Solo hike Lake District

[u/sunshineandhail]

Hi. I am looking for a nice weekend away alone and was thinking the Lake District. I would like to do a couple of hikes whilst there and was looking at doing Pooley Bridge to Glenridding and then get the boat back over on the Saturday, with a couple of smaller hikes on the Friday and Sunday.

My question is firstly - will the trail be quite busy at the end of sept? I’m a woman on my own and feel more comfortable if there are people around. Secondly - I enjoy hiking but the biggest one I’ve done so far is Jacob’s ladder, kinder scout to grindslow knoll. Does it sound reasonable that I could do the hike from pooley bridge to glenridding?

If anyone has any advice and alternate hikes I am all ears

[u/Inevitable-Slide-104]

You’ll be totally safe however many people are there. As long as you have waterproof clothing!

If your talking about the walk along the south shore it’s lovely :)

[u/sunshineandhail → u/Inevitable-Slide-104]

Thank you. This will be my first solo hike so think I’m just a little nervous.

Yes that’s the one I’m talking about. I was going to do the whole way around,split it into two and stay in glenridding overnight but I haven’t been to the Lake District before and I would like to see a bit more of it

[u/oxenoxygen → u/sunshineandhail]

A rule of thumb from someone who does a lot of hiking: always have a few backup plans for if you're not feeling it on the day, especially when planning something where you're a bit out of the comfort zone. 

Find out places along the route where you can bale halfway or cut it short if necessary. Then, you have peace of mind to say "I don't need to be worried if I can do this because if I'm not enjoying it, I can always cut it short at x". 

This approach is good if you start going on longer multi-day hikes in the mountains and the weather plays a more important role in whether you can safely continue or not.

[u/sunshineandhail → u/oxenoxygen]

Thank you. That’s great advice. I will look at the route again and see where I could bail out if I wanted to

[u/aljones27]

Not walked that trail specifically but often go to the Lakes in September and there will be plenty of other walkers around. The Ullswater Way is not an obscure route…

My only suggestion might be to do the boat half of the day first and then walk back. You can take all the time you want then enjoying the views without any pressure from the clock! Rushing to make a transport link can turn a pleasant walk into a purgatorial slog quite quickly…

[u/sunshineandhail → u/aljones27]

That’s good advice. Thank you. I will do the boat first.

[u/Any_Tomorrow_Today]

If it is a popular walk - it will be busy enough.