Date: Saturday 21st August
Distance: 13.2 miles.
Team: Allen, Kirsty, Martin, Liz, Lynne (Liz’s sister) and Me
Allen Morris rating: 6 – due to lack of snow
Weather forecast: cloudy, 17°C.
Weather actual: baking hot, sunny and odd shower
Calories burned: 3700
Time Taken:
We set off from Crewe at 8am. I was all set. I’d checked the forecast and due to the fact it tipped it down during my journey up from Brum that morning, I decided to leave the suntan lotion behind.
The drive to the start (base of Jacobs ladder plus a few miles) was good, though now there are average speed cameras along the stretch near the Cat & Fiddle, which prompted hours of discussions about how to beat them.
Parked up and set off.
At the start I felt OK. The legs were working. I’m still the slowest in the group, but I do feel I’m improving slightly. This route was to be the same as the last time we did it, but last time the conditions were icy and snowy. I was hoping to beat the time taken.
About 3 miles in (top of Jacobs ladder) I had to take the bottom of my trousers off. I was sweltering. I was only wearing a t shirt on top, and now I was in shorts I felt a bit better, but it was very stuffy hot. I just had to keep an eye on the skin colour.
We set off again and made good progress. I was struggling with my knee on longer downhill bits. I found the downhill bit to the bottom of the reservoir quite painful.
I had jarred my knee coming down Ben Nevis, but the next day my knee had been fine, so I just assumed it was all healed and I wouldn’t have the issue again. Clearly I was wrong.
I bent down to stretch it out and fell backwards into the poo. Not good. It did amuse Kirsty though.
We had on the previous Kinder Scout trek stopped at the bottom of the reservoir for lunch. We were making good time today so we kept on going up the path around the reservoir noting how low it looked.
We climbed up the muddy path following the stream and past the skeleton of the sheep (that we think was the carcass we saw last time) and found a ledge of grass overlooking the path for lunch.
Liz and Lynne were on the Red Bull.
It started to drizzle as we finished lunch which was good timing, so we just put on the jackets and set off again. It soon stopped and the sun came out. My skin wasn’t hot so I thought I was OK sunburn wise.
My knee hadn’t hurt for a while as it was mostly up or flat and any down bits were short. My hands were sore from the poles though. I do grip hold more tightly than required.
The last 4 miles coming down towards Jacobs ladder were tough. Partly due to my knee hurting, but I was also so very hot. It wasn’t as bad as Ben Nevis, but the down hill bits weren’t as constant as Ben Nevis.
Walking back down the paths past the farm I really slowed down again. I was just knackered. Knee was just aching a bit, but soles of feet hurt as well.
The rain started coming in and we had been very lucky with the weather considering the forecast.
Back at the car I noticed my skin colour had changed slightly. I was now looking a bit pink on my arms. I wasn’t sure if I was pink because I was hot or whether I’d caught the sun.
The drive home was interesting as I then noticed the backs of my legs heating up. I had clearly defined marks around my watchstrap. The back of my neck was throbbing. By the time we got back to Crewe, I was bright red. Not good.
3 days later of aloe vera application and it’s now bearable. I was now wondering what to wear for the next day’s walking.
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