It wasn’t so long ago now, but it seems like an eternity away when we visited the Lake District for the second time this year. We were very fortunate with the weather and had a wonderful two weeks of hill walking. It was challenging, but also immensely satisfying and despite eating well, I still managed to work my belt down a few notches!

Some of the fells we climbed this time around included:

• Skiddaw 931 metres (3,054 ft) – after several failed attempts due to bad weather on our previous visit, we finally managed to reach the summit.  Perhaps, it was because it was the first big walk we did on the trip, but it felt like the toughest.  Incredibly windy on top!
• Catbells 451 metres (1,480 ft) – my most climbed fell and I never get bored of the view from this relatively low climb.  It’s from here I was able to capture some sunrise time lapse sequences.
• Barrow 455 m (1,494 ft) – one of Catbells’ neighbours.  Not a difficult walk, but still a very rewarding view from the summit.
• Binsey 447 m (1,467 ft) – another relatively low fell, but with an amazing 360-degree view.  It’s such a shame I took a camera without any memory cards and didn’t get a chance to revisit!
• Helvellyn 950 metres (3,117 ft) along Striding Edge – Our most exciting walk to date was on England’s third highest peak.  Fantastic views and an exhilarating climb from the Striding Edge to the summit via the loose, rocky face.

Here’s a couple of photos from the trip and a few more over on Flickr.

All in all, it was a fantastic photo break, but I think I could do with a better way of carrying photography equipment especially when primarily shooting with a combination of a Nikon D700 and 14-24mm f/2.8 lens.  That’s a couple of kilos of mass which I need to be able to stow away securely and easily whilst still having it at hand without too much stoppage time.  My trekking rucksack and Lowepro Toploader worked out a little cumbersome at times, but on the whole did the trick.

If you’d like a few suggestions for places to dine whilst in the Lake District, I highly recommend the following:

• Middle Ruddings in Braithwaite
• Horse & Farrier Inn in Threlkeld
• Fish Hotel in Buttermere