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| Pooley Bridge (photo: Karen Gated) |
As
Karen, my wife, pulled our little camper van into Pooley Bridge for a
6am start on Wednesday, 9th August, a cool northerly breeze was
moving the clouds low over the fells along Ullswater. Phil was pacing
me and we started the runnable climb up Barton Fell on route to
Kirkstone Pass. The northerly was helping us on our way but there
were no views to be had, just the back of Phil’s pack.
The
schedule for tops to Kirkstone is tight and we could not relent. Time
lost now could come back to hurt later. The challenge is to get the
balance of not going too fast to soon, while not losing too much time
to the punishing schedule. Leg 1 is mostly runnable, and really
designed to soften you up a bit for the higher fells to come! It was
doing its job.
We
dropped off to the car park at Kirkstone about 10 minutes
behind schedule. Clair, Jess and Kath were all set to get me to Dunmail and hopefully back on schedule. We made good time up Red Screes, and while Phil is a man of few words, the girls were very chatty. By the top of Fairfield we were back on time. We now had a good view of the western fells and the road ahead. I took the scree line off Fairfield, but in hindsight it was not a good call. It was washed out and difficult going.
behind schedule. Clair, Jess and Kath were all set to get me to Dunmail and hopefully back on schedule. We made good time up Red Screes, and while Phil is a man of few words, the girls were very chatty. By the top of Fairfield we were back on time. We now had a good view of the western fells and the road ahead. I took the scree line off Fairfield, but in hindsight it was not a good call. It was washed out and difficult going.
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| Steel Fell (photo: Tom Philips) |
Off
Seat Sandal we met Karen, Tom, Greg and Jess our mad Collie
Dog. Tom was my pacer to Greendale Bridge. A big ask given
the pace we would need to move at, and he would be carrying
essentials for both of us. In the past years, the increase in
Bob Graham traffic has developed a good trod up Steel Fell which
has made this climb a little easier. Once over the top it's a boggy
trot all the way to High Raise.
Greg
was waiting at Sty Head with re-supplies, and after a brief stop we
all headed up Gable. The last leg of the challenge was under way.
Karen and Jess were at Black Sail with a flask of tea. Nectar!
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| Towards Scoat Fell (photo: Tom Philips) |
Pillar
and Steeple were ticked of within a minute or two of schedule, and
as we climbed to the trig point on Seatallan we had the most
wonderful view out to the Isle of Man and the Lakeland Massive.
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| Seatallan (photo: Tom Philips) |
What’s more we had an hour to get to Greendale. A good feeling. As
we crested Middle Fell, the last summit of the challenge, I thought
of Mum. It takes, guts and determination to complete this challenge,
and while this sort of event was not her thing, she showed all these
qualities in her fight against this terrible disease.
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| Middle Fell (photo: Tom Philips) |
Off
Middle Fell we could see Karen and Joss waiting at the Bridge. It’s
a great run off Middle Fell. Tom and I reached the bridge,
stopping the clock with an elapsed time of 11hrs 38mins. I had
made it!
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| Greendale Bridge (photo: Greg Tagney) |
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