Denmark Lake District Hiking - Day 4

Dawn brought us another lovely day for hiking. Our inn was right on the river, and when I wondered out to get a sense of the weather before breakfast, I saw this swan right near the river bank. This is one of the rare bird photographs that I have shot on my iPhone, the only camera I had with me at the time. The swan was sufficiently used to people that it did not immediately swim or fly away as I carefully approached. I was able to get sufficiently close that I could use my wide angle lens, still have the swan be large in the frame, yet also capture the surrounding landscape.

Day 4 was a short day of hiking, just 6 miles, so we had a leisurely breakfast before heading out in the late morning. The weather was hotter than in previous days, with temperatures already in the low 70s when we started. We were again walking on the flooded river path, but with the hotter temperatures, the water encompassing our feet was delightfully cool.

As with day 3, the scenery was lovely. Generally, there were no houses nearby, but we did see this cottage with a traditional thatched roof on the other side of the river.

As with yesterday, we were surrounded with damselflies. I am not sure if the color differences here are gender specific or just random.

Generally, we were completely by ourselves on our hike, often with little or no visible or audible signs of any civilization around us.

We were surrounded by a tremendous serenity as we hiked. The river quietly flowed on our right. Given the environment, there were comparatively few birds, and they generally made little noise. Every now and then there would be a bench where we could sit and savor the moment if we chose to.

Neither Kate nor I would have thought that hiking miles in 4+ inches of water could be so lovely, but in retrospect, I would not want to change it. Once we committed to drenched feet, it was remarkably pleasant, and it made the day 3 and 4 hikes truly unique in our experience.

Of course, the fact that we had dry shoes and socks, nice showers, and refreshing beers waiting for us at the end of our hike certainly helped!