Polly, Anita and I arrived at Glenthorne a little before 5pm to meet the group, some of whom had arrived the night before and enjoyed the comfort of beautiful Glenthorne and the surrounding area.

After a welcome chat, we ate a sumptuous meal followed by coffee and a description of the next days' route options, given by Polly and myself.

A few women went for a walk around Grasmere as Polly's lovely dog, Dillon, needed to stretch his legs, as did we, after dinner and eventually ended the evening with a drink in the village.

Breakfast was enjoyed whilst watching hail stones through the window, however these thankfully stopped in just enough time for everyone to gather outside.

Women chose which grade they preferred. Polly and Anita took the Intermediate walk up Helm Crag.

They then walked along the splendid ridge as far as Calf Crag and the sun even shone through at times!

From the end of the ridge they descended into Far Easedale - passing small gorges, rushing streams and spectacular waterfalls... the rain had been good for something!

I meanwhile led the much smaller Low-Intermediate group out from Elterwater, setting off in dry weather through the village, heading out towards Slater Bridge in Little Langdale.

From here we continued to Cathedral Cave, an absolute gem of a surprise hidden in Cathedral Quarry.

Once outside, Una, Maureen, Lyn, Louisa and I shared a memorable time as we ascended through the centre of the quarry with all the agility and grace of a mountain goat!

The sides of Cathedral Quarry are regularly used by climbers. We watched a brave young woman descend an abseil. She then asked us if we had all done it before!!

After a brief stop, we continued through the cave and enjoyed the amble along the Cumbria Way to Colwith Force, where we sat in the wood and ate lunch near the water.

The sun even appeared, shining through the trees, highlighting the beautiful lime green colours of the leaves.

After lunch, we continued along to Skelwith Force succumbing to a short downpour, just before heading into the wood and arriving at Chester's Café.

Chester was the owner's dog who once ruled the roost. We were able to dry off in the queue, before sitting in comfy seats to enjoy an afternoon coffee.

The last section of the walk took us past Skelwith Force and along another section of the beautiful Cumbria Way.

As we walked back to Elterwater we had excellent views of the Langdale Pikes and enjoyed the surprisingly subtle aroma of the wild garlic.

Back at Glenthorne we met up with the Intermediate group and were surprised to hear of the challenging weather conditions they had experienced as we had enjoyed such nice weather, but that's the Lake District for you!

A delicious meal was enjoyed again and everyone chatted over coffee about Sunday's options before retiring for a fairly early night.

A pleasant surprise awaited us in the form of sunshine and warmer weather this morning.

After breakfast, Polly set off with the Intermediate group up to Easedale Tarn via Sour Milk Gill waterfall.

Easedale tarn encircled by hills was serene and they had it virtually to themselves.

They walked around the tarn, then headed down into Far Easedale, and so back to Grasmere.

Anita and I meanwhile set off with the Low-Intermediate group through the village and up Kelbarrow under Silver Howe and across Dow Bank.

We had amazing views across Grasmere and Rydal Water and the women who had tackled Helm Crag on Saturday were able to get a good view of their route.

We had a brief stop on the edge of Dow Bank, then headed off to Loughrigg Terrace where the bluebells were out providing colour across the hillside.

The sun was out and the views were stunning, too good not to stop for lunch!

A scamper down the hill to the water and across into the wood, brought us to the Grasmere road.

We crossed the road to follow the path up to the beginning of the coffin route, between Grasmere and Rydal.

A short walk down past Dove Cottage and we were back in Grasmere, where we met up with the Intermediate group to stay our farewells.