Eriba Man

This is night No.84/2018 living in my caravan. It's me second night at Troutbeck Head C&MC Site near Keswick in the Lake District. Slept well, getting up around 0600. The weather was cloudy, but dry. The forecast was for the weather to improve, so I quite fancied the idea of 'bagging' one of the Wainwrights close to where I'm based. There are three nearby, but Gowbarrow Fell looked good as a circular walk could be done with some good views. After breakfast, we set of for the short drive to Ullswater. Parked up at the NT carpark for Aira Force, where I'd visited yesterday. I'm glad I'm a member of NTS as the carpark charges were staggering. I think it ranged between £5 and £9! When I arrived, I was the only car there. Set of walking around 0840. The path leaves the main tourist route, passes through a gate onto the hillside. Some nice views back to Ullswater. The south face of this hill is fairly craggy. I think this part is known as 'Hind...

This is night No.83/2018 living in my caravan. Now pitched at Troutbeck Head C&MC Site near Keswick in the Lake District. Paid £36.20 for 2 nights for the van, me, and the mutts(free). A bit of a 'premium' site due to it's location in the North Lakes, but it is a nice place. Left Englethwaite Hall at around 1130 for the 40min drive to this site. Englethwaite was an excellent place to stay. It was superb for the dogs, and even though it had no toilet block, I thought of it as one of the best sites I've stayed at yet. This site at Troutbeck is another good site. It's a large site with around 120 pitches, and two toilet blocks to cope with the numbers. This place must be jumping in peak season. I went into Keswick, and even though it is September, that was mobbed. Another huge bonus is the dog walking. I've found the Lake District to be very restrictive on dog walking, but this site has direct access from the site to a huge FC Forest, Matterdale. Th...

Night No 36/2018 staying in my caravan. This is night 2 at the Coniston Coppice C&MC Site near Coniston in Cumbria. Got up around 0600 and took the dogs down through the wooded part of the site. It was early, and with nobody around, I let them have a sneaky 5 mins off the lead! I'm discovering that Consiton is not the best area for dogs if your dogs are not used to all walking on leads. The town itself is fine, dogs are welcome in pubs and shops, but the sheep are all over the place here. After breakfast, wanted to head to a forest to let the dogs run wild for a while. The nearby Grizedale Forest Park would fit the bill. It's only around 8 miles, but the twisting roads make it a 25min journey! Worth it though. The little village of Hawkshead. Nice little place, but the road out towards Grizedale was extremely narrow and tight. Once at Grizedale, walked a nice riverside route. The bluebells were out in full bloom. This pair absolutely loved it. ...