Hiking

Having invested in a back carrier for Ben, on Wednesday we tried it out on our first "proper" walk since he was born - a walk from Coniston to Tarn Hows and back that our friends Rich and Clare did on our last trip to the Lakes when Ben wasn't so portable.

When we set off it was raining steadily, but we hoped it was just a passing shower. Of course it wasn't, but we Dawsons are made of hardy stuff - and here in Guards Wood above Coniston there were trees to shelter under some of the time. Our map was suffering in the rain, when we made the serendipitous discovery of a map case in a tree, here modelled by Debbie. (We later handed it in at the Tourist Information having put it to good use on our journey!)

We were all feeling a bit soggy and grumpy but by the time we reached the top of the hill up to Tarn Hows Ben was sound asleep under the spacesuit cover of his backpack. Pack horse Mark made good use of the above gate to recover from the climb.

At Tarn Hows the rain relented and we found a bench where we could enjoy a much deserved picnic and Ben provided much entertainment to passing walkers and ducks.

We were quite impressed by Tom Gill Waterfall, on the way down into Yewdale from Tarn Hows.
By the time we reached Yew Tree Farm (which doubled as Beatrix Potter's farmhouse Hill Top in the recent film "Miss Potter") the sun was shining and the tea garden looked particularly inviting. A little while later, full of cream tea / chocolate ice cream / milk (can you guess who had what?) we headed onwards to complete our walk.
Everything looked so much nicer in the sunshine, including the whitewashed farm buildings of Low Yewdale Farm and the fells beyond.

It was around this point that Ben went to sleep again...

... and missed the best view of the walk - Coniston Water from the woods above the lake (a view we had also largely missed on the way up due to the rain).

When we returned to the car Ben was wide awake again and ready for another adventure.