Day 18 - Red Screes

July 19:  Today was predicted to be hot and sunny, and it was.  The clouds were high, so we embarked on our high elevation hike to the top of Red Screes, a rounded top mountain at the end of a gently-rising ridge line north of Ambleside.  We walked up to High Sweden Bridge, which crosses over the Scandale Beck.  We did not cross the bridge but followed the Scandale Beck up the valley to Scandale Pass at about 1,600 feet.

Pied Wagtail

High Sweden Bridge, with others (specifically 'Highland Cattle')

"It is cool standing in the beck"

The rounded, perfectly symmetrical valley had numerous rectangular pastures defined by dry-stone walls or, as they are called here, 'dykes.'

A good trail, though the views are limited sideways

Once reaching the pass we made a hard right turn and went straight up to 2,500 feet to the summit of Red Screes.

Slabs, some of the easiest uphill trails ever

Hevellyn, with Striding Edge to the right out of the photo

180 Degree panorama from the top (Hevellyn is dead center)

On top

The views were impressive.  We could see every major fell in the Lake District, including Hevellyn, Old Man, Scafell, Langdale Pikes, and a multitude of others.  We had a particularly good view to the east and northeast along the track of the Coast to Coast Trail as it leaves Patterdale and travels across The Knott and Kidsty Pike, before dropping to Haweswater Reservoir.  We might not have appreciated the views had we done this hike earlier in our holiday, but since we have explored just about every valley, we had a vivid sense of each fell and lake on the horizon.

We had lunch on top looking east with the sun behind us.  We next walked the ridge line south with views of Kirkstone Pass, the Kirkstone Quarry, the entire length of Lake Windermere, Rydal Water, and the Langdale Pikes and Lingmoor Fell in the background, and later Ambleside.  It was a somewhat tedious walk down into the blazing sun that seemed to never end .  We walked between stone dykes most of the way to the edge of town.  I spotted a small brown lizard and later a rabbit.

Lake Windermere

Looking west to Scafell, etc.

Looking back uphill to Red Screes

Rydal Water with Lingmoor Fell behind

We stopped for a cool brew and cider at The Golden Rule Pub, since it was on the way to the flat and we needed rehydration.  While we were there, an older woman suffering from heat exhaustion was rescued from the lane just outside the pub.  She apparently recovered quickly.

We trudged home for showers and more recovery of our own.