Saturday turned out to be a better day than anyone could have predicted with warm sunshine, a great walk and loads of paddling.

The brief was to go in search of autumn colours and all the guides hinted that Ennerdale was the place to visit.

Welcome to Ennerdale

Mum had written about a number of places around the county to visit in her article over on Naturearoundme all about the autumn gold rush.  So we thought we should visit at least one of them for on the job research.

Bowness Knott was to be our destination, situated in a place called Ennerdale near to West Cumbria. OS Grid Reference: NY109153

We have not visited this area before so all the sniffs are new and we were eager to go exploring.

Leading from the car park area was a firm, well drained forest track.  So the area would be ideal for pushchairs and wheelchairs with a helper.

Look at the view - Ennerdale

To our right were high tall cliffs below which was a great lake of clear fresh water.  On our left was woodland mainly pine but also many other trees including oak.

Vehicles are not allowed on this track except for the occasional deliveries to the Youth Hostel.  So it is worth keeping a look out for these rare occasions.

Ennerdale Water was just too tempting and after about ten minutes the path came to the waters edge and we were straight in.

Cool, clear fresh lakeland water up to our tummies and great for a drink.  Stones and shingle made for a gentle slope from the path in to the water so we could paddle quite a way with our feet on the bottom.

Golden leaves - Ennerdale

Dad says that we should take care as it does get very deep, up to 40m,  in the middle.

Ennerdale Water is over 4km long and supplies drinking water to much of west Cumbria.

With a clear blue sky overhead, the autumn colours of the trees lined our path.  Rich golds were mixed with brown, dark green and every shade in-between as the trees get ready to rest for the winter.

Interestingly very few leaves were falling on to the road.  Must be some weird science going on.

With our lickers fully refreshed we continued down the path.  Being wet, some of the dusty road surface was starting to stick to our fur so, at every chance to go for a paddle, we just dived in.

Bones in Ennerdale

Mum started to get a little fed up of this and we turned off the low road and climbed up to our left following another forest trail.

This path was a little bit steeper and zig zagged first to our right then to our left where Charlie once more put his nose to the air and detected water.

Off to our left and sounding quite spectacular was gushing water.  However, we could not see it, as it was hidden behind trees and undergrowth.

A leg bone in Ennerdale

As we climbed the noise became louder until eventually a clearing and in the distance, we saw the source.

Trickling through the rocks and making a noise out of scale with the amount of water,  was a stream cascading between rocks.  Quite a disappointment as we were expecting at least a mini Niagara Falls:-)

No paddling to be had here as the stream was out of reach so we turned back down the hill towards our original path.

Towards the bottom of the hill mum spotted something white in the undergrowth at the side of the path.  She got all excited  as it turned out to be a bone.  For mum this sighting was like finding treasure .

Skull found in Ennerdale

At home she spends hours watching satellite tv and programmes about Egyptian Mummies and bodies.

What followed was just like a scene from a C.S.I. programme where they try and work out what happened.  If only mum had some yellow numbered cards and a torch the tableau would have been complete.

Charlie and I helped as we tracked down various bones amongst the leaf litter.

Eventually we found a skull situated a little way from the leg bones. Alongside it was a vertebrae.

Given that all the bones were clean, it would appear they had been in the forest for some while.  We kept our distance from the bones in case they had nasties on them.

Jaw bone found in Ennerdale

Given the size of the leg bone, about 20cm,  the dead animal was quite short.

First indications pointed towards possibly a sheep or possibly a small roe deer.

Part of the  lower jaw bone was also found.  This confused the ‘crime scene’ as it looked quite angular. The teeth were not worn,  so the beastie may have been quite young.

Given that we had not seen sheep on our walk and that it was a woodland area, it would appear this may have been a small deer.  But not being experts we can only guess.  Can you identify the bones?  Let us know via the comments.

Please help Coniston Mountain Rescue

Leaving this part of the forest as we found it we returned to the original path and another quick paddle.

It is thirsty work searching out bones and new sniffs.

Dad decided that we had now walked far enough away from the car and we should start our return.

We returned to the car along our original path.

A circular path is available for walkers wishing to go over the tops and having the correct outdoor gear including a map and basic safety equipment.

Ennerdale Valley

Entering the car park we were made aware of the risks of venturing onto the fell tops as we past a collecting box for Coniston Mountain Rescue.

It is hard to believe but it looked as if many attempts had been made to break into the stone sided container.

It is worth noting that the car park is free and that toilets are not available in the area.

Further information

Learn all about autumn at the Woodlands Trust

All about why leaves change colour

Wainwright Pictorial Guides to the Lake District