Epic Hikes of the World ( PDFDrive )

Tstealing someone’s sandwich. Especially when they have spent the whole
morning toiling through steep hills on foot, to finally sit down on a grassy
hillside in the sun. And double-especially when that sandwich is poised before their
open, expectant mouth. Snap! Jaws come out of nowhere and half the sandwich is
gone.
‘Pepper!’ I yell, startling the other walkers sitting nearby.
To be fair, Pepper didn’t want the whole sandwich – she seems quite happy to
share. Still, sensing that the deed has not been received so well by the woman
holding the remaining half, she does the only sensible thing in the circumstances
and legs it to the lake below, chewing as she runs. After a moment of hesitation, I
cut my losses and follow her.
In case you haven’t guessed, Pepper is my dog. The two of us are on a
pilgrimage. Even though she doesn’t know it, she is named after another dog
called Pepper whose portrait hangs in a cottage on today’s route. That Pepper
belonged to William Wordsworth – poet, walker, guidebook writer and hero of
mine.
We’re in Grasmere in the Lake District, described by Wordsworth as ‘the
loveliest spot that man hath ever found’. And he should know – he founded the
English Romantic movement, changing how we view the natural world and first
defining the reasons why, for so many of us, spending time in nature is so
enriching.
© Joe Daniel Price | Getty