I had an overnight work trip to Leeds last week, so decided to take the opportunity to travel up to Newcastle to see my daughter who is studying at the University. On the Saturday evening I came across to Penrith and made an early start to walk from Mardale Head at the end of Haweswater Reservoir – I left the carpark just before 08:00 – there were a couple of transit vans that had clearly been there all night, but mine was the only car…

I had original intended to ascend to High Street along Rough Crag and Long Stile, but it was so windy on the driver over that I thought better of it! The last section is rather narrow and would have been rather risky! A long fall was possible with an untimely gust of wind!

Instead, I decided to take the longer route via Kidsty Howes and Kidsty Pike. The picture was taken on the climb up towards Kidsty Howes as the sun broke over the hills behind me – it was far more light than the picture suggests, but I love the drama – the shot is contra-jour anyway!

The full route that I did was only around 13km…which is pretty much a normal Saturday or Sunday walk with the dog…it was tough in parts! Soooo much easier in the rolling hills of the Cotswolds! However much more dramatic here – so satisfying!

Apart from the recent trip, not walked properly in the Lakes since coming up here with my family as a teen – around 40 years ago! Didn’t enjoy walk the hills so much back then, but adore it now! It’s the solitude and the escape from everything! Well, except that these days you can get 4G signal once you get out of the valleys! I did miss having Sparky with me on this walk – he would have absolutely loved it!

Shot was a six shot panorama – stitched in Affinity Photo.

Camera: FuijFilm X-A5; 18-55mm XF Zoom lens.