A Fractured Ankle

This section of the Coast to Coast was probably the one part which I was looking forward to most. Grasmere and the surrounding area is in the heart of Lakeland and I was anticipating a nice relaxing two days of walking through from Rosthwaite to Patterdale (with an overnight stop-off in Grasmere).

We set off from Rosthwaite yesterday (Monday) at about 9.10am and the rain had cleared. As we headed along the track to Stonethwaite the sun even made an appearance to such an extent that the trousers were converted into shorts and the chicken legs made a welcome appearance. We kept an eye out for Red Squirrels which are common around this area but didn't see any.

The gentle meandering got more difficult as we headed up Greenup Gill and the sun disappeared to be replaced by cloud and rain. To help me get up this next section, I needed a musical 'boost'. The generic mp3 player therefore came out and I flicked through to see what music would get me in the most appropriate mood to conquer this stage up to Lining Crag. I skipped past Kings of Leon, Oasis, The Killers, even Level 42 and the Beautiful South before settling on a genre of music for which I am well renowned amongst my Sandbach mates. I won't disclose the exact music which I plumped for but for those of you who are well versed with your musicals, the names Sam Carmichael, Bill Austin and Harry Bright may give you a clue! And I don't care what mickey taking I receive, it worked and after a hard slog, we made it to the top of Lining Crag, wet but in one piece.

As we started to descend the Valley towards Grasmere, we came across a small party who had gathered around a 'mature' Australian lady. She had fallen over and had a suspected broken ankle. A couple of chaps went off to try and get a phone signal in order to call Mountain Rescue which thankfully they did. Leonie and I hung around until we knew Mountain Rescue were on their way and then we left. Even though we didn't do a great deal, the lady and her 3 friends were very grateful for our 45 minute stop and offered to buy us a drink if we saw them that evening. As it turned out, we did stay in the same hotel as them but didn't see them to claim our free drink. I was quite disappointed really, not because I missed out on a free drink but because it would have made a nice change having an Australian buy me a pint rather than serve me one!

The walk down the valley into Grasmere was long and I got quite frustrated at times. The tracks and paths ever since Ennderdale have essentially been turned into small streams - that's what 13 inches of rainfall in August does. It is almost impossible to keep your feet dry - especially if you have little or no patience when trying to navigate a dry route through the water and mud.

By the time we got to Grasmere at about 4.15pm, my feet were in bits and our spirits were not helped when we walked past where we were staying as a result of my insistence that we were staying at somewhere which it turns out doesn't even exist!!! That will teach me to leave our accommodation details in the hotel at Rosthwaite!

After filling our stomachs, we returned to the hotel and watched Gavin and Stacey in the tv lounge before heading off to bed, ready for the next stage to Patterdale.