I arose in the clear cool air of another bright day and tidied up. It was a steady walk up out of the coll with the constant sharp pain of my blister accompanying every step. It was then downhill more or less all the way to Grasmere, a tiny Lakeland town of small cafes and tourist shops. It took considerably longer than I had hoped – it was quite a boggy route despite the dry weather - but I arrived, made a visit to a camping shop for a compass (I had lost mine somewhere in the previous two days) and then to the CoOp to stock up on water and supplies. I was then about to look for a cafe in which to have breakfast when I was accosted by Allan. He had not made it as far as he had planned yesterday and had spent the night about two miles further on than me. It had been pleasant to spend some time with Allan on the first day but he now seemed to want my company more than I wanted his. In fact I had hoped to be on my own for large stretches of the walk and certainly was not planning to spend extended periods with just one person. Nevertheless, it was hard to dismiss his company at this point and there would be opportunities to take alternative routes later on…..
We shared breakfast in a small but decent café and then headed off. Narrow lanes soon took us out of the village and to more open ground where we hit the open fells and began a steady climb up to Grisedale Tarn. At this point I was planning to once again take the 'high route' which would take me from the tarn and up Helvelyn before looping back to the main path. As a result I would be without Allan who once again was taking the lower route. But much as I wanted the solitude I recognised just how tired I was and that tackling Helvelyn would be hard, maybe dangerous. It has surprised me just how tired I am after just over two days but the combination of the heat, carrying a heavy pack, not sleeping well and not managing to eat properly in the evenings is taking its toll. And of course the blister doesn't help....
Hopefully things will improve as I head out of mountains and into flatter land but for now I am faced with hills and precious little accommodation; it is limited on this route in the Lake District and additionally most is booked. Anyway, nights of wild camping are my preferred option in the early stages of the walk as this allows me to choose my distance for each day. Walkers following the ‘official’ route are faced with few accommodation choices and their location very much dictates your mileage for the day; some days you need to walk long distances while others require a walk of only a few miles.
We walked around the tarn and down the Grisedale valley on the opposite side: long and gently descending, you could see the track following the valley down to Patterdale. It was straightforward but it seemed to go on for quite a while. The book I have of the route says the scenery detracts from the gentle but long descent but I felt too tired now to notice the beauty of the surroundings. I was being overtaken by almost everybody - which is not like me - as I shuffled along feeling like someone well beyond my years.
We followed the track out of Patterdale and up onto the other side of the valley, stopping by a small brook some 500m from Angle Tarn under the shining sun. As I write this I feel too weary to throw myself into the things I need to do; I need to sort out my foot, get out my sleeping bag and sort out something to eat but I find myself just lying in the sun with no enthusiasm to do any of these things. I hope I am not too tired to sleep….
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