I am really enjoying finding new places to walk at the moment, it's so much better when the weather is compliant! Took a walk around Bourne Wood recently, so many cool things have been filmed there! Gladiator, band of brothers, loads more
The walking thread
- Thread starter bainbridge
- Start date
About 6 months into the Covid lockdowns I realised I needed to do something as I was working from home and not going anywhere so weight was creeping up. I started doing half hour walks at lunchtime and worked my way up to doing about an hour 4 or 5 lunchtimes a week and sometimes then did an hour after work as well. Then on weekends I would generally do 2-3 hours a day. I kept this up for about 3 years and now I do about 45 minutes 3 lunchtimes a week and an hour or 2 on weekends (generally find a supermarket with 3 hour parking, park up, do a walk then a bit of shopping on the saturday, and go somewhere parky or seafronty on most sunday mornings).
Gonna be 50 next year so want to keep on it, but my mile times have dropped from about high 13/ low 14 minutes at my quickest to about 16 minutes now.
Gonna be 50 next year so want to keep on it, but my mile times have dropped from about high 13/ low 14 minutes at my quickest to about 16 minutes now.
Always wanted to walk about Bourne Wood and explore it! Perhaps one day.
When I hit 40 I started doing 5km walks everyday. Hurt my back last year and I've put on 10kg over winter. Slowly trying to get back into it, but it's blinking hardwork, especially in this weather! Hopefully build up some fitness to get me back up climbing some Munros!
Weather was proper lovely today, so went and walked around Oughtonhead Common Nature Reserve on the outskirts of Hitchin.
Not a very long walk - was about 3.2 miles, took us about 1.5-2 hours. Not much elevation, so it was easy. Route included a flower field, a woodland alongside a river and some farmland/fields. Also walked past an old corn mill.
Not a very long walk - was about 3.2 miles, took us about 1.5-2 hours. Not much elevation, so it was easy. Route included a flower field, a woodland alongside a river and some farmland/fields. Also walked past an old corn mill.
Good day people,
I have been hiking for years, been trying to up my game the past couple of years, I normally do between 25 - 30 miles over the weekend with over 1,000m of ascent. So this weekend I did about 16 miles with 930m of ascent on Sunday, and I think I need some Electrolytes supplements for after the hikes are my calves are completely complaining, never really thought about it until recently... do you peoples recommend any powders or whatever, I have no idea to be honest
I have been hiking for years, been trying to up my game the past couple of years, I normally do between 25 - 30 miles over the weekend with over 1,000m of ascent. So this weekend I did about 16 miles with 930m of ascent on Sunday, and I think I need some Electrolytes supplements for after the hikes are my calves are completely complaining, never really thought about it until recently... do you peoples recommend any powders or whatever, I have no idea to be honest
Last edited:
Good day people,
I have been hiking for years, been trying to up my game the past couple of years, I normally do between 25 - 30 miles over the weekend with over 1,000m of ascent. So this weekend I did about 16 miles with 930m of ascent on Sunday, and I think I need some Electrolytes supplements for after the hikes are my calves are completely complaining, never really thought about it until recently... do you peoples recommend any powders or whatever, I have no idea to be honest
Not used one in years. A 'recovery' option is Dioralyte which isn't for that specific purpose but helps rehydrate and restore electrolytes in a hurry. I use it if I get dehydrated and get leg cramps when recovering. I should get some isotonic at some point but I find them majority sugar so send me loopy.
Soldato
- Joined
- 22 Sep 2008
- Posts
- 10,156
- Location
- Burscough
Done some cracking hikes lately. Did Ullock Pike - Long Side - Carl Side - Skiddaw - Skiddaw Little Man - Lonscale Fell - back to Skiddaw then to Bakestall on Friday, 7 Wainwrights taking me to 58/214 and some gorgeous weather! About 22km and 1300 m elevation - the scree slope from Carl Side to Skiddaw was fun!
Last warm up hike for me as on the weekend I'm hiking the Limestone Way - 74 km in total, Castleton to Rocester, over three days, camping two nights and really looking forward to it, just sorting my gear out tonight need to head to Asda tomorrow to pick up my last few supplies.
A few choice blogs from some recent weekends:
1. Fairfield Horseshoe
Early start meant leaving the house at 6am to get to the car park in Ambleside at around half 7 and started the first climb out to Low Pike in glorious sunshine. Going was fairly steady, peaking at the first Wainwright, then onto High Pike which was much more scrambly and steep. At this point i was beginning to have some doubts because it was already fairly icey in parts, and very much poles out walking conditions.
The summit of high pike was a nice one and a steep ascent at the end. Was feeling tired and energyless, but id already climbed about half way. I then bumped into my first fellow hikers, a man and his son, who i had a nice chat with whilst scoffing a bit of soreen.
The next ascent to Dove Crag was fairly easy but towards the end it was again a bit more scrambling to get to the gorgeous summit, it was here where you began to see fairfield and the climb that was to go, but i was now a bit anxious because of the solid ice sheets and snow. It was absolutely treacherous in parts. But i followed in footprints on the other two i saw earlier who went on ahead and there was very sketchy to Hart Crag. It was here when i was literally walking on sheets of ice but thankfully the path was wide, it just meant you couldnt go as close to the edges to take the photos i wanted. Summit to fairfield now and id started to see more hikers who had come from the opposite direction. Took a bunch of photos from the summit, none of which will do it any justice at all and started the descent on much better footpaths (i did the horsehsoe anticlockwise).
I was feeling a wave of relief now that the hard bits were over and still beaming at the view, the horshoe was just incredible. The snow and ice started to abate a little bit more and started to see a lot more people who had started from Grasmere.
Down to Great Rigg and stopped for my lunch besides a secluded cairn and just bathed in the sunshine. I knew it would be fleeting though as rain was forecast later. It actually never came, but i was anxious to get moving again.
Descended for great rigg and took a fork in the road to the right, which took me off the traditional horshoe path and descended a windy hill to stone arthur which was actually really worth the detour. Got a good view out over the langdale pikes, grasmere common and the old man of coniston. This detour cost me though because i then had the gruelling ascent back to the main footpath.
Home stretch now, some more photos looking back at the horseshoe and where id come as well as the winding silver river in the valley, final two Wainwrights passed, heron pike and nab scar, before a final steep ascent down into rydal, which was actually stepped with large stones, but it went on forever and my knees were screaming at the end. Dropped into rydal then a short footpath back to my car in ambleside.
Absolutely amazing hike in stunning conditions. Moments of mild terror on some of the steep rocky icey snow bits, which might have been enough for me yo turn back had i not seen the other two just go for it ahead of me, so i just followed and held my breath for the scary bits! It was well worth it though, 20km, about 1200m ascent, 9 Wainwrights in the bag and the Fairfield horseshoe conquered. I'd never really hiked round that bit of the lakes, so it was really cool to start piecing together the landscape more too.
38/214
2. Langdale low fells in poor weather
Well....what to say about today.
There was an awful lot of type 2 fun had and just a little tiny bit of type 3 fun. That was some of the wildest, wettest, windiest, savage, biblical Wainwright walking i have ever done, or are ever likely to do. Oh my days.
Got there early to the national trust car park at elterwater, tried to scan my membership badge for free parking but it just would not scan so just stuck my membership card on my dash and set off. It wasn't raining at this point.
Headed off towqrd Loughrigg fell, a very popular fell overlooking Ambleside and has goegeous 360 views all round. Its only a small fell, not very high, but it needed me to walk through a lovely arboretum to get to the fenceline and then head upwards. It had now started spitting.
Got to the top of Loughrigg from possibly the steepest approach and was treated to half a view looking out over Langdale (the famous langdale pikes completely in fog and cloud). From the summit i descended south....and into the start of what was to come...
Head wind, driving rain, flooded paths and me getting a bit lost on the way down (loughrigg has a million paths on it). Got soaked at this point but i was finally down and a bit of road walking now to the lovely Black Crag which meant me ascending through a forest to get to the peak. As soon as i got to the cairn though, and popped my head over the other side of the fell, the wind was just savage!!! Driving wind and rain dominated the descent through a flooded sheep field, saw no view from the top but i did glimpse lingmoor fell in a short break.
Walking frrom black crag through to the little hamlet of little langdale was actually quite nice and go about 30 seconds of milky sun before it got covered over and back into full rain and wind. The ascent up lingmoor fell was just WILD. Flooded rocky paths and at one point i cowered in a half built rockwall shelter as i tried to work my phone (which was nigh on impossible when soaking wet and water all over the screen). Decided to abandon a more scenic route and follow the main "path" to the summit, which consisted of rocky footpaths, covered in loose slate, extremely flooded boggy parts where by now my the water was flowing down my shins and filling up my boots. Every part of me was wet and cold now. My fingers doubled in size due to numbness and had a dicey near miss when i slipped on a smooth wet rocky slab. Saw two other hikers trudging slowly up and passed them whilst muttering to them "why is it we do this again?"
Finally got to the summit where there was a big summit but it was just completely inhospitable. The wind and driving rain was wild, like ive never felt before. So, peak reached, i turned back immediately and descended back down to elterwater, not a care in the world for my boots anymore and just plough straight through every bit of bog or puddle as that was the quickest route back to my car.
Immediately stripped off ny waterproof and just shoved it in the boot and just sat in my car for about half an hour with the heaters on max trying to warm up and dry out. Even my phone had temporarily disabled the usb port due to water ingress. Ate some hot cross buns and just about mustered the willpower to drive home. Stuff straight in the washing machine and me straight in the shower. Not for too long though, i was absolutely sick to death of water, so spent a nice long time underneath my hairdryer and now keeping warm in bed.
Type 2 fun, probably. Not entirely sure it was a sensible call today but, definitely one for the grandkids. Lingmoor fell i would like to go back to though on a nice day and explore all the mining bits and other interesting rock forms and shelters, would like to go back to all of them on a nice day actually as Id imagine the views are the best bang for your vertical buck.
41/214
3. Hartsop to High Street
10 more Wainwrights attained on another epic of a day!
Started off VERY grey and overcast with low cloud shrouding the fells and an incredibly intimidating first climb up the steep north nose of Gray Crag. The first part was actually the worst, a very steep grassy slope, where in parts I felt like I had to go on all fours, or at least lean very far forward and just not look anywhere other than where my next footstep was going to be. I'm not going to lie here, was difficult to keep my head. It wasn't too windy as the fell sheltered me from the wind, but it was very steep at first, wet and had cloud whizzing past me all the time. Just kept putting one foot in front of the other, gaining height rather quickly (one of the benefits of the steepness!). Eventually it slackened off and I was on the ridge.
My legs were a little bit jelly at this point so was glad of the grass topped ridge. Couldn't see anything at all sadly as was in the clouds, but thankfully navigating was ok with my Garmin and checking my phone occasionally until I reached Thornthwaite Crag, which on any other day I'd imagine would have been a stunning view, but alas all I have to show for it is a tall cairn in the cloud!
I then turned back north to head down towards High Street, which is the remnants of the old Roman road and it was a lovely part of the walk where I bumped into the first hikers. Still in cloud, I carried on to Kidsty Pike, where I got the sense that the cloud was just starting the break, the wind was whipping over the top of the hill and you could tell that the sun was just itching to come out.
Wandered across to High Raise, where I was now bumping into more and more hikers and the cloud was becoming patchier and I got my first views of the day looking north, towards where I did a hike with Laura in December over at Wether Hill and Steel Knotts, which were now becoming clearer, as was one of the Wainwrights I was to visit later, the Nab.
Descending now via Rampsgill Head and The Knott (Wainwrights 6 and 7 of the day) and was now bumping into more and more people. Some great views from the top of The Knott looking out over Hayeswater, but it was a bit windy so decided to descend slightly to the other side and sit and eat some lunch in the sun.
Descent and then a short, steep ascent up to Rest Dodd which had some fabulous views in all directions and I now saw the walk I would have to take out to The Nab, which is a little strut sticking out northwards with lots of boggy mini-ravines and gulleys which had to be splodged through. Just when I was about to walk across I passed two walkers who were eating lunch and no sooner had I asked "are my boots going to get wet here?" I realised it was Suzi from work! Couldn't really believe it, so stopped and had a little chat before starting the trudge across the bog and nearly falling on my behind into a big wet muddy puddle.
Was beginning to flag now, but was worth the walk to look across to Hallin Fell to the north and the Angletarn Pikes to the west. Was a bit soul destroying retracing my steps and very slowly completed my last ascent before a VERY pleasant and scenic route down to Brock Crags where I got my first good looks across the Hayeswater valley and the beck next to the even more intimidatingly steep Hartsop Dodd and begun to grasp the reality of what I'd just done and exactly how far I'd gone (and high!).
Descending now on a much more pleasurable decline and back to the car. Some stunning views again today, a real shame that the first bit was covered in cloud as I think I missed out a fair bit unfortunately, but there are chances to go back to adjacent cols in the future and catch up. Very proud of myself for overcoming the first climb. Steepness is very much a demon in my mind that I have to battle with. My legs go to jelly and my head starts to go, but it was all worth it in the end.
10 Wainwrights, 20 km, 1200m climbing and a takeaway curry ordered!
51/214
4. Skiddaw
Got there nice and early to nab a good parking spot in the layby at the foot of Ullock Pike. Ascending immediately, but in waves as the ridge rippled upwards. It wasn't that exposed either and it probably took a good hour to get to the top of Ullock Pike and the views were incredible over Bassenthwaite Lake and the Western Fells. Hardly saw a soul going up.
Moved quickly now along to the second Wainwright of the day, Long Side, and to the third, Carl Side. It was from here though that i could see the bit i wasnt looking forward to the whole time....the carl side scree slope which would take me to the summit of Skiddaw.
In all honesty, i looked worse than it was and its one of those things where as soon as you are on it the perspective because of the gradients of the surrounding hills doesnt look as bad.
Thats not to say it wasn't still awful, it was. Gentle at first then a very steep section of slippery shale. The biggest relief of the day was seeing the gradient eventually slacken and took me to the top of Skiddaw.
Well, almost...!
Even though the summit cairn was just 100 m or so away to my left, i actually took a right and started descending down (then up again) to Skiddaw Little Man which gave beautiful panoramas over the northern side of the Lake District with clarity right over to the Scafells and Helvellyn in the distance. I sat and ate my fruit mix in the sun and it was just wonderful.
I took a further detour all the way down to Lonscale fell, where walking up to it i was beginning to question why Id bothered as it never threatened to look impressive and the detour would basically add on a good 6 km or so, with the only reason being that i am a committed Wainwright bagger and therefore took the opportunity to box off all the Wainwrights in this area (which after today leaves me with only 4 of the northern fells to complete).
I was wrong about Lonscale fell though, it gave some wonderful views over the Blencathra massif and over to Keswick and Derwentwater. It was well worth the detour. But what goes down has to go up, as the saying goes, and i started my now heavy legged plod back up the way i came to summit Skiddaw properly.
It was at this point that all the Keswick tourists were starting to hit the trail so the summit was a little busy but i got my photos, had a snack and shoved off again, looking across at where id come from earlier, the beautiful Ullock Pike (hill of the day). I headed north and descended. Clearly the Keswick tourists only go as far as Skiddaw and turn around because i didnt see a soul for miles. Bakestall was surprisingly nice and then more descending until i reached the White Water Dash waterfall and a gorgeous little valley which proved an adage that the best views arent always from the top. Really enjoyed that valley and was actually nicer than the Skiddaw summit!
Winding back through the sheep fields now, a bit of road and back to my car. Tired, but happy.
Probably around 20km, maybe about 1400 m ascent, 7 Wainwrights, 1 ginsters spicey sausage pasty, four mini flapjacks, one fruit mix, one jumbo sausage roll, two hot cross buns and 2.5 litres of water.
For anyone wanting to do Skiddaw, i would highly recommend doing it the way i did it, ascending up ullock pike to carl side and then up the scree slope, much more interesting than the tepid tourist trail from Keswick.
58/214
Last warm up hike for me as on the weekend I'm hiking the Limestone Way - 74 km in total, Castleton to Rocester, over three days, camping two nights and really looking forward to it, just sorting my gear out tonight need to head to Asda tomorrow to pick up my last few supplies.
A few choice blogs from some recent weekends:
1. Fairfield Horseshoe
Early start meant leaving the house at 6am to get to the car park in Ambleside at around half 7 and started the first climb out to Low Pike in glorious sunshine. Going was fairly steady, peaking at the first Wainwright, then onto High Pike which was much more scrambly and steep. At this point i was beginning to have some doubts because it was already fairly icey in parts, and very much poles out walking conditions.
The summit of high pike was a nice one and a steep ascent at the end. Was feeling tired and energyless, but id already climbed about half way. I then bumped into my first fellow hikers, a man and his son, who i had a nice chat with whilst scoffing a bit of soreen.
The next ascent to Dove Crag was fairly easy but towards the end it was again a bit more scrambling to get to the gorgeous summit, it was here where you began to see fairfield and the climb that was to go, but i was now a bit anxious because of the solid ice sheets and snow. It was absolutely treacherous in parts. But i followed in footprints on the other two i saw earlier who went on ahead and there was very sketchy to Hart Crag. It was here when i was literally walking on sheets of ice but thankfully the path was wide, it just meant you couldnt go as close to the edges to take the photos i wanted. Summit to fairfield now and id started to see more hikers who had come from the opposite direction. Took a bunch of photos from the summit, none of which will do it any justice at all and started the descent on much better footpaths (i did the horsehsoe anticlockwise).
I was feeling a wave of relief now that the hard bits were over and still beaming at the view, the horshoe was just incredible. The snow and ice started to abate a little bit more and started to see a lot more people who had started from Grasmere.
Down to Great Rigg and stopped for my lunch besides a secluded cairn and just bathed in the sunshine. I knew it would be fleeting though as rain was forecast later. It actually never came, but i was anxious to get moving again.
Descended for great rigg and took a fork in the road to the right, which took me off the traditional horshoe path and descended a windy hill to stone arthur which was actually really worth the detour. Got a good view out over the langdale pikes, grasmere common and the old man of coniston. This detour cost me though because i then had the gruelling ascent back to the main footpath.
Home stretch now, some more photos looking back at the horseshoe and where id come as well as the winding silver river in the valley, final two Wainwrights passed, heron pike and nab scar, before a final steep ascent down into rydal, which was actually stepped with large stones, but it went on forever and my knees were screaming at the end. Dropped into rydal then a short footpath back to my car in ambleside.
Absolutely amazing hike in stunning conditions. Moments of mild terror on some of the steep rocky icey snow bits, which might have been enough for me yo turn back had i not seen the other two just go for it ahead of me, so i just followed and held my breath for the scary bits! It was well worth it though, 20km, about 1200m ascent, 9 Wainwrights in the bag and the Fairfield horseshoe conquered. I'd never really hiked round that bit of the lakes, so it was really cool to start piecing together the landscape more too.
38/214
2. Langdale low fells in poor weather
Well....what to say about today.
There was an awful lot of type 2 fun had and just a little tiny bit of type 3 fun. That was some of the wildest, wettest, windiest, savage, biblical Wainwright walking i have ever done, or are ever likely to do. Oh my days.
Got there early to the national trust car park at elterwater, tried to scan my membership badge for free parking but it just would not scan so just stuck my membership card on my dash and set off. It wasn't raining at this point.
Headed off towqrd Loughrigg fell, a very popular fell overlooking Ambleside and has goegeous 360 views all round. Its only a small fell, not very high, but it needed me to walk through a lovely arboretum to get to the fenceline and then head upwards. It had now started spitting.
Got to the top of Loughrigg from possibly the steepest approach and was treated to half a view looking out over Langdale (the famous langdale pikes completely in fog and cloud). From the summit i descended south....and into the start of what was to come...
Head wind, driving rain, flooded paths and me getting a bit lost on the way down (loughrigg has a million paths on it). Got soaked at this point but i was finally down and a bit of road walking now to the lovely Black Crag which meant me ascending through a forest to get to the peak. As soon as i got to the cairn though, and popped my head over the other side of the fell, the wind was just savage!!! Driving wind and rain dominated the descent through a flooded sheep field, saw no view from the top but i did glimpse lingmoor fell in a short break.
Walking frrom black crag through to the little hamlet of little langdale was actually quite nice and go about 30 seconds of milky sun before it got covered over and back into full rain and wind. The ascent up lingmoor fell was just WILD. Flooded rocky paths and at one point i cowered in a half built rockwall shelter as i tried to work my phone (which was nigh on impossible when soaking wet and water all over the screen). Decided to abandon a more scenic route and follow the main "path" to the summit, which consisted of rocky footpaths, covered in loose slate, extremely flooded boggy parts where by now my the water was flowing down my shins and filling up my boots. Every part of me was wet and cold now. My fingers doubled in size due to numbness and had a dicey near miss when i slipped on a smooth wet rocky slab. Saw two other hikers trudging slowly up and passed them whilst muttering to them "why is it we do this again?"
Finally got to the summit where there was a big summit but it was just completely inhospitable. The wind and driving rain was wild, like ive never felt before. So, peak reached, i turned back immediately and descended back down to elterwater, not a care in the world for my boots anymore and just plough straight through every bit of bog or puddle as that was the quickest route back to my car.
Immediately stripped off ny waterproof and just shoved it in the boot and just sat in my car for about half an hour with the heaters on max trying to warm up and dry out. Even my phone had temporarily disabled the usb port due to water ingress. Ate some hot cross buns and just about mustered the willpower to drive home. Stuff straight in the washing machine and me straight in the shower. Not for too long though, i was absolutely sick to death of water, so spent a nice long time underneath my hairdryer and now keeping warm in bed.
Type 2 fun, probably. Not entirely sure it was a sensible call today but, definitely one for the grandkids. Lingmoor fell i would like to go back to though on a nice day and explore all the mining bits and other interesting rock forms and shelters, would like to go back to all of them on a nice day actually as Id imagine the views are the best bang for your vertical buck.
41/214
3. Hartsop to High Street
10 more Wainwrights attained on another epic of a day!
Started off VERY grey and overcast with low cloud shrouding the fells and an incredibly intimidating first climb up the steep north nose of Gray Crag. The first part was actually the worst, a very steep grassy slope, where in parts I felt like I had to go on all fours, or at least lean very far forward and just not look anywhere other than where my next footstep was going to be. I'm not going to lie here, was difficult to keep my head. It wasn't too windy as the fell sheltered me from the wind, but it was very steep at first, wet and had cloud whizzing past me all the time. Just kept putting one foot in front of the other, gaining height rather quickly (one of the benefits of the steepness!). Eventually it slackened off and I was on the ridge.
My legs were a little bit jelly at this point so was glad of the grass topped ridge. Couldn't see anything at all sadly as was in the clouds, but thankfully navigating was ok with my Garmin and checking my phone occasionally until I reached Thornthwaite Crag, which on any other day I'd imagine would have been a stunning view, but alas all I have to show for it is a tall cairn in the cloud!
I then turned back north to head down towards High Street, which is the remnants of the old Roman road and it was a lovely part of the walk where I bumped into the first hikers. Still in cloud, I carried on to Kidsty Pike, where I got the sense that the cloud was just starting the break, the wind was whipping over the top of the hill and you could tell that the sun was just itching to come out.
Wandered across to High Raise, where I was now bumping into more and more hikers and the cloud was becoming patchier and I got my first views of the day looking north, towards where I did a hike with Laura in December over at Wether Hill and Steel Knotts, which were now becoming clearer, as was one of the Wainwrights I was to visit later, the Nab.
Descending now via Rampsgill Head and The Knott (Wainwrights 6 and 7 of the day) and was now bumping into more and more people. Some great views from the top of The Knott looking out over Hayeswater, but it was a bit windy so decided to descend slightly to the other side and sit and eat some lunch in the sun.
Descent and then a short, steep ascent up to Rest Dodd which had some fabulous views in all directions and I now saw the walk I would have to take out to The Nab, which is a little strut sticking out northwards with lots of boggy mini-ravines and gulleys which had to be splodged through. Just when I was about to walk across I passed two walkers who were eating lunch and no sooner had I asked "are my boots going to get wet here?" I realised it was Suzi from work! Couldn't really believe it, so stopped and had a little chat before starting the trudge across the bog and nearly falling on my behind into a big wet muddy puddle.
Was beginning to flag now, but was worth the walk to look across to Hallin Fell to the north and the Angletarn Pikes to the west. Was a bit soul destroying retracing my steps and very slowly completed my last ascent before a VERY pleasant and scenic route down to Brock Crags where I got my first good looks across the Hayeswater valley and the beck next to the even more intimidatingly steep Hartsop Dodd and begun to grasp the reality of what I'd just done and exactly how far I'd gone (and high!).
Descending now on a much more pleasurable decline and back to the car. Some stunning views again today, a real shame that the first bit was covered in cloud as I think I missed out a fair bit unfortunately, but there are chances to go back to adjacent cols in the future and catch up. Very proud of myself for overcoming the first climb. Steepness is very much a demon in my mind that I have to battle with. My legs go to jelly and my head starts to go, but it was all worth it in the end.
10 Wainwrights, 20 km, 1200m climbing and a takeaway curry ordered!
51/214
4. Skiddaw
Got there nice and early to nab a good parking spot in the layby at the foot of Ullock Pike. Ascending immediately, but in waves as the ridge rippled upwards. It wasn't that exposed either and it probably took a good hour to get to the top of Ullock Pike and the views were incredible over Bassenthwaite Lake and the Western Fells. Hardly saw a soul going up.
Moved quickly now along to the second Wainwright of the day, Long Side, and to the third, Carl Side. It was from here though that i could see the bit i wasnt looking forward to the whole time....the carl side scree slope which would take me to the summit of Skiddaw.
In all honesty, i looked worse than it was and its one of those things where as soon as you are on it the perspective because of the gradients of the surrounding hills doesnt look as bad.
Thats not to say it wasn't still awful, it was. Gentle at first then a very steep section of slippery shale. The biggest relief of the day was seeing the gradient eventually slacken and took me to the top of Skiddaw.
Well, almost...!
Even though the summit cairn was just 100 m or so away to my left, i actually took a right and started descending down (then up again) to Skiddaw Little Man which gave beautiful panoramas over the northern side of the Lake District with clarity right over to the Scafells and Helvellyn in the distance. I sat and ate my fruit mix in the sun and it was just wonderful.
I took a further detour all the way down to Lonscale fell, where walking up to it i was beginning to question why Id bothered as it never threatened to look impressive and the detour would basically add on a good 6 km or so, with the only reason being that i am a committed Wainwright bagger and therefore took the opportunity to box off all the Wainwrights in this area (which after today leaves me with only 4 of the northern fells to complete).
I was wrong about Lonscale fell though, it gave some wonderful views over the Blencathra massif and over to Keswick and Derwentwater. It was well worth the detour. But what goes down has to go up, as the saying goes, and i started my now heavy legged plod back up the way i came to summit Skiddaw properly.
It was at this point that all the Keswick tourists were starting to hit the trail so the summit was a little busy but i got my photos, had a snack and shoved off again, looking across at where id come from earlier, the beautiful Ullock Pike (hill of the day). I headed north and descended. Clearly the Keswick tourists only go as far as Skiddaw and turn around because i didnt see a soul for miles. Bakestall was surprisingly nice and then more descending until i reached the White Water Dash waterfall and a gorgeous little valley which proved an adage that the best views arent always from the top. Really enjoyed that valley and was actually nicer than the Skiddaw summit!
Winding back through the sheep fields now, a bit of road and back to my car. Tired, but happy.
Probably around 20km, maybe about 1400 m ascent, 7 Wainwrights, 1 ginsters spicey sausage pasty, four mini flapjacks, one fruit mix, one jumbo sausage roll, two hot cross buns and 2.5 litres of water.
For anyone wanting to do Skiddaw, i would highly recommend doing it the way i did it, ascending up ullock pike to carl side and then up the scree slope, much more interesting than the tepid tourist trail from Keswick.
58/214
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@physichull fantastic stuff dude, I've read it all!
I can't believe all of these have been "warm up" hikes though?! That's a hefty one, assuming Castleton in the Peaks. Hope it goes well
Always wanted to climb Lingmoor Fell and just more of the Lake District in general to be honest.
Soldato
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Thank you and yes, Castleton next to Mam Tor. Have raised £450 for the Meningitis Research Foundation too as decided I may as well do it for charity so set up a justgiving page. Worthwhile, in so many ways@physichull fantastic stuff dude, I've read it all!
I can't believe all of these have been "warm up" hikes though?! That's a hefty one, assuming Castleton in the Peaks. Hope it goes well
Always wanted to climb Lingmoor Fell and just more of the Lake District in general to be honest.
Lingmoor fell is definitely a more interesting one and would be nice to go back and explore properly.
Soldato
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Well, my pack is ready and everything is almost packed! Limestone Way 3 day hike commences tomorrow! Been so excited about this for ages!
Soldato
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- 22 Sep 2008
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Second multi-day hike completed and it was….brutal! That was HARD
The Limestone Way – 46 miles (or 72 km) from Castleton to Matlock to Rocester, completed over three days, in aid of the Meningitis Research Foundation (raised nearly £500 which I’m really proud of and a huge thank you to everybody who donated, I’m really grateful).
Day 1:
By far the most scenic of all the days. We met at car park in the middle of Castleton, heaved our heavy packs onto our backs, took a deep breath then optimistically set off through the lovely Cave Dale and past Peveril Castle. This was the first hill which soon settled out into nice rural farmland, through sheep and cow fields and passed sleepy farms with the occasional tractor disturbing the peace. We then passed through the idyllic Hay Dale and Monks Dale, really astonished at some of the beauty that the son had brought out – pastures chocked full of dandelions and buttercups, which made for some beautiful photos. We were starting also to get a bit of a glimpse as to how hard this was going to be though. The trail underfoot was often hard and rocky – it is the Limestone Way after all, but it was particularly tough going on our feet for a lot of the way and this was the start of the pain to come. Even at this early stage, I could feel the start of a blister on my heel.
The day was warm and sunny and I was glad I wore my suncream as we plodded through the sleepy hamlet of Flagg and headed down some roads to the lovely village of Monyash which at the time was hosting a bit of a motorbike rally which had assembled at The Bulls Head pub for no doubt a non-alcoholic drinks break. No rest for us though, as we passed through the grounds of Lathkill Dale Campsite, at which point I heard a man loudly say to his wife “yeah, Limestone Way, 46 miles”, whilst pointing towards us. Yep, that was us!
We then followed the ridgeline of the River Lathkill which was in this small but steep valley until we saw our campsite across the other side of it….Haddon Grove Farm. For us unfortunately, this meant one thing, descending down the rocky path through Lathkill Dale to the river, crossing over a bridge then a steel walk up the rocky path on the other side to get to the plateau which the campsite sat atop of. By this time, we were very tired and glad to finally be able to stop soon, once we’d trudged the whole length of the sprawling campsite to find the reception, pay, then wander all the way back up the fields to find a spot to camp.
I was quite keen to get there sooner rather than later in the day as rain was scheduled for the evening. We set up camp, dozed in the tent for a bit, got our meals sorted then thought about bed. The atmosphere was busy but pleasant with lots of families around and hives of activity with people sorting their tents or their evening meals and starting barbeques. It was a bit short-lived however as it started spitting around 7pm and became non-stop by 8 am all the way through to 5am on Sunday morning, which certainly dampened down spirits across the site. Took me a while to get to sleep though. I was warm and dry and really pleased with my camping kit in that respect, but my feet were just throbbing constantly, and my mind was beginning to worry a bit about the ordeal that was to come tomorrow. 35 km in distance and a big worry of having to do it in constant rain amid downpours.
Day 2:
Apprehension was my mood this morning. Woke early but got sorted in good order and thankfully it had stopped raining. It was damp and soggy but packed everything away, took another deep breath and started the trudge across the damp campsite , descended the hill we did yesterday, then back up the other side of the river valley and rejoined the trail. Couple more farm fields before joining the extremely pleasant banks of the River Bradford to the village of Youlgrave. This was beautiful and probably about as good as it got today for me mentally.
From here on in, it was a long day of farm fields, farm tracks and gates and hills. After taking a bit of a wrong turn, we passed Robin Hood’s Stride (just some cool rocks!), we stopped for lunch on Chadwick Hill looking out over a nice scene and ate our lunch on a conveniently placed wooden bench. I was however feeling a bit panicked and disheartened at this point as I was fully aware that we had only ticked down 10 km before stopping for lunch and hadn’t even made the turn yet at Matlock, where we would then head south west towards our destination for the night in Fenny Bently. It was weighing heavily on my mind that we still had 25 km to go and my feet were now well and truly falling off. My legs were fine and I felt physically fit – it was just my feet had turned mushy and soft and blistered by this point. I’m not really sure why as my boots have been really comfortable on previous hikes and I’ve not had any problems with my socks, so not really sure why now of all times I’d started to get issues with my feet.
Pressing onwards on what was now becoming increasingly painful, we rounded the bend at Bonsall and headed west towards the Longcliffes quarry. We then passed Harboro Rocks which were interesting and the pastures were very beautiful but now it was starting to hit 5pm and we still had a huge distance to cover before we got to the campsite. It was at this point we made the decision to deviate from the Limestone Way a bit, more out of necessity really as the only available campsite was a fair way off the trail at Bank Top Caravan Park near the village of Fenny Bentley. So we took the now unanimous decision that the best course of action was to take the quiet b-roads for about 4-5 miles to Brassington, Bradbourne then Fenny Bentley, if we had any reasonable chance of getting there for around 7pm. Words were now becoming a bit sparse as we both concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other in what seemed like an endless march along the hard road surfaces towards the campsite.
The lady at the reception couldn’t really believe what we’d done when we called in at something past 7pm. Paid our monies then set up our camps. I just about managed the willpower to go for a shower at this point. We’ve all used shower facilities at places like these and know they’re not the easiest places to keep clothes and socks dry at the best of times, but I put my stuff on my stool in the cubicle and peeled my poor socks off my feet to reveal some emaciated soles, that had almost turned completely grey all over, the pain on them now was almost unbearable, I couldn’t have walked another step that day, but that shower was a relief to feel clean again. Got back to my tent, curled up under my quilt and cooked my food in the door of the tent, happily ate my noodles knowing we’d now broken the back of the Limestone Way now, with by far the most difficult of days completed. I fell asleep almost instantly.
Day 3:
Was a little chillier this morning but was still very warm in my tent last night (and it didn’t rain overnight which meant packing the tent away was a bit easier) and boiled up a hot chocolate which I promptly burnt my tongue on. I’m not generally a hot drinker, so I really have no concept as to when hot drinks are too hot to drink! Other than that, I felt a lot of relief about having gotten yesterday over with and how today would just be a gentle roll to the finish. Boy was I wrong.
We packed up our gear and set off at about 9am, with my feet feeling a little bit better than they were yesterday and we took a path over from Fenny Bentley to Thorpe village (with murky views of the Thorpe Cloud not too far in the distance – a little hill which I went up about a year ago with the MAD Walkers). Instead we cut left and went through some lovely village paths and struggled immensely to fit ourselves and our backpacks through some of the field “gates”, often having to actually climb the fence adjacent just to avoid taking off our backpacks, which was not ideal for the fence or for us! Through a few sheep fields, making our first of what was to be many encounters with the River Dove, and then up and down some rolling hills through yet more sheepfields.
It hadn’t taken long, perhaps only 3km to realise that my feet were now in an even worse state again than they were yesterday and my pace dropped to almost a crawl. Each footstep taken was like walking on hot coals and the worst feeling was those uneven footpaths or lumpy fields where the ground has been churned up by farm traffic….if it twists you foot one way or another it felt like it was ripping the skin off your feet as both my heels and toes felt like they were sitting on big mushy blisters. And it went on like that, for what seemed like an eternity. The more I checked my Garmin, the slower I seemed to go and the slower those miles seemed to get ticked off and the more and more demoralised. Laura was clearly in much better shape than me and I started to fall behind quite often.
We stopped for lunch at a farm gate between sheep fields, it was muddy and wet but there weren’t really many other options as lots of the fields had really long wet long grass and weren’t really able to sit down in them. Gobbled up every bit of food left in my backpack, begrudgingly put my backpack back on, checked the Garmin to see about 8.5 km to go and limped on.
Joined the River Dove for a bit again and just collapsed in a layby off the road just on the outskirts of Rocester waiting for our lift. I was a bit lost for words to be honest, I think we both were. We were just relieved to be able to stop. We could barely open farm gates anymore or lift our backpacks into the car boot. I gave Laura her present of the Limestone Way patch which hopefully she will proudly sew onto her backpack, got in the car, drove back to Castleton, picked up my car then drove home.
Could barely get out of the car and limped to my front door, dumped all the stuff in the lounge for Erin of the Future to deal with, went upstairs, got a shower, looked at my feet, felt a bit aghast at how swollen they were, put some socks on, munched some ibuprofen and ordered a takeaway pizza which I ate in bed until I fell asleep.
In conclusion, that was much, much harder than I thought it would be. My Lake District walking paid off with respect to the fact that my legs and knees are absolutely fine today – all the mountain climbing has really paid off – but my feet were the limiting factor this time around and they were just so painful to walk on in the end. It became more about a battle to defeat the agonising pain in my feet with each step, which I found frustrating as my legs were absolutely fine with the effort! The route was interesting, but became a bit overshadowed by the first day as in all honesty it turned into a little bit of an ordeal than anything enjoyable. The scenery was OK, and the Peak District is beautiful in its own way, but I think my heart is always in the Lake District – its more rugged mountainous terrain possibly suits me a little bit better – I think I found out that my fitness and strength is good for mountains but not good for long trudging weight laden hikes.
It’s not going to stop me from wanting the third “-stone” in the trilogy though. I completed the Sandstone Trail last year, Limestone Way this week, and hopefully can complete the 2-day Gritstone Trail this summer (mercifully much more akin to the Sandstone Trail in terms of length and physical challenge).
Huge thank you to Laura for accompanying me on the trek, your company was a pleasure as always and you were much more positive about the bleak situations than I was at times!
Some key stats from the walk: 46 miles (72 km), 3 days walking split into ~25 km, ~35 km and ~15 km, plus a bit more in between getting to our campsites which required detours off the trail, 4 Soreen bars, 4 snickers bars, two fruit salad boxes, 2 Uncle Bens noodles packs, 4 pasties, 6 hot cross buns, a few dozen blisters, two fresh legs and two destroyed feet, 572 little lambs spotted, chased by one herd of cows, but most importantly £500 raised for the Meningitis Research Foundation.
The Limestone Way – 46 miles (or 72 km) from Castleton to Matlock to Rocester, completed over three days, in aid of the Meningitis Research Foundation (raised nearly £500 which I’m really proud of and a huge thank you to everybody who donated, I’m really grateful).
Day 1:
By far the most scenic of all the days. We met at car park in the middle of Castleton, heaved our heavy packs onto our backs, took a deep breath then optimistically set off through the lovely Cave Dale and past Peveril Castle. This was the first hill which soon settled out into nice rural farmland, through sheep and cow fields and passed sleepy farms with the occasional tractor disturbing the peace. We then passed through the idyllic Hay Dale and Monks Dale, really astonished at some of the beauty that the son had brought out – pastures chocked full of dandelions and buttercups, which made for some beautiful photos. We were starting also to get a bit of a glimpse as to how hard this was going to be though. The trail underfoot was often hard and rocky – it is the Limestone Way after all, but it was particularly tough going on our feet for a lot of the way and this was the start of the pain to come. Even at this early stage, I could feel the start of a blister on my heel.
The day was warm and sunny and I was glad I wore my suncream as we plodded through the sleepy hamlet of Flagg and headed down some roads to the lovely village of Monyash which at the time was hosting a bit of a motorbike rally which had assembled at The Bulls Head pub for no doubt a non-alcoholic drinks break. No rest for us though, as we passed through the grounds of Lathkill Dale Campsite, at which point I heard a man loudly say to his wife “yeah, Limestone Way, 46 miles”, whilst pointing towards us. Yep, that was us!
We then followed the ridgeline of the River Lathkill which was in this small but steep valley until we saw our campsite across the other side of it….Haddon Grove Farm. For us unfortunately, this meant one thing, descending down the rocky path through Lathkill Dale to the river, crossing over a bridge then a steel walk up the rocky path on the other side to get to the plateau which the campsite sat atop of. By this time, we were very tired and glad to finally be able to stop soon, once we’d trudged the whole length of the sprawling campsite to find the reception, pay, then wander all the way back up the fields to find a spot to camp.
I was quite keen to get there sooner rather than later in the day as rain was scheduled for the evening. We set up camp, dozed in the tent for a bit, got our meals sorted then thought about bed. The atmosphere was busy but pleasant with lots of families around and hives of activity with people sorting their tents or their evening meals and starting barbeques. It was a bit short-lived however as it started spitting around 7pm and became non-stop by 8 am all the way through to 5am on Sunday morning, which certainly dampened down spirits across the site. Took me a while to get to sleep though. I was warm and dry and really pleased with my camping kit in that respect, but my feet were just throbbing constantly, and my mind was beginning to worry a bit about the ordeal that was to come tomorrow. 35 km in distance and a big worry of having to do it in constant rain amid downpours.
Day 2:
Apprehension was my mood this morning. Woke early but got sorted in good order and thankfully it had stopped raining. It was damp and soggy but packed everything away, took another deep breath and started the trudge across the damp campsite , descended the hill we did yesterday, then back up the other side of the river valley and rejoined the trail. Couple more farm fields before joining the extremely pleasant banks of the River Bradford to the village of Youlgrave. This was beautiful and probably about as good as it got today for me mentally.
From here on in, it was a long day of farm fields, farm tracks and gates and hills. After taking a bit of a wrong turn, we passed Robin Hood’s Stride (just some cool rocks!), we stopped for lunch on Chadwick Hill looking out over a nice scene and ate our lunch on a conveniently placed wooden bench. I was however feeling a bit panicked and disheartened at this point as I was fully aware that we had only ticked down 10 km before stopping for lunch and hadn’t even made the turn yet at Matlock, where we would then head south west towards our destination for the night in Fenny Bently. It was weighing heavily on my mind that we still had 25 km to go and my feet were now well and truly falling off. My legs were fine and I felt physically fit – it was just my feet had turned mushy and soft and blistered by this point. I’m not really sure why as my boots have been really comfortable on previous hikes and I’ve not had any problems with my socks, so not really sure why now of all times I’d started to get issues with my feet.
Pressing onwards on what was now becoming increasingly painful, we rounded the bend at Bonsall and headed west towards the Longcliffes quarry. We then passed Harboro Rocks which were interesting and the pastures were very beautiful but now it was starting to hit 5pm and we still had a huge distance to cover before we got to the campsite. It was at this point we made the decision to deviate from the Limestone Way a bit, more out of necessity really as the only available campsite was a fair way off the trail at Bank Top Caravan Park near the village of Fenny Bentley. So we took the now unanimous decision that the best course of action was to take the quiet b-roads for about 4-5 miles to Brassington, Bradbourne then Fenny Bentley, if we had any reasonable chance of getting there for around 7pm. Words were now becoming a bit sparse as we both concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other in what seemed like an endless march along the hard road surfaces towards the campsite.
The lady at the reception couldn’t really believe what we’d done when we called in at something past 7pm. Paid our monies then set up our camps. I just about managed the willpower to go for a shower at this point. We’ve all used shower facilities at places like these and know they’re not the easiest places to keep clothes and socks dry at the best of times, but I put my stuff on my stool in the cubicle and peeled my poor socks off my feet to reveal some emaciated soles, that had almost turned completely grey all over, the pain on them now was almost unbearable, I couldn’t have walked another step that day, but that shower was a relief to feel clean again. Got back to my tent, curled up under my quilt and cooked my food in the door of the tent, happily ate my noodles knowing we’d now broken the back of the Limestone Way now, with by far the most difficult of days completed. I fell asleep almost instantly.
Day 3:
Was a little chillier this morning but was still very warm in my tent last night (and it didn’t rain overnight which meant packing the tent away was a bit easier) and boiled up a hot chocolate which I promptly burnt my tongue on. I’m not generally a hot drinker, so I really have no concept as to when hot drinks are too hot to drink! Other than that, I felt a lot of relief about having gotten yesterday over with and how today would just be a gentle roll to the finish. Boy was I wrong.
We packed up our gear and set off at about 9am, with my feet feeling a little bit better than they were yesterday and we took a path over from Fenny Bentley to Thorpe village (with murky views of the Thorpe Cloud not too far in the distance – a little hill which I went up about a year ago with the MAD Walkers). Instead we cut left and went through some lovely village paths and struggled immensely to fit ourselves and our backpacks through some of the field “gates”, often having to actually climb the fence adjacent just to avoid taking off our backpacks, which was not ideal for the fence or for us! Through a few sheep fields, making our first of what was to be many encounters with the River Dove, and then up and down some rolling hills through yet more sheepfields.
It hadn’t taken long, perhaps only 3km to realise that my feet were now in an even worse state again than they were yesterday and my pace dropped to almost a crawl. Each footstep taken was like walking on hot coals and the worst feeling was those uneven footpaths or lumpy fields where the ground has been churned up by farm traffic….if it twists you foot one way or another it felt like it was ripping the skin off your feet as both my heels and toes felt like they were sitting on big mushy blisters. And it went on like that, for what seemed like an eternity. The more I checked my Garmin, the slower I seemed to go and the slower those miles seemed to get ticked off and the more and more demoralised. Laura was clearly in much better shape than me and I started to fall behind quite often.
We stopped for lunch at a farm gate between sheep fields, it was muddy and wet but there weren’t really many other options as lots of the fields had really long wet long grass and weren’t really able to sit down in them. Gobbled up every bit of food left in my backpack, begrudgingly put my backpack back on, checked the Garmin to see about 8.5 km to go and limped on.
Joined the River Dove for a bit again and just collapsed in a layby off the road just on the outskirts of Rocester waiting for our lift. I was a bit lost for words to be honest, I think we both were. We were just relieved to be able to stop. We could barely open farm gates anymore or lift our backpacks into the car boot. I gave Laura her present of the Limestone Way patch which hopefully she will proudly sew onto her backpack, got in the car, drove back to Castleton, picked up my car then drove home.
Could barely get out of the car and limped to my front door, dumped all the stuff in the lounge for Erin of the Future to deal with, went upstairs, got a shower, looked at my feet, felt a bit aghast at how swollen they were, put some socks on, munched some ibuprofen and ordered a takeaway pizza which I ate in bed until I fell asleep.
In conclusion, that was much, much harder than I thought it would be. My Lake District walking paid off with respect to the fact that my legs and knees are absolutely fine today – all the mountain climbing has really paid off – but my feet were the limiting factor this time around and they were just so painful to walk on in the end. It became more about a battle to defeat the agonising pain in my feet with each step, which I found frustrating as my legs were absolutely fine with the effort! The route was interesting, but became a bit overshadowed by the first day as in all honesty it turned into a little bit of an ordeal than anything enjoyable. The scenery was OK, and the Peak District is beautiful in its own way, but I think my heart is always in the Lake District – its more rugged mountainous terrain possibly suits me a little bit better – I think I found out that my fitness and strength is good for mountains but not good for long trudging weight laden hikes.
It’s not going to stop me from wanting the third “-stone” in the trilogy though. I completed the Sandstone Trail last year, Limestone Way this week, and hopefully can complete the 2-day Gritstone Trail this summer (mercifully much more akin to the Sandstone Trail in terms of length and physical challenge).
Huge thank you to Laura for accompanying me on the trek, your company was a pleasure as always and you were much more positive about the bleak situations than I was at times!
Some key stats from the walk: 46 miles (72 km), 3 days walking split into ~25 km, ~35 km and ~15 km, plus a bit more in between getting to our campsites which required detours off the trail, 4 Soreen bars, 4 snickers bars, two fruit salad boxes, 2 Uncle Bens noodles packs, 4 pasties, 6 hot cross buns, a few dozen blisters, two fresh legs and two destroyed feet, 572 little lambs spotted, chased by one herd of cows, but most importantly £500 raised for the Meningitis Research Foundation.
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