June 17

Our final hurrah. We decided to try a nice long hike for our last walk on the fells. The plan was to take the long way to Troutbeck then go up to the end of the valley to the col and over to Thornthwaite Crag and then walk the ridge toward Windermere. As we entered the valley we couldn't see the col or the crag but figured that the ceiling would rise later in the day. As we approached the end of the valley everything went as we had hoped and visibility improved a lot. Then just as we reached the col the weather turned and we were surrounded by clouds; suddenly the visibility disappeared and we started to get wet from being immersed in the clouds.  Also the temperature dropped and the wind picked up. We decided not to go back the way we had just come up but rather go to the summit and return by a much easier route that we used 2 days ago. By the time we reached the valley again Susie was really wet and cold so I gave her a dry sweater that I had brought and with her dry jacket she warmed up nicely. So we didn't get to do the ridge walk because of the weather and even if we had the visibility was there. We had to change our focus to drying out our clothes so that they can be packed for the flight home. Even with the wet weather of the last two days this has been a wonderful experience in northern England.