For a week of early-spring hiking, Mum, Padfoot (the dog), and I made Windermere our base, settling into a cosy Airbnb in the heart of the Lake District.

After tackling The Old Man of Coniston, we decided to slow the pace and opt for something a little gentler: the Cat Bells.

The route we planned was 5km and 400 m of elevation, but after being unable to park in the car park as planned, we found a different spot to leave the car and amended our route to avoid the road walking and take in some of the waterside footpaths beside Derwent Water. This made our route 10km and included over 450 meters of elevation.

Thankfully where we were eventually able to park placed us near a gate that allowed us to walk through the woodland at Brandlehow Park to then join the Cumbria Way at Brandlehow Bay.

The water looked incredibly tempting that I decided that if we were back in good time, I’d go for a dip after the hike.

Once the Cumbria Way joined the road, we picked up the footpath beneath Black Crag and began the climb to Cat Bells (451m).

It was a busy and popular path, much to Padfoot’s delight. He made a point of greeting every person who overtook us or whom we caught up with, tail wagging hopefully as he tried to persuade them to play a game of throwing stones with him. Plenty of people were more than happy to oblige…

After a restorative cup of tea and a couple of hot cross buns, we made the final push up to the summit before clambering down the other side.

There were a few awkward rocky sections which required a bit of care and the odd hand placement to climb down, but it certainly added to the adventure.. although I’m not sure Mum’s knee was best pleased after her recent knee injury that she picked up at a barn dance!

After the steep descent, we were pleased to find a coffee hut, The Lake District Stop, for a hot chocolate and a doggie ice cream for Padfoot.

We then rejoined the Cumbria Way alongside Derwent Water to complete the loop.

The water still looked far too tempting to ignore, so I ran back up the hill to the car to grab my swimmers before heading down again to near the landing stage at Brandlehow Bay for my second swim of the trip.

After this, we decided a rest day was on the cards where we headed to Ambleside and Grasmere for some outdoor shop shopping where I could have easily spent my entire savings, and found an awesome waterfall spot!