What a Difference a Day Makes

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In just 24 hours, the flooding, the overflowing lake, the gills running deep have all returned to normal.

The flooded paths have dried though the ground remains waterlogged. There's even a danger that tomorrow will be sunny!

So ... what happened today? Departed Hassness for a clockwise circuit of the Buttermere, pausing at Gatesgarth Farm having negotiated the now drying lake shore. Some mud was in evidence but the flooding of recent days had receded.

The walk to Sour Milk Gill had significantly dried since yesterday with little water underfoot and the footpath at the gill no longer under water. Orchids were in abundance along the lake side with just a few midges being a nuisance.

Walked into Buttermere village and stopped for a coffee at the Tearooms, before starting the walk to the fell. The Walk through Mill Beck woods proved very muddy underfoot.

The slog up Low Bank was done in the sunshine, the first sight of the sun for a while! Successfully negotiated the Rabbit Run, where the grass seed planted in spring was beginning to take hold.

Arrived at the Knotts having had lunch on the summit of Low Bank. The sun was beginning to burn through the cloud and, with no wind, this proved a very pleasant lunch stop. Then successfully negotiated the rocky climb up to the first of the Knotts, trying to visualise at which point the Normans were defeated.

After admiring the view from the summit, carefully negotiated the summit and the initial descent through the mud to the plateau below the Knotts. Great care was needed to tackle the wet descent.

Walked around Wood House and Long How, though this was extremely wet and muddy - my reward being an ice-cream and coffee at the second tearoom in Buttermere.

Refreshed, I returned back along Pike Rigg, although the red squirrels seen earlier in the week by the lake were absent.

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