The weather forecast had been for heavy rain. As the day dawned however, it had downgraded to drizzle. At Little Town car park when we started it was overcast but dry. The first mile and and a half was a very gentle gradient and a nice way to warm up before tackling the steeper paths. We had a rest after the first pull at a place marked on the map as Brandelhow 338, but some walkers mumbled Kittenbells as they passed us. So Kittenbells it is.
From Kittenbells Andy looked up Catbells and commented that it didn’t look too bad. He and David showed full Terminator status by flying up the path while I went up in slow motion. The views from Catbells are something to behold. Derwentwater was as calm as a mill pond, only disturbed by wakes from a couple of launches.
Unfortunately once we reached Maiden Moor we had climbed into cloud and the views disappeared until we walked down to Dalehead tarn. The way up from there was steep so I decided to take the 100 steps and stop approach. Elaine misinterpreted this slightly and suggested I challenge myself to go more steps each time before stopping. The reality was that 100 steps was already challenging me.
Then further along Littledale edge, back in cloud. The climb up to Robinson doesn’t look too bad on the map but felt very unpleasant on my legs. I saw Andy was stopping on the way up here so I didn’t feel like a complete failure. I had been a little depressing to meet so many smiling OAPs as I grimaced my way along.
It had taken 6 hours to get to Robinson (mostly due to my slow pace up hills), so it was decided to head back along the ridge from Robinson towards Little Town. There were some brief steep rocky sections on the way down which I would call climbing and took me ages to negotiate. David had calming music playing once we got down. I presume to calm him for having to wait so long at the bottom. I had been tempted to throw my rucksack down but just knew it would roll down the hill. I think Andrew sent his walking pole down the quick way.
The final descent off the ridge was down a grassy bank. My brain must have been failing by then because I came straight down rather than zig-zagging, so my legs weren’t happy. Would the benefit of poles then been worth the hassle of carting them round?
I’m still not sure that a couple of pints and a curry were the correct treatment for the leg ache, but on balance it seemed a better bet than an ice bath.
11 miles 7h 30 mins ascent 1084m
I felt so bad about being slow that I worked out the predicted times using the Wotzwot walking time calculator and compared our speeds. (Yes, I should get a life). This gives a predicted time of 7h 23 mins for “fit” walkers excluding breaks so I don’t feel too bad that I was slower than the terminators in the group. I can only think that David, Elaine and Andrew had their weetabix without me knowing.
