Day 6 - Shap

This last day in the Lake District will be long and difficult one to be sure!  We start by tackling the rise up the far side of Patterdale.  After a tedious climb, we should find ourselves on the grassy platform known as "Boredale Hause" and pick up the trail to the scalloped shoreline of Angle Tarn.  They say the gradient will level off for a bit to give us a short break before we have to climb up to The Knott and then Kidsty Pike.  From the top of Kidsty Pike, we will look behind us and see the waters from Ennerdale from a few days and many miles ago.

Onward to the biggest descent of the walk!  The guide book warns that we'll be "panting like a hippo" during this stage....sounds lovely.  But we'll soon reap two rewards: the first is waling on level ground for the next many miles and the second is that trail markings begin to appear.  The past week through the Lake District will have been without markings.  Hmm....climbing over mountains, through valleys, around lakes in a foreign land without any signs/markings?  Brilliant!

After a long and challenging day, we'll arrive in Shap.  Our lodgings are at the far end of town and our hostess, Margaret, has offered to pick us up from town to save our little piggies from having to walk another mile or two.  I suspect that we'll just swing into The Greyhound, a well known pub on the way to Margaret's Brookfield House.  We'll wash down fish and chips with a few pints, call Margaret, go soak in a tub, and finally drop into bed.  Margaret makes a killer breakfast from what we've been told and the best part about Shap is that we'll spend two nights there!  Our second day will be one of rest and recuperation before the second stage of our journey begins!