A test or two

After my disappointing loss of nerve on Blencathra last weekend it was clear to me that a big effort would be required to restore confidence for tackling the rougher steeper lakeland slopes. The reccee of the BGR leg four scheduled for Saturday would be good practise and a test.

Andrew and I met Linda and Geoff at Honister. It was a lovely sunny morning, and marked the start of the sun cream and ice cream season for me! We set off at a steady pace climbing over to Great Gable, skirting round it and dropping down into Wasdale on Moses Trod (Leg four starts in Wasdale and ends at Honister Pass).

Moses Trod was the first (and unexpected) challenge for me. It was narrow, steep, clung to the side of the mountain with a drop off to the side and was covered in loose gravel and rock fragments. I struggled down it as best as I could manage at the head of the group, trying to take Linda's advice and trust my studs but quietly grateful that the trod wasn't a feature of the round. Mayhem seemed to break loose just as I was approaching a walker who had stopped to one side making room for us to pass. All I remember is seeing a look of horror on his face, hearing a warning, and noise from behind that sounded like Linda must have tripped and be falling; I expected to be catapulted off the mountain by an impact from behind. I took a step sideways to try and escape whatever calamity was occurring behind me but as I did so I was hit on the ankle bone by a falling piece of rock. It turned out that I'd dislodged some loose rock and gravel causing a mini (very mini) avalanche to start. Linda had tried to kick or step on the piece of rock to save me but it had evaded her attempt, took a curve and headed straight for me. The rest of the descent was taken on extra wobbly legs with one stop for a bit of cringing as the pain hit me, feeling similar in scale to a badly stubbed toe post marathon. As a precaution to stop any swelling I took some ibuprofen and made use of a stream for icing. The pain quickly subsided to a dull ache and I was ready to proceed with the recce.

The rest of the day went smoothly enough and although I was slower than the others on the more exposed steep ground I was able to make good progress. In an odd sort of way I think the incident in the morning helped me; I'd had a scare and nothing terrible had happened. I felt strong and confident on the ascents. Great Gable and Steeple are probably the most exposed sections and these passed without fuss.

Andrew and I paid our respects to the Dog n Gun and Lakeland Spice in the evening. I was mentally and physically tired and needed an early night. I fell into a deep untroubled sleep.

To be continued....! Leg 2 on Sunday.

I've been through a busy spell and have had to let my blog take a back seat for a while. I'll recap Sunday's run as best I can from my poor memory!

Andrew and I had planned to recce the second half of the BGR leg two as an out and back from Dunmail. The weather was good; sunny and hot, as I recall applying plenty of sun cream. We took a line straight up Dollywagon Pike across grassland and a large boggy area, which was heavy going but we found a good fast flowing spring to dip water from which refreshed us nicely.

Along the way we met some lads with mountain bikes. How anyone can cycle over the terrain with steep technical ascents and descents and enjoy it, I'll never know. We sat down and watched them descend off one of the peaks, I forget which, we'd run down it but it looked pretty suicidal for a bike to me!

My strongest memories of the day are the route from the summit of Dollywagon Pike, via Fairfield, Seat Sandal and back down to Dunmail. This section offers some significant descents and climbs in a concentrated area and Andrew and I attacked it with enthusiasm. We raced up Fairfield, Andrew taking the tourist track, me taking a more direct but steeper line to see which was the quickest. The direct line came out tops and we made use of it on the descent too.

We took a line off the side of Seat Sandall far too early and dropped down on very steep grass, leaving us with a stony and not very pleasant track to finish the descent on; oops!

Ducklings Dog n Gun

It feels as though my training hasn't been going at all well lately with the weekday plans frequently being disrupted, but when I look at my mileage and climb summary I can see that I'm getting along just fine regardless. This week has been much the same. I took Friday off work, headed northwards on Thursday evening, and missed the weekend traffic for a change.

Andrew left early for work on Friday, but despite the lack of his company it was a relief to wake up and find myself in Yorkshire with a day of relaxation to enjoy. Knowing me well, he'd saved up some bread for duck feeding; I was off to the pond as soon as the rain stopped. Numbers were still down with only eight male ducks, no females, and no sign of my cheeky favourite last seen with a limp. I'm a terrible shot and it was a bit windy so I had some difficulty getting the bread in the pond; the ducks had more exercise than normal!

Bread dispensed, I was heading towards the village centre for a bit of retail therapy when I encountered Mrs Mallard complete with fourteen tiny ducklings in the stream that runs below the pond. She brought them right up to meet me chatting loudly as she came. I felt terrible; no bread left to give her. Of course I did rush home for more bread and my camera but I couldn't find her when I returned.

We'd booked a B&B (one I'd recommend; the hospitality was unbeatable http://www.dollywaggon.co.uk/index.html)and had arranged to meet fellow fell runners for a weekend of BGR recces and socialising. The weather forecast was wet and windy so I packed plenty of warm layers.

When we stay in Keswick it always feels like a holiday however brief and the visit wouldn't be complete without a meal in Lakeland Spice and a drink or two in the Dog n Gun. The chip shop opposite the Moot Hall is also becoming a bit of a regular.

A week has gone by and I haven't found time to complete this post; the weekend has lost it's freshness, I hope I can still do it justice here.

Saturday was spent with friends old and new checking out leg one. This leg starts in Keswick and ends in Threlkeld, we parked at Threlkeld and ran to Keswick to start the route. The ground was wet and boggy from an over night downpour which made the going tough at times. We made a chain to cross the river as the water level was high; to the top of my thighs, eek it was a smidge chilly!

We split up at the top of Blencathra, there are at least three route choices down. I made a cautious attempt at the parachute route but this seemed to be slow going for me and we were last down, so I made the decision to climb back up and test the Doddick descent. Auld Ken (madly) agreed to escort me but knew the Halls Fell route best; Halls Fell it was then.

Try and picture the scene, me happily ascending on tiring legs chatting away to Auld Ken, we get near the top and reach a bit of rock, Ken skips over it, I scramble nervously round it, we reach a larger rock, Ken again skips over it and I climb bravely up it, to be met face to face as I pulled myself up with a sheer drop; ok it was only about 5 feet down but it took me by surprise and caused me to retreat back down the rock in a hurry. Apparently the look on my face was priceless!

From then on it was a battle of will to complete the ascent finding every piece of grass there was, never mind how steep, with the occasional pause to gather my nerves and steady my shaking knees. Auld Ken had the patience of a saint, helped me choose routes I could stomach and seemed to find nothing unreasonable about my reaction. There was a moment when we'd had a discussion about how we'd get back down (he would have had to blindfold me and drag me back down Fools Hell, I mean Halls Fell) when we'd looked across at Doddick, seen how steep and exposed the upper section was, I suggested the only option might have to be to return down the parachute....that would be the parachute that most normal folks would consider too steep to attempt!

We did eventually reach the top of Blencathra and went to inspect the start of Doddick. I'd pulled myself together and decided it didn't look so bad; the decision was made. Doddick wasn't nice but it wasn't terrible. I timed it and will have to return and repeat the parachute in the hope that I can manage it much quicker, it really did seem the least unpleasant choice to me. I'm very glad it's near the beginning of the round when I'll still be reasonably fresh and it'll be too dark for me to see how far down everything is!

After such an eventful end to the run there was plenty to talk about in the Dog n Gun later, and a curry washed down with Bacardi and Coke in the good company of friends seemed a suitable reward for my survival!

Sunday was a slightly tamer affair checking out leg 5, with just a bit of scrambling coming down off Robinson. Again we ran with friends and the good weather we'd been treated to on Saturday held out giving us another thoroughly enjoyable day. We ran to Honister via Catbells and returned along the bgr route, starting and finishing at the Moot Hall. The next time I touch that door I should be setting off on my round, yikes!