I guess I could tell you all about the Cumbria Way, but it's already a very well-known trail through a very well-known part of the country. It also starts on my doorstep, or at least on the next street to where I live, so it's all very familiar to me. Anyway, I spent a few days walking it from Ulverston to Carlisle, and even added an extra day to take account of the fact there there are two routes between Caldbeck and Carlisle.
The main thing that struck me was how quickly the weather changed from winter to summer. I left Ulverston on a cold, grey day, but finished in Carlisle in stifling heat!
Day 1 - I set out so early from Ulverston that I didn't expect to meet anyone else on the way to Coniston. By the time anyone else would have left their B&Bs, or turned up later in the morning on the train, I was already crossing the boundary into the Lake District national park at Gawthwaite. Apart from local farmers, I saw no-one else. In fact, even in the Blawith Fells I only saw two people beside Beacon Tarn, but then it was pretty cold up there. Now, I guess it will be full of people having picnics and swimming, since that's what happens on sunny days. Only a few people were pottering along the shore of Coniston Water, and even Coniston itself was fairly quiet.
As there's a bus service between Coniston and Ulverston, I'd already planned to 'commute', so headed home for the night. One of the passengers on the bus was a guy I've seen a couple of times on the fells, but only recently somone pointed out to me that he tests outdoor gear for a number of companies. Turns out this is indeed true, and he went into some detail about how thoroughly he tests stuff and advises how things can be refined before they go into full production for the likes of you and me.
Day 2 - Leaving Coniston, every time I stopped to take a few photos, I was passed by other Cumbria Way walkers. The first ones to pass me were English, followed by Belgians, then Dutch. I ended up having a tea break with the Dutch walkers, at a farm that's suddenly started a tea garden. I walked along with them and they told me how their trip along the Cumbria Way had been packed by a tour operator. They'd already used the same operator for treks along the Coast to Coast, Pennine Way, Dales Way and a big chunk of the South West Coast Path. Apparently, they like walking in England! I was impressed by how easily they were able to pick off the names of distant Lakeland fells.
Day 3 - With the weather hotting up, I walked through Mickleden and climbed onto Stake Pass. All of a sudden, a helicopter kept passing above me carrying big bags of stones. I made a detour into the 'drop zone' and found out that the National Trust were repairing a path across bog between Stake Pass and Rossett Pike. The helicopter later came with ENORMOUS bags of Herdwick sheep fleeces. The man from the National Trust told me that the wool would be used as a base, and the rocks piled on top, with a gravel surface to finish off. Apparently, this is one of the first times they've used wool on boggy ground, so it will be interesting to see how it goes. Expect workers to be wild-camping up there in June while they lay the path.
I came down from Stake Pass with more Belgians, and they showed me their route notes, which had been supplied in Flemish by a tour operator. It looked a difficult read! The rest of the day was spent walking down through Borrowdale, where I met a guy who had been thrashed off the TGO Challenge by bad weather, and had retreated to the comfort of a nice hotel. With the hot weather advancing, there were people paddling in the River Derwent and splashing around the shores of Derwent Water, with Keswick being fairly busy. They still had the banners up from the Keswick Mountain Festival.
