The three things a dog needs is food, somewhere to sleep and a walk each day.

Today the weather has swung back to bright sunshine after two dull days, so today's walk for them was as bright as it gets.

The phone camera sometimes over emphasises colour, but today it was true to life.

- - - o o o - - -

There's nothing better to start the day than an early morning dip and a nice breakfast,

so my leisurely morning started in a perfect way . . .

Okay . . . I didn't say a cold dip in the lake did I ?

A nice morning deserves a quiet break on occasions . . . just to sit and enjoy the view from the garden.

It's Easter Saturday and the crowds are out, taking advantage of the good weather.

The farmer of the neighbouring field has opened it up as a short term car park. 

Put your money in the bucket please !

- - - o o o - - -

On with the walk . . .

Low Park Bridge was checked last year and found to be basically okay, but the parapet walls were not in good condition

so the council workmen have been repairing them recently.

I think it has turned out to be a bigger job than they expected.

Full marks for keeping the road open, albeit for just half a dozen or so houses on this side of Park Beck.

Make that seven . . . I forgot Mellbreak Cottage, with it's lovely view of Grasmoor across the valley.

The path rises up the slope beneath Mellbreak to the highest point of this walk, where you get a great view overlooking Crummock Water.

From here you can see all the way up the Buttermere Valley to Fleetwith and Great Gable at the far end.

Doing that on nice sheep fields won't endear them to the local farming community !

I'm a sucker for a nice tree as a foreground to a picture.

The dogs wait by another old Hawthorn, on our way across towards the headland of Low Ling Crag.

The rocky outcrop to the right of the tree is High Ling Crag

and both align physically and geologically with Rannerdale Knotts on the other side of the lake.

Rather than take the main path, I walk down to the water's edge and walk around the stoney shoreline.

A camera-based panorama looking south whilst standing on the top of Low Ling Crag headland.

Not crowded for a Bank Holiday ?

Time to head back and do a little late afternoon gardening I think.

Looking this way the view is now of Low fell and Brackenthwaite Hows (Scale Hill) with the trees.

It's that tree again !

The Iron Stone sits some twenty feet out into the lake.

There are plans to remove the Crummock weir and drop the level of the lake five feet or so, now it is no longer used for drinking water.

If that goes ahead this rock will be sitting on a dry pebble beach in five years time.

More about that topic in due course, no doubt.    

I'm not looking forward to the disruption and change that this plan will bring.

The dogs and I stay on the lower path on the way back

and head over to Sandy Yat beach, the other side of the gate.

One of my favourite view of the lake,

which made it into the Loweswatercam Calendar a few years back.

The Yat of Sandy Yat beach.

'Yat' is Cumbrian for gate . . . so 'sandy' must be Cumbrian for pebbles ?

An old Oak Tree on the way back up the Water Board track, from the lake towards home.

- - - - o o o - - -

As a post-script, the guys down at the bridge have finished their work in the last few days.

The extent of the rebuild can be seen from the different colours of the cement . . . quite a major job in the end.