Although it was heavy drizzle rather than rain, the fact that it had rained throughout the night and all the previous evening, meant the becks, rushing down from the hillside, were really swollen and there was water eveywhere. It was a good job we had waterproof boots, as the Cumbria Way had become a stream and we couldn't help but splash our way along the path.
Within a short while the path seemed to become a dead end with no way out - except up! We were surrounded by proper Lake District hills, so high we had to crane our necks to see to the top.
We had 2 choices, Esk Hause or Stake Pass. Fortunately there was a conveniently placed Cumbria Way sign, which not only provided a nice backrest for a rest, but also told us that Stake Pass was the way for us. This seemed to be the steeper of the 2 routes, but at least the rain had stopped and the sun was trying to emerge as we started to climb.
It was all uphill for about 45 minutes, and there wasn't a lot of conversation as we were directing all our energy to our legs. As always happens on these walks, no sooner do you get the top then it's time to come down. We were glad we were walking south to north since, as we surveyed our descent into the Langstrath Valley, we couldn't help feeling that the descent looked longer than our ascent on the other side.
We are all quite nimble and fast on downhills, especially Wooly. We try to give some helpful hints to our minders who seem to find it hard work for some reason, but we think it has something to do with them being so upright.
As our title suggests, day 3 was a bit of a marathon and there's lots to tell you about and more pictures, so we're dividing it into 2 parts and saving part 2 for tomorrow.
Lots of love, the Cumbria Way walking bears & Wooly xxx
