Breakfast was perfect, as was the weather. Talking with the other guests we learnt that both were staying a few days and had stayed here several time before, in fact for one couple it was their honeymoon. First Class. We will come back here, with the car.
This was the big one, the climb over Stake Pass, my concerns were for Mrs G’s foot which had been hurting over the previous days, the length of the climb and the difficult decent. It is well documented that people who drop out of long distance walks do so on the third day. I knew that both the climb and descent were in Mrs G’s capability but I was unsure her foot and general tiredness would stop her, I guess she felt the same.
So apprehensively we stepped out along the Byway from Robinson Farm to Sticklebarn Tavern and the Old Dungeon Gill, meeting these cows and sheep on the way.
The sky was clear blue, the wind was light, and we were surrounded by grey rocky giants, we saw almost no one as we walked along Mickleden. We stopped to sort out the circle of tops, Pike of Stickle, Harrison Stickle, a glimpse of Pavey Ark, Lingmoor Fell , Pike of Blisco, Cringle Crags and Bowfell and others not identifiable by me, were there, intimidating but also comforting with memories of past walks. Did we go up there, come down here, wasn’t that when…… even Julia Bradbury got a mention.
Those of you who know the area will know that Mrs G should not be on that bridge, she’s going the wrong way, makes a good photo though.
The walk up Stake Pass was steady it is well paved and graded, the 1000 feet of climb was taken at a plod, with frequent short rests, never letting her get too out of breath but keeping a momentum going. As I guess as most first timers do, Mrs G expected a picture book pass, with steep slopes up both sides and a view down in front and rear. It always seems to me to be a bit of a maze as you wiggle around the mounds carved by the glaciers, or perhaps shaped by the wind and rain.
When we stopped for lunch, admiring the empty hillscape around us I noted thato my thermometer it was showing 21C in the sun, some 500m above sea level. As we sat every few minutes we’d spot a walker they’d disappear and another one would pop elsewhere and so it went on all over the place.
Eventually we started down and I quickly saw that the path had been much improved since last time and a little lower we met with the Fix the Fells men and women working and resting in the sun. They were in good humour and much banter has had, especially when I let out that I was a civil engineer, someone swiftly passed me a shovel. These guys are heroes see their web site FTF. As we went on down the father, daughter and boyfriend we had met at Beacon Tarn came past, we said we’d meet them at the Langstrath Inn.(Unfortunately we had to miss out on that as we were late for the bus).
Reaching the valley floor we had a rest and a drink. Mrs G’s foot was sore and was made worse by the rocky path along Langstrath and there was some gnashing of teeth and a bit of dolly swinging. Things got better once we turn north towards Stonethwaite and walked through the camp site on to the road and into Rosthwaite, with only ten minutes to spare before the Keswick bus arrived. We had planned to visit the Flock In tearooms but dared not miss the bus. We’d try tomorrow.
After moving the car nearer to the B&B car and bringing in the suitcase we had left in it, we showered and changed and went out on the town for a meal feeling, knackered, footsore and generally very quiet, but by god the beer went down well.
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