Ennerdale 14-15 October 2023

We went to the Lakes very late this autumn, only in mid-October. The weather was too good to miss. We drove up on a Saturday evening and planned to spend the night in a small bothy near Honister Pass. However, it was already occupied, so we headed to Blackbeck tarn instead.

The blue and red lines show our track on the 14 and 15 October. Shift-click on the track link will open it in nakarte.me.

Starry sky.

In the morning there was frost on the tent, and the puddles around were covered with a thin crust of ice. But it was so beautiful! We had neighbours at the other end of the lake, but we did not disturb each other.

We've camped here before, it's only an hour's walk from Honister Pass. This is a logical stop on the way to the Ennerdale Valley.

Buttermere and Crummock Water, with the mountains of Dumfries and Galloway in the distance.

Ennerdale.

The path follows a river with the cute name Liza. There are many nice places to camp here, but it is too long to walk from Honister pass if you arrive late in the evening.

We didn't have much hope of finding chanterelles in mid-October. But they were waiting for us: somewhat overgrown, but still real chanterelles. This is the only place in England where we find them every year.

We climbed up to the Pillar rock through a steep gorge. This is not a commonly-used path.

Although it didn't rain today, the rocks were wet and quite slippery.

The upper part of the Ennerdale valley is covered with knolls.

A moss flower with a quartz stem.

Rainbow.

Rain over the sea.

Heavily eroded slopes of Great Gable.

Scafell Pike and Scafell.

On the way home. The Honister slate quarry is already visible in the distance. It was getting late, but we managed to get to the car park before dark.