With an elevation of 1543ft and a little over 6 miles, half that of Helvellyn, Wansfell Pike was our next target.
It was a Saturday, and with all kids being back to school, we looked forward to a quiet, almost deserted, day out. Ha! Yeah right. We were less than 10 minutes out of Ambleside when we heard children ahead. It was a large group of school kids. I wasn’t too phased but AP’s face (he likes a quiet life) oh wow it was a picture. With Kita being her usual sluggish self, going uphill, we found ourselves cat and mousing with said group for about 2 miles. Some of the kids even past us on the steep hillside, damn it! Luckily, they weren’t going to the top, soon regrouped and stopped, phew!
Picking our way uphill, with our newfound peace, when a couple of runners came at us from above. AP quickly clocked they were wearing numbers. Uh oh, a race! Soon another runner then another, all came down the hill as we climbed up. The track wasn’t that wide, so we had to keep still to let them past. I was a bit miffed at first, I had a good tempo going and if I could just keep it going, I was sure I could surge to the top in no time. It was so steep though, my heart beating out my chest, so I treated every stop as a welcome rest then prayed for more runners to ‘rudely’ interrupt my momentum.
Now I thought Cat Bells was steep, but this was endless it went up for what felt like 2 days, ha! It was hot, the sun beating down on us. We had to use trees as shelter to cool and have rests. Poor Kita must have been baking. She seemed happy though and actually tried running up the hillside a couple of times, bless her.
2 hours it took to get to the top. Slow, but hey no need to rush these views.
This hike took 4 and a half hours in total. A great walk, I definitely recommend it.
My recovery? Well, since I crashed out last week, Kita and I decided we’d have a sleep in the van, before food, then heading home. A Pj day on Sunday helped me out too.
Our next walk was pre-planned. Darwen Hill again, only this time from our doorstep. The route is 10 miles, we aimed for distance rather than height this time. It was our quickest pace yet but with a few longer breaks, one obviously in the pub, it took just over 6 hours. A massive but excellent day out. I even didn’t crash over the next few days. Bonus!
2 weeks to go before the big event. I wonder what we squeezed in next.
Keep following for more.
Jacqui x
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40 and Fighting 