Ennerdale, 27-28 September 2025

A few years ago, we found a spot in the Ennerdale valley where chanterelles grow. Since then, we’ve been visiting them every year.

The blue and red lines show our route on the first and second days. Shift-click a track link to open it in nakarte.me.

Dawn in the Seathwaite valley. We parked on the roadside near the campsite and walked about two kilometres in. During the night, someone was descending the path with head torches, and in the morning we saw a few tents pitched near the woods.

A fine view of the Northern Lakes. We sometimes camp by the small tarn in the centre of the photo (Blackbeck Tarn) on the neighbouring ridge. In the distance lies Buttermere.

We climbed up Great Gable, then traversed beneath Kirk Fell and continued on to Pillar from the Pillar Rock side. We usually walk a similar route, but in the opposite direction.

Descending from Pillar. Below lies Ennerdale Water, and beyond it the sea.

The chanterelles were waiting for us, a bit overgrown, but still plentiful.

The River Liza can be crossed by three bridges. When we reached the middle one, it was gone, swept away by the water. We could have gone to the next bridge near the bothy, but instead we just crossed the river on the stones.

Sunset. The days are growing shorter. The lakes in the distance are Buttermere and Crummock Water.

The clouds were lit by the evening sun.

This is the valley of Sourmilk Gill. We need to descend into the valley, follow the stream down to the steep drop, and then pick up the good path leading straight into Seathwaite. From above, the valley looks beautiful, but in reality it is very boggy. The valley felt strangely unfamiliar in the evening light, even though we had walked it many times before.

Pink-tinted hills, almost like the Khibiny mountains. We managed to reach the car just before dark, hurrying all the way down. That was our autumn trip to the Lakes.