The Best View I Have Ever Seen (Day 15)

We departed from Edinbrugh this morning on our way back in the general direction of London, by way of the Lake District. Our first stop was at Dove Cottage in Grasmere, which was the home of William Wordsworth for a brief time when he wrote some of his more famous works. It was pretty cool to hear the stories about his life, and his family's life living there and managing the general household affairs. Afterwards, Kim, Karlie and I decided we needed to have a real English experience and drink tea and eat scones at the Dove Cottage Tearooms. We were right. Seriously felt like we stepped out of a Jane Austen novel.

The Lake District is incredibly beautiful. It reminds me a lot of the area up around Bozeman, Montana (except not in the Rocky Mountains). Our hostel was located in Ambleside, so we got there and were free to spend the rest of the day exploring wherever we wanted on our own. I ended up semi-spontaneously hiking with Shannon and Ellen, and (thanks to Shannon's great idea) got a suggestion from a local who pointed us towards the waterfalls and then up Wansfell Peak. The waterfalls were really pretty, but we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into hiking the peak. We really wanted to get high enough to see the whole valley, which ended up meaning going all the way to the top. The whole thing, up and down took us about 4 hours. Also it was way WAY harder than expected. About half of the hike is really steep cobblestone "steps" and although the view is beautiful all the way up, you can't see Lake Windermere (where our hostel was located) until the last 10 yards. It was SO WORTH IT. I'm not exaggerating when I say that that hike was probably one of the most rewarding things I have ever done in my entire life. Pictures can't even come close to capturing what it was like to be at the highest point around, with literally a 360 degree view for several miles. 

I actually was reflecting as we were climbing up the last, and by far most difficult, stretch, about how this hike actually is a lot like the journey of life. You really don't know what you are missing out on until you make it to the end yourself. There were some places where we thought about stopping, because the view was pretty good, and the only reason we kept going was that we just really wanted to see the view of the lake that the local told us about. Sometimes you just have to trust in the wisdom of others who know better than you do, because we were rewarded more than we could have ever imagined at the peak. The last part might be the most difficult, but you have to push through and do everything you can to make it to the top and you won't ever regret it. And that's just how life is. We can't possibly comprehend what eternal life and exaltation will be like, but if we endure to the end we will be blessed beyond any possible imagination and the view will be incredible and completely worth it. 

The rest of the day was just fun and relaxing as I enjoyed being in a lakeside village for one night. One of the best days and experiences I have had.