You don't need to complete the Lakes
Scafell Pike. Tick. Windermere. Tick. Keswick. Tick. Photograph. Coffee. Next.
Somewhere along the way, exploring became remarkably similar to completing a to-do list.
We'd like to suggest another approach.
Stop trying to finish the Lake District.
You can't. And that's the best thing about it.
Choose an area, not fifteen attractions
Open a map of the Lakes and it's easy to start collecting places.
What if you chose one area instead? Give yourself a valley. A lake. A village. Maybe two days.
The interesting thing about slowing down is that you start discovering the places between the famous places.
The path you didn't know about. The pub you hadn't researched. The viewpoint without a queue.
The road you weren't supposed to take until something about it looked interesting.
That's usually where the good stuff is.
Walk without needing a summit
Mountains give walks an obvious ending. Reach the top. Take photograph. Walk down. There's nothing wrong with that. But it's not the only reason to put boots on. Walk around water. Through woodland. Along a valley.
Follow a lower route beneath the mountains instead of automatically climbing them.
Take lunch. Stop somewhere that looks good.
A walk doesn't become more valuable because the final number on the altimeter is bigger.
Let the weather change the plan
British weather isn't an inconvenience to outdoor life. It's part of it.
Obviously there are conditions when plans should be abandoned entirely, particularly in the mountains.
But a grey morning doesn't automatically mean the day is ruined.
Cloud can completely transform a valley. Rain makes forests smell better.
A cold morning gives you an excellent excuse for another coffee.
And sometimes the mountain disappearing into cloud is nature's way of suggesting you explore somewhere lower instead.
Have a Plan B. Then occasionally discover Plan B was better.
Stop when something looks good
This might be the simplest UNROUTED rule. See something? Stop. Safely, obviously. The viewpoint doesn't need to be famous. The cafe doesn't need 10,000 reviews.
The walk doesn't need to appear on a Top Ten Lake District article.
Curiosity is still a perfectly acceptable travel guide.
Put the phone away sometimes
We're not anti-technology. Far from it. Phones are useful for maps, weather, photographs and safety.
But there is a difference between using a phone outside and experiencing everything through one.
Take the picture. Then put it away. The mountain will look better without a screen around it.
Go back
You don't need to see everything because you can return. Visit Wasdale this time. Go somewhere else next time. Come back in autumn. Come back when there's snow on the tops.
Come back when the weather is terrible and discover the pub instead.
Places change. So do we.
The UNROUTED take
You don't need to complete the Lake District. Find somewhere you like. Stay longer than you planned. Leave something unexplored.
That's not missing out.
That's your reason to come back.
OFF ROUTE. ON PURPOSE.
