High Adventure: Mountain Passes & Muncaster Castle from Oxenholme

Heres a shout out to Derek from the High Adventure tour from Windermere for an amazing experience! Derek was funny and full of interesting trivia about the Lake District and was really good with allowing us time at the view points, the passes, the Roman fort to take in the real essence of the National Park! We got to see the real, raw natural beauty of the region and it was an exhilarating and real eye-opening expereience for us! The Lake District is so much more than Windermere or Ambleside! Would totally recommend it!

Heres a shout out to Derek from the High Adventure tour from Windermere for an amazing experience! Derek was funny and full of interesting trivia about the Lake District and was really good with allowing us time at the view points, the passes, the Roman fort to take in the real essence of the National Park! We got to see the real, raw natural beauty of the region and it was an exhilarating and real eye-opening expereience for us! The Lake District is so much more than Windermere or Ambleside! Would totally recommend it!

We travel a lot, and generally prefer researching an area and creating our own self-guided tours, but we departed from our norm in the Lake District and did the full-day "High Adventure" tour with Mountain Goat, and are very glad we did. For one day we enjoyed hours of beautiful vistas and informed commentary by our guide, and began to understand the hold that the Lake District has on locals and visitors alike. The tour took us through several lush valleys to high vantage points with captivating views. All of these sites are logistically difficult for visitors to reach efficiently. The train and bus schedules are awkward to synchronize, and the narrow and sometimes steep roads require a driver's full-time attention, including awareness of the unwritten code for preventing, and when necessary untangling, awkward passing situations, sometimes necessitating backing down a narrow road in search of a spot wide enough to let the oncoming vehicle inch past. Enter Derek, our guide and driver for the day, whose consummate driving skills enabled us to relax over the tricky bits of the drive in the comfort of Mountain Goat's 16-passenger Mercedes Benz Sprinter van. . Better yet, Derek's commentary was knowledgable, articulate, and entertaining, and we came away with the beginnings of an understanding of the history and current issues in the district. We never felt rushed, and he balanced viewpoint stops, photo ops, a lunch stop, and bathroom breaks well. We're doing another tour with Mountain Goat tomorrow, and would love to come back for more in the shoulder season or even the winter when places like Windermere are less crowded. For people who want to do extended hikes, investing one day in a tour with Mountain Goat might be a good way to identify the areas you'd like to return to on your own by bus, train, or car, and to learn what accommodation is available nearby so you could be out on the trail early without a long drive. We recommend Mountain Goat Tours highly, and look forward to tomorrow's "Ten Lakes Spectacular",