Day 25 - Borrowdale Valley

July 26:  We got up close and personal with sheep today, even more than usual.  As we were heading back to the barn (so to speak) after lunch, we ran into a shepherd walking with a dog and carrying a pair of crooks.  He told us that we were about to encounter a flock of Herdwicks being driven back up to the fells after shearing.  He said not to worry about them but keep moving.  Around the next corner here came the flock, streaming up between stone walls, being pushed on by another shepherd and 6 or 7 border collies who also kept the flock from straying.  We ended up hugging the wall ourselves and just watching.  The steely gray ewes, who knew where they were going, kept moving steadily, although stream crossings slowed them a bit, and the fat black lambs ran to keep up with their mamas.  The ewes were indeed newly shorn with new owners' marks on their backs.  The dogs ran back and forth keeping everything under control, but we could see at least one younger dog who was looking for tips from his seniors.  We watched until the flock cleared the last stone wall and gate up the valley - Phil realized the first guy had the job of opening all the gates before the flock arrived and the shepard in the rear directed the dogs and closed the gates.

 The weather was forecast to be wet but after a few showers in the morning, the rest of the day was pleasantly dry.  We completed a 9-mile walk in the Borrowdale Valley, hitting all the 'thwaite' towns - Stonethwaite, Rosthwaite, Longthwaite, etc.  A 'thwaite' is a Norwegian word for a piece of forest land cleared for agriculture or habitation; a clearing.   To reach our starting point, we drove north from Ambleside to Keswick and then south to the small village of Grange (see photo below for detail).

We walked from Grange south along the River Derwent (flows north to Derwent Water) to the thwaites.

A calm spot on the River Derwent

After seeing slugs forever, I finally photographed one for our record

A typical wildflower field which is mowed, dried and baled for sheep feed during the winter

Our original plan was to go to Seatoller, at the bottom of Honister Pass and then walk back on the western side of the valley on a rougher, steeper trail.  When we met up with a sudden shower, we changed tactics and headed up the eastern valley to Stonethwaite (CtoCers will recognize these names) in search of a waterfall where two valleys meet.  We reached the fall and its scenic little gorge at about 1 pm and ate our picnic lunch on a stoney beach in sunshine!  Behind us, one trail led up the Coast to Coast route to Greenup Edge and Grasmere and the other trail led up the Langstrath Valley that we hiked down a couple of weeks ago.  We had much better weather and much better views than on either of those previous encounters with this area.  Our sheep encounter began as we headed back down the valley after lunch.

We walked through Rosthwaite passing a barn yard with a lot of noise.  When we looked over the fence, we could see sheep shearing in process - two guys manhandling the sheep and cutting off the wooly coats, which seemed to take only a couple of minutes.  We don't know why this one sheep was being held in the blue contraption - she wasn't being sheared and she wasn't very happy.  Across another field, another set of newly sheared sheep were being released back to the open ground.  All these sheep will stay up in the high meadows until late in the fall when they are brought down either to be sold for meat or to be mated for next year's crop (to sustain the flock).

Our walk ended back at Grange with cool drinks from a tea shop, and then Phil drove back to Ambleside.