I am sitting at the head of a valley with a 3 mile descent to Grasmere trying to decide whether to spend the night here or press on just a little further. It has been a hard day and the valley head is winning over...But given that the sun is shining, the sky is blue and I am in a bowl of green grass with only the sound of burns, birds and the breeze for company I think moving from this idyllic spot would be just silly.
Yesterday I had a much needed good night's sleep despite there being six men in the same room. The day started with a hearty breakfast and I headed off along the forest track with my companion from yesterday, Allan - well I did for the first 300 yards. At this point Allan continued along the forest track while I speared off to the left, directly up the hill to take the alternative 'high route'. It was a steep climb but after a good night's sleep and being properly fed and watered I got to the top without too much difficulty but with a sodden t-shirt from my exertions.
I was treated to a great ridge walk in clear weather over Red Pike, High Stile, High Crag and Haystacks, all well-known features on the ridge (when you can see them!) but it was a bit 'up and down'. I was ok with the up but some of the down sections were very steep and were hard on my legs. On top of that a blister I had developed was beginning to smart and I was feeling some heat on the rear of the other ankle too. I know I was slower than I wanted to be and I am clearly not the mountain goat I once was…
I made it across the tops to the slate mine museum at Honiston where there is a cafe which had a mug of tea with my name on it. It is the nature of hill walking that people actually talk to each other, find out destinations, ask what each person is up to. Through a couple who I spoke to I knew that Allan had been in the cafe 2 hours previously; they had spoken to him there. I had my tea and a bite to eat and chatted with another couple I had bumped into yesterday then pressed on down Honiston pass and through a couple of villages before taking a path upwards into the Greenup valley. It was now late in the day and I was weary, not as bad as yesterday but it was still a slow slog up to the head. My legs are not too bad and my feet, though aching and smarting a bit, still have a few miles in them. It is my whole body that seems to lack energy and I find myself looking only a few yards ahead while walking. In part I think the heat – the skies are clear blue and the sun is beating down – has worn me out, but the blister I have developed is not helping either. Whatever, I feel unusually tired for the miles I have walked.
So here I am, looking to spend a night under the stars before an early start tomorrow and breakfast in Grasmere followed by heading up Helvelyn and on to Patterdale.
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