Day 42 -- Coniston Rest Day

I awoke to a light rain, which alternated between drizzly fog and sprinkles the entire morning. With the neighborhood fells totally enveloped in clouds, there was little reason to ascend them today. I telephoned Lee Wilson, the guide I had retained to take me into the fells today, and cancelled our hike. Lee lives in Shap, and remarked that the fells around Shap were also blanketed with clouds.

My plan to bag the remaining 204 (or thereabouts) Wainwrights by tomorrow thus thwarted by the weather, I looked for other ways to use the day. I started with the leisurely breakfast that I had denied myself yesterday. Then I contemplated taking a bus to a point five miles south of Coniston and walking back alongside the lake, but when I noticed wind gusts blowing the rain sideways outside the breakfast room, I rejected that idea. I instead used the morning productively to update my blog postings. The hotel’s wifi has sufficient bandwidth when there is only one user, and since I was the only one in the bar (which had not yet opened), I completed the postings with reasonable efficiency.

By noon, the satellite images showed most of the Lake District clear of rain and cloud, except for that which hung over Coniston. Interestingly enough, the satellite images showed the Isle of Man as clear the entire day. Perhaps Man is too small and too low to create its own weather. I hope so, because I’ll be there on Saturday.

I suppose after six weeks of walking, I deserve a rest day.