How my walking addiction began
A guy at work organised an “easy” walk up Catbells in the
Lake District as part of his Quality Mountain Days for his Mountain Leader training. Having not been to the Lakes for a VERY long
time, I signed up. “A nice stroll in
some lovely scenery” I thought.
Hmmmmffff! I was unfit, overweight and the only walking I did at the
time was a couple of flat miles with my friend and her dogs on an occasional
sunny evening after work.
The day dawned – 8th June 2012 – and about 8 of
us set off at the crack of dawn in the minibus.
I got up Catbells okay (well, I use the term “okay”
loosely!) and we carried on to Maiden Moor.
I was struggling by then and, after hauling myself up steep/craggy
incline after steep/craggy incline, I got stuck at the final climb onto Maiden
Moor. My legs were exhausted and had
turned to jelly. I knew I’d be a danger
to myself and possibly others if I carried on.
We agreed I’d sit and wait for the others in the group to “bag” Maiden
Moor and then they’d come back down for their lunch break. This gave me/my legs enough recovery time for
the walk back – which took us down the Hause Gate path – a challenge in itself –
but at least it was using a different set of leg muscles. I believe the original plan was to get to
High Spy and then drop back down to walk along the shores of Derwent Water.
Weirdly though, even though every bone, muscle, tendon and
eyelash in my body felt as though it had been tortured, I loved it! – I described
it as “exhaustingly exhilarating”.
It gave me the walking bug and, in the back of my mind, I
knew I’d go back and “conquer” it one day.
I think the walk was only about 5 miles – most of it up or
down hill! A far cry from a couple of
miles on the flat – no wonder I ached!
Some pictures from the walk that started it all off for me:
 |
| Me and Moby on the way up |
 |
| Hazel, Moby and Me |
 |
| Lyndsey and Ollie - and finally the summit |
 |
| Looking back down to where the previous pic was taken |
 |
| Looking down the Newlands Valley |
 |
| The sun glinting on Derwent Water |
 |
| ...and again from higher up still |
 |
| Karen and me at the top of Catbells |
 |
| Bull Crag - the rocky bit up onto Maiden Moor (that beat me) |
 |
| Hazel and me having a snack stop |
So there you have it. How to start your hillwalking hobby without even realising!
Thanks for reading ☺
