We spent one of our days in the Lakes driving around the park to see what we could see. Our first stop was Hill Top, which was Beatrix Potter's home. Our GPS seemed to have us on track, until all of the sudden she told us to board the ferry ahead! Apparently, our route involved a ferry ride that we weren't really expecting, but I'm sure that it saved us some time.
Hill Top was really interesting. Beatrix Potter left very specific instruction about how the house was to be run, and it has been set up such that it seems like she may have just stepped out for a walk. From almost every room you could see the inspiration for pictures in her books. Having grown up with Jemimah Puddleduck and Peter Rabbit, it was interesting to get a picture of what was going on behind the scenes.
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| Hill Top village. |
From Hill Top, we set out to conquer
Hardknott Pass, which is an incredibly twisty, steep single-lane road through some very beautiful and wild scenery. In fact, the grade is 33%, which means that you gain one meter in elevation for every three meters traveled forward.
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| Example of a skinny road that actually seemed wide after the Hardknott Pass! |
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| The road, twisting out in front of us. |
We had a rather unfortunate incident involving a flat tire at the top of the pass. We must've hit a rock right on the edge of the tire, because it ripped a huge gash in the tire. Of course, because the road is so narrow, there wasn't much of a place to pull over. We pulled over in a quasi-flat spot (that was also in a mud puddle, as mom and I found out), and dad went to work changing the tire. Unfortunately, since the ground was anything but flat, it was not so easy. Also, since it was at the top of the pass, the wind was vicious and wickedly cold. It was an experience, that's for sure.
Finally, a Range Rover pulled up and asked if we needed any help. At this point, mom and I were on the mud puddle side of the car, leaning against it with all of our strength trying to keep the car from tipping over while it was up on the jack. We were pretty happy to get some help! And, in fact, we hit the jackpot with our Range Rover helpers, as the car actually had three couples in it. The men quickly sprang into action, and their wives sort of walked around, clucking over the scene. In next to no time, we were back on the road. We were so thankful that they stopped!
From there, we continued on our way, thankful to have survived our time on the Hardknott Pass.
