I’m sitting down to write this on a chilly autumn morning in October. Looking back at my time spent in the Lake District brings wonderful memories to my mind. As an outdoor lover who studied abroad in a big city, it was nice to escape London for a long weekend and venture up north to England’s Lake District.

I went with a group of students from my study abroad university. We took a very scenic train to Keswick (pronounced Kez-ik), England. We stayed at the Glaramara House, a large cottage-style house in the heart of the Lake District. This hotel is not super upscale, but if you’re going to be outside then it doesn’t really matter where you stay.

I chose to go on an all-day hike as my main activity for Saturday. We had planned to hike the tallest mountain in England (which isn’t saying much…because it’s England lol) but the rain clouds had a different idea for us. The sky opened up and down came inches of rain. We had to reroute our hike to stay at a lower elevation. It ended up being more of a lovely walk through the grass fields and woods. Some members of the group were a bit rattled by all the water leaking through their clothing, but I”m used to hiking in the rain so I had a ball! It’s such an incredibly beautiful place, even in the rain.

I’d highly recommend going to the Lake District in the summer or autumn. We went in early March which was not an ideal time to visit. The weather was wet and cold and the foliage was not at peak, but it was the only time we could go. It was still awesome though!

We spotted these adorable plants that were put into hiking boots! How clever!

We had some rays of light peaking through the clouds. It created marvelous patterns on the hillside.

Some of my friends that I met on this trip. We were all very excited to see this view!

Heading down to a small body of water. Oh, it’s a lake, right? Nope. The Lake District only has ONE true lake (Bassenthwaite Lake). The rest are technically meres or waters. I was shocked to hear this!

This was going to be our picnic spot until it started pouring rain.

We decided to eat as we walked. We passed by many sheep pastures and after seeing several animals covered in what appeared to be some sort of paint or colored powder, I asked our guide why the sheep were marked. Many people believe that the sheep are marked so farmers can tell which animals belong to them. While this is true, it is more likely that sheep are marked like this because they have been impregnated. Farmers will attach a device of some sort to male sheep so when they…mate…with female sheep the farmers can move the pregnant mothers to a separate pasture.

After realizing how active these male sheep are, we walked through a small village before heading back to the hotel.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my trip to the Lake District! If it hasn’t already been added to the list of places you must visit in England, add it right now. It’s so beautiful, even in the offseason.

Cheers!

-Katherine