This morning we woke up to heavy dew and blazing sunshine. Aidan however wasn’t feeling too good – the old complaint – his stomach – was kicking up again. He went down to Grasmere to see if he could get anything but the nearest chemist was in Ambleside. So he decided to get out and cut his losses rather than risk going on. We were sorry to see him go and sorrier for poor Aidan whose holiday had been ruined.
Thus our start was delayed by an hour or so. We headed of in fairly low spirits. It was a hot day and this made the packs seem even heavier. We had a fairly steep climb up to a pass 1,250 ft high and then lunch on top overlooking the very green and very beautiful Langdale Valley. We descended into the valley at a fairly rapid pace. Then we had to walk for about 2½ miles along the road. It was so hot and still, the packs just stuck to our backs.
Eventually we made it to the end of the valley and looked ahead – a climb of 1,500 ft to a pass of 1,700 ft. The climb was steep and the sun was still hot. But the scenery is magnificent – Hell Gill, Crinkle Crags, Bow Fell all on our right and the Langdale Valley on our left. A sandwich perched on the side of the slope helps revive aching shoulders and legs. Finally we reach the top – Red Tarn – a bit marshy as we lose the path. But we decide to take a short cut over land and so avoid the top of Wrynose Pass. Then a long walk down the road to the Youth Hostel at Duddon, There after settling in, a great big plate of spaghetti a la Martin was devoured by all. After that we took a brief walk down ti where Martin and Aidan had diverted the river last year – the remains of the great feat of engineering could just about be seen, most of it having been washed away by the winter floods.
Then to bed, all exhausted after 11 miles walking that day
No comments:
Post a Comment