Keswick Camping - Cat Bells Walk

On Top of Cat Bells

The second day in Keswick and the weather was still really good. We decided to head up Cat Bells. First off we headed to the ferry on Derwent water and crossed to Hawes End. The boat ride took the long way around the lake, it was a really enjoyable crossing, the views are brilliant. Toddy the dog wasn't too keen and was happy to be back on dry land.

The path heads straight away from the lake edge and starts climbing. Very soon we were above the tree line and making good progress. The kids were happy to forge ahead, they were soon heading towards what they thought was the top. They were disappointed when reaching the false summit. We caught up and started heading along the broad ridge. The wind started picking up and it was becoming noticeably cooler, but the top was now in site!

Heading up the lady steep part the kids had to be reigned in as they kept hearing towards the step edges.  Both Finlay and Jack really enjoyed climbing up the last few rocks. This walk had got to be the easiest walk for the best view.

View back to Keswick

On top we stopped, found somewhere out of the wind and had the picnic that Andrea had made. The kids soon got board and quickly made a grass slide! Andrea sand me were happy to admire the view, looking a across the lake, we also had a good view back towards the camp site and Keswick.  Occasionally we jest hearing and seeing RAF planes screaming at low level through the valleys.

It was time to move on, we continued over the top as and headed down back towards the south of the lake, we headed towards High Brandelhow. Andrea had a bit of a fidget when we got near the lake edge, she was convinced that we weren't using a path as we headed down the edge of a wall.

Finlay in a Tree

On the pier where the boat comes in we had a rest, lots of people started arriving, like us waiting for the boat. The kids climbed trees while we waited. We made sure that we got our places in the queue for the board. We've had bad experiences with full boats in the past and wanted to make sure of our places back to Keswick. Sure enough there wasn't room for everyone, but we got on!

Back in Keswick we headed into town for a look around the shops. For tea we had a Chinese takeaway. After a good nights sleep it was time to head home, we went down through the lake district avoiding the M6, arriving home mid afternoon.

We'd been really lucky with the weather, both the bike ride and the walk were good family fun! Shame we had to come home!