Kirkstone Mountain Pass

On our road trip back to Aberdeen, we decided to stop by Ullswater lake before leaving Cumbria. While driving lakeside for a bit, Jonathan spotted a road sign for Kirkstone Mountain Pass. Not one to resist a challenge, he decided we’d make the trip up.

The scenery on the ascent was possibly the most wild and rugged that I’ve ever seen, and it was fun stopping at the roadside pull offs in order to snap some photos. One we got to the top, there was a large car park where we also stopped for a photo op.

In the background we could see lovely Lakeland views and could even spot Ambleside in the distance. The wind was really howling though, so it wasn’t very pleasant walking about, though there were several hiking paths to choose from.

At one point, the gusts were so violent that I was a little concerned that I might get carried away.

I have to say, it was definitely easier riding up to a summit rather than hiking it. However, what goes up must go down, and when we started our descent down the other side,  we had to choose between staying on the road we came in on, or one called “The Struggle”. Seriously, the road sign said “The Struggle”. I was already “struggling” a bit without my Dramamine and didn’t want to tempt fate with a unknown and intimidating road.

It’s been a while since I’ve been that carsick, and was just praying that I would make it through without hurling. I breathed a sigh of relief once we were safely down the mountain, only be told by our GPS that in order to get back to Aberdeen, we’d have to make a U-turn and go right back up (and down) the mountain again.

I was chomping down the last of my sour patch kids stash in order to calm my stomach, but for the next 2 hours of our road trip, I was pretty miserable. All’s well that ends well, however, and once I had some fresh air and Burger King in my belly, I was definitely glad we made the detour…twice. I’m especially glad that we have the pictures to prove it.