Aira Force Waterfall, Hallin Fell, & Boat Rides on Ullswater
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
I was able to sleep in a bit, which was totally needed after the 24 hour travel day.
Norcroft Bed & Breakfast has guests fill out a little slip of paper and leave it in the foyer with their breakfast order for the next morning. They deliver it your room at the time you want and I believe I requested 7:30 am. They offer a full English breakfast, but it's vegetarian so your options are: fake bacon, fake sausage, fake black pudding, eggs in whatever way you want, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, and toast with butter and jam. I'm not much of a fake meat type of gal, but the first day I did order fake sausage. The only other items I got were eggs and toast. The fake meat was pretty gross and I felt bad only taking one bite, so I scooped the rest of it into the fish and chips box from the previous night to throw out later. The beans mentioned above are, yes, baked beans. A quintessential English breakfast food.
By 8:45 I was out the door with my backpack to head to the Penrith bus station -- a 10 minute walk. I boarded the bus at approximately 9:02 and enjoyed the 30 minute trip to Aira Force, a hiking area and waterfall. The scenery on the bus was quite beautiful. Below is the only pic I took on the bus.
This bus ride was really my first view of the Lake District since I wasn't able to see anything on the train. I was instantly amazed at the height of these hills. I knew there would be impressive peaks, but I guess it didn't clock to me that they would be actual mountains. This lake specifically is called Ullswater.
There was a funny moment during this bus trip. The lanes are small in this area. I mean, all roads are relatively small in England compared to America. I was noticing it was common for cars passing each other to pull over as far as possible and basically slow down to a stop to let the other pass. I'm so surprised accidents don't occur because you can see these vehicles are within mere inches of each other. We were pulled completely over and essentially stopped to let a small box truck pass coming from the other direction. The box truck driver started yelling at our bus driver! I couldn't really see what the issue was, but our bus driver promptly responded with, "Who are you yelling at?!" They had a bit of back and forth until finally our bus driver said, "Consider yourself told!" and took off. I guess they could hear each other through open windows. It was so funny because imagine two older men with English accents and all of us on the bus smirking and laughing to ourselves. A bus passenger called out his support from the back once we got moving again. It was entertaining.
Below is a map of Ullswater which illustrates where I was. Penrith is northeast of Pooley Bridge, which you can see at the far right edge of the lake. If you follow the orange path from Pooley Bridge, you will run into Aira Force.
I arrived at the base of Aira Force and immediately took off on the hike. It was definitely giving Starved Rock vibes. It was a gorgeous morning and I really enjoyed this walk. I ran into only a few other people.
Look at this weird tree branch!
I headed back down to where I was dropped off and continued down towards the water, the shore of Ullswater. I was to catch an Ullswater Steamers boat ride at 11:30. Below is a photo just off to the side of the pier where I boarded the boat. How perfect with the little sailboat. The water was so clear!
Myself and perhaps six other people boarded and we headed off to Glenridding, a town on the western shore of Ullswater.
I really had to jump in immediately to ask strangers to take my photo. It's always uncomfortable the first couple of times and then after that, I don't care anymore.
After about a 20 minute journey, I disembarked at Glenridding and hung out for about 20 minutes on the pier there, waiting for another steamer boat to pick me up and take me to a different stop, at a small town called Howtown. (I don't really think you can call it a town; it was only six houses from what I could tell.)
Again, here is the map of the lake. You can see Glenridding on the western shore. Howtown is on the southern shore in the center.
We arrived at Howtown at about 1:00 pm and my goal from there was to hike up Hallin Fell. (You can also see where Hallin Fell is located on the map above. It's to the left of Howtown and Martindale.)
I was following Google Maps and immediately started off for about 10 minutes in the wrong direction. I was just walking along the water, which was not correct. I had to humiliatingly turn around and run into a couple I had spoken to right off the steamer who had commented on how I looked like I knew where I was going. When they saw me coming back towards them, the man asked if the path was flooded so I had to tell him that no, I'm just an idiot.
Here's a pic I took during my walk in the wrong direction!
Google Maps from there did not treat me any better. It's not really meant to be followed for hiking and I know that now. In any case, I sure did use it and it sure did have me go on a path that took an extra hour. There certainly was a more direct route to the summit of Hallin Fell.
Imagine you are standing with your eyes level at the bottom of this picture. Now look up. It does look steep from this angle and, boy, was it ever!
I love that photo. This is what it was like for much of the first part of this hike.
Look at this video of tadpoles in a puddle!
Finally I arrived at a recognizable landmark, St Peter's Church. I was just happy at this point to see a few other humans. I knew where I was headed from there and it was up and up and up.
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| About a five minute walk up from St Peter's Church. |
But alas, I made it. And it was worth it.
A couple RAF (Royal Air Force) planes kept flying through and it was so interesting! Incredibly fast and loud and low. I think at the top of Hallin Fell, we were higher in elevation than the planes.
The Dutch woman and I sat in the shadow of this pillar together (below; the only shade to be found at the summit) and chatted for a few minutes while she ate her picnic lunch. And then I took off.
I realized on the way down that it was my mommy's birthday, so I sent up a birthday wish. Happy birthday, Momma (#73)!
The descent was not without confusion, but eventually I found my way back to the pier where I had originated. The steamer was late, but the wait gave me and four other people the opportunity to watch some high school aged boys horsing around on the water. Boarded the boat and approximately 20 minutes later was dropped off at a town called Pooley Bridge.
Pooley Bridge was cute with some nice shops. I looked around a bit, but was mostly ready to get back to Penrith and eat. I did purchase some Kendal Mint Cakes, a Lake District staple. They are basically peppermint patties and are meant to provide needed calories on hikes. Kendal Mint Cakes were famously taken on the "first successful summit of Mount Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tensing Norgay" in 1953, according to the website. They are decently flavored, but York Peppermint Patties are better in my opinion.
One thing that's difficult about traveling in England is the restroom situation. A lot of cafes and pubs only have one toilet and they are strict about only allowing paying customers to use them. (Though I have definitely popped into a pub once or twice only to pee.) Here and there you will find public toilets in a town centre or park that you may or may not have to pay for. Aira Force and Glenridding both had public toilets, which was a welcome convenience. In Pooley Bridge, they had a male and female toilet block that required payment of 50p, but it was contactless (on your phone) and I don't have contactless set up. Luckily when I rounded the corner there was a woman fiddling with her phone trying to get in and she let me follow her in. Crisis averted.
I was meant to catch the 5:21 bus back to Penrith, but it didn't show up. Me and a few others were waiting and I'm glad I wasn't alone trying to figure it out. The bus stop definitely said it should've been there at 5:21. We all dispersed and came back together at 6:21 and, thank the lord, this one arrived. In the meantime I had called for a taxi and he said he could probably arrange one for me but it would've been the same arrival time as the bus so I said thanks, but no thanks. This was a risk, because I didn't know for sure if the bus was even going to show up!
Twenty minutes later I was back in Penrith town centre and got a cheeseburger and fries at a takeaway to eat in my room. It was good, but American cheeseburgers are better (duh). I think I had a chill evening in my room, once again verifying travel plans for the next day, posting the best photos on social media, and taking a load off my feet and body after such an active day.
I was grateful for beautiful weather and an epic first hike!