Day 4 (18.6 miles) was a long climb out of Patterdale, a traverse of the uplands, and then a long descent into the hazy lowlands - a marked change as the craggy mountains just ran out. A cold wind made for a frigid night in our tent in Shap, and we set out for Kirkby Stephen under cloudy skies.
Day 5 was our first grey, cool day, and we crossed a mix of walled sheep fields and lowland heath. The gorse was in exuberant bloom, and the coconut scent blew over us. The walk was 19.9 miles to Kirkby Stephen, and one of our toughest days so far, leaving our feet blistered and bloodied. Day 6 is thankfully a rest day, and we did laundry, replaced our supplies, ate a lot, and lay around in the sun recovering.
Interesting species: early purple orchid, yellow pimpernel, mountain everlasting, Birdseye primrose, marsh valerian, maintain pansy, curlew, lapwing, spotted flycatcher.
.jpg)