The support point at Wasdale was cause for my first sit down
in a little over 15 hours. I’d deliberately avoided sitting down before now as
I didn’t want to stiffen up, but now it was time to give my ever suffering wife
the opportunity to swap my shoes and clean and regrease my feet – I certainly
know how to treat a lady!
Having chosen the least comfortable looking option, much to
the annoyance of my crew who had laid everything out next to a comfy chair, I
swapped my shoes and socks, had another bowl of corned beef hash and popped
down a couple of ibuprofen. With all my support needs covered, it was onto my
feet and time to leave.
Leaving Wasdale with my entourage of Rich, Nigel, Adnan (who
had supported a paddy the day before), Paul and Ryan, we headed towards the
gate at the foot of Yewbarrow. I’d deliberately tried to avoid looking at this
climb until I got there as it has a reputation for being a brute, but, for
once, the steep face didn’t look too bad. The climb itself was predictably tough,
but Rich’s constant reassurance that it was okay to stop and look at the view
periodically got me through, and soon enough we were at the summit just inside
the generous schedule.
From Yewbarrow, the route descends a short way before
climbing up to Red Pike, and this climb is often described as the worst bit
about Yewbarrow. With sun on my back and good company, progress was reasonable,
and we hit the summit more or less on schedule. Trotting off Red Pike towards
steeple, I noticed that the pain in my hip flexors had lessened and decided to
enjoy it until the drugs wore off.
With slightly looser legs, Steeple was ticked off ahead of
schedule, with the views from the top being truly outstanding looking into
ennerdale. Back along the ridge and on towards Pillar where I enjoyed climbing
for the first time in a good fee hours, and hit the reasonably busy top inside
the schedule.
After a couple of good peaks, and moving well, I allowed my
mind to wander to how doable this now was. As it happens, this was a very bad
move as I had a huge bad patch going up Kirk Fell that caused me to start on
the gels for the first time on the round. 2 gels and some sweets on the climb
dragged me to the top 7 minutes down on this leg, and my mind was soon refocused
on just how much work was still to do.
Another gel and most of a packet of snakes was forced down
on the way to Great Gable, and all that food and a renewed focus on taking one
peak at a time powered me up Great Gable 5 minutes ahead of schedule. After taking
in the majestic views from my favourite Lakeland mountain, we trotted on
towards the remaining peaks on the leg.
Green Gable, Brandreth and Grey Knotts were ticked off more
or less on schedule, and as we descended to Honister, I reflected on how far I’d
come, and how well I’d come through my bad patch on Kirk Fell. As we were more
or less back on schedule at this point, and my legs were feeling a little
better, I couldn’t help but wonder about how quick I might be able to complete
the round from here.
As I descended to the large mob that now passed for my
support crew, I was clear that I was going to have a very fast stop since I
didn’t want to get sucked into gossiping with my entourage. It was time to get
this finished.
Times for interest (scheduled times in brackets)
Yewbarrow 47 (48)
Red Pike 49 (48)
Steeple 18 (21)
Pillar 31 (33)
Kirkfell 55 (48)
Great Gable 40 (45)
Green Gable 17 (18)
Brandreth 16 (17)
Grey Knotts 10 (8)
Honister 13 (13)
Leg Time 4:56 (4:59)
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