Shap to Wet Sleddale

Wednesday 29th April
After two days of heavy rain it was sunny so we decided on a local walk. We walked down the lane near the farm and past Brackenber lodge the interesting house that we can see from the caravan. We followed the path until we got to a stream which we had to cross with stepping stones, and then on to Steps Hall where we went off to find a cache in a shake hole.
We retraced our steps to the hall and then followed on the path beside a wall. It was very boggy and we had trouble navigating, but got through in the end without getting too wet. We then walked beside the River Lowther to reach the bridge leading to the road to the reservoir. We stopped and found a cache in a small disused quarry, and then crossed the bridge and followed the road to the reservoir dam.
We walked beside the reservoir, Wet Sleddale, (that is what it is really called) for a while and then stopped to find a cache in a tree. After a brief pause for a biscuit we crossed a new bridge and then followed a wet and boggy path to a large outcrop of rocks where another cache was found under a large table of rock. We crossed another bridge and then proceeded to zig-zag our way up the steep hill past abandoned Sleddale Hall. As we crossed a stile we saw lots of tadpoles in a puddle in the path. We found another cache near the top, but then headed the wrong way. We climbed a very steep bank only to discover we needed to be on the other side of the wall, so had to descend the bank again and follow the path in the opposite direction. It was a lovely grassy path and we had very good views across the reservoir and towards Ralfland forest (it has no trees). We walked around some large outcrops of rock looking for a cache. The gps was erratic and had us going round, over and back, but eventually, just as we were about to give up we found it.
We continued along a wide path for a while and then turned off the path onto what should have been a footpath but was just a slight track through the grass, which needed a lot of imagination to follow. It was very boggy in places and we eventually arrived at a river and outflow to the reservoir. Luckily there was a small concrete slab for us to cross by. We folowed the path onto a lane and eventually arrived at Keld. We were lucky to find the chapel open so went in for a look. We then took a divertion off the path to find a cache at The Contemplation tree. We followed the road through Keld and then paths past the Goggleby stone and back to Shap. It had been 16.6 km.