The wind and rain slowly died down and by midnight the rain had stopped and the wind was manageable. I then slept well until morning as there was no battering of the tent to keep me awake. By morning the moon was visible overhead and a little clear sky on the horizon. The wind was starting to get up again as I packed the tent away and cluster of bent polls. I have some spare bits at home but I’m not sure if there are enough to get a full set of straight poles. The clearing sky meant I wouldn’t have to get a soaking as I walked off the mountain.

Clearing cloud.

Ullswater and flooded fields.

But my main concern were the roads. Heavy rain has the habit of raising the level of Ullswater enough to flood some sections of road and that would mean no bus to Penrith. I retraced my route along the narrow path which follows the contour. Looking down into Glencoyne I could see sheets of driving rain only about 1km away. That goes to show how localised the weather can be. Eventually the distant road from Penrith came in to view and I peered through the binoculars to see it there was any sign of traffic.

It was all deserted but eventually some cars came into view, phew.. Instead of taking the direct path down through Glencoyne Park I decided to stay high and follow the route by Common Fell and Bracken How. It was a pleasant route and had excellent views across Ullswater all the way. At Brunt Crag there was a wet slippery descent over some boulder and by and old quarry to the Dockray road.

Two trees on the fell.

Aira Force Waterfalls.

Instead of following the road back to the bus stop I crossed over and took the path down towards Aira Force waterfalls. With all the rain I thought they’d look quite good and I wasn’t disappointed. I think lots of others had the same idea and there were lots of people about. I took my time taking photos and by the time I got to the car park I had only a short time to wait for the bus.

I caught it down to Patterdale for the ride then back again to Penrith. Some of the road in the vicinity of Pooley Bridge was under water, but only just so the bus didn’t have a problem. Walkers certainly would. The train home from Penrith was a disgrace, packed and people having to stand. They’ll never get people to leave their cars at home for the trains if they have to put up with cattle truck conditions.

Aira Force Waterfalls..