where we enjoyed homemade pub food that was sooo good with locally brewed beers & live jazz.

Lawn leading up to Southsea Castle (built in 1544 by King Henry VIII as a fort)

Manning the Fort :-)

One of Henry VIII's outfits

Walking along the Renaissance Trail

West Wittering Beach

Olly collecting seashells

Menu for Montparnasse between us we tried the: chili marinated mackerel, breast of wood pigeon, panfried steak (the mushroom & bread pudding was unbelievable), 24 hour pork belly & cheek (oh my gosh), and the hot chocolate pudding with bananas & chocolate milkshake & honey pecan ice cream (all of which were so delicious).

Our reserved table at the King Street Tavern where we had an excellent spot to watch the jazz.

Short but all freshly made list of menu items at King Street Tavern where we tried the first & last options ( both of which were truly excellent pub food).

Us enjoying the food & jazz

Walking along the beach in Portsmouth before heading home

All of this combined made for one very unforgettable and wonderful weekend trip to England's coast!