Lake District ramble

Head up the gill on a metalled track to the ruins of Carrock Mine.  Wolfram, a rare heavy metal, was once dug here.  ...  Follow the beck up the gill, a lovely climb, even though the path is indistinct and boggy in places.

I leave for England just three weeks from today, and I've been previewing the course of my 70-mile route as it wends its way through the Lake District.  The guide book I've been provided is written in English.  No doubt about that.  It just isn't written in American English.  We'd be more apt to say:

Head up the ravine on a roughly paved road to the abandoned Carrock Mine.  Tungsten was once mined here. ...  Follow the creek up the ravine, a beautiful climb even though the path is indistinct and marshy in places.

Actually, the guide book is easy enough to decipher, once I look up the definition of a few unfamiliar words.  The more peculiar aspect of the hike, compared with American hikes, at least Western American hikes, is the minute nature of the instructions -- noting virtually every farm to be passed, style to be climbed over, and "kissing gate" to be navigated.  And, as I discovered in my two earlier hikes, these instructions are absolutely necessary to guide the hiker through the rather complicated terrain, most of it occupied by towns, residential areas, farmland, and dedicated parkland.

Here at home, we are more familiar with simpler instructions in our hiking guides, ones that may read:

Hike 3.7 miles to a fork in the trail.  Take the left fork.  In another 1.7 miles you arrive at the lake. Best areas to pitch your tent are along the eastern shoreline.

So, hiking in Britain is a different experience. But what is lost in grandiose scale and wide open spaces is gained in the beauty and variety of the intricate details of the landscape, and in the aura cast by centuries of history.

Maya (my teenaged niece) and I will not be pitching our tent beside the lake (although we expect to see plenty of lakes). We will be staying at pre-booked accommodations that emphasize the "English" rather than the rugged outdoors aspects of the trip. Photos sent as part of our pre-trip packet portray a number of substantial (but not palatial) houses, each of which typically looks as though it could nicely serve as the Bennet house in Pride and Prejudice.

Past experience tells me that at each house we will be met at the door by a pleasant, elderly woman who will greet us and show us to our rooms. In the background will be a gentleman, rarely introduced but presumed to be her husband, who, when occasionally encountered, will smile shyly at us and mumble greetings.

After a good night's sleep, we will wander down to the small dining room and be served -- by the same woman, maybe or maybe not assisted by her husband -- an "English breakfast." At first glance, this will appear roughly identical to an American breakfast -- ham, eggs, and toast, with tea or coffee. Closer attention -- and perhaps some questioning -- reveals that the "ham" is what the English call bacon. Also on the plate will be what appear to be enlarged link sausages -- do not attempt to eat these loathsome, mushy items, at least not your first morning, not before vigorous hiking has had a chance to generate indiscriminate hunger. (These sausages may grow on you with time, but probably not.) Then there are stewed tomatoes (piping hot), mushrooms, potatoes in any of a number of various forms, and baked beans. And other oddities, depending on the owners' taste. The toast is just toast, but the English seem to have a horror of hot toast -- it is served in a rack designed to cool it down to room temperature as quickly as possible.

As hikers, we quickly grow used to the English breakfast -- look forward to it, really -- and depend on it for a high percentage of the day's calories. (It's included in the room rate.)

Our first night in a B&B will be in Ulverson, at the southern end of the Cumbria Way. After that, we overnight at Coniston, Old Dungeon Ghyll, Stonethwaite, Keswick, Whelpo, and -- ending up in the north, back to an urban environment -- in the county town of Carlisle. Just typing these place names is enough to make me long to head out for the airport immediately. Our hiking will cover a variety of scenic terrains -- farmland, lakeside walks, and climbs among crags over the high fells.

My camera will be at the ready. Photos and a trip summary will be presented on my return.