We just walked a MARATHON

Keswick – Latrigg. Latrigg – Skiddaw House. Skiddaw House – Great Lingy Hut. Great Lingy Hut – High Pike. High Pike – Wood Hall. Wood Hall – Hesket Newmarket. Hesket Newmarket – Sebergham. Sebergham – Rose Bridge. Rose Bridge – Dalston. 26 miles in 12 hours.

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We’ve been building up to this long walk for weeks and now we’ve done it. An early morning start was a good idea because we saw two young deer on our way down to Keswick, as well as scores of rabbits. As we drove over the fell road round Caldbeck we had to slow down and go round a new calf feeding from its mother in the middle of the road. A lovely start to the day.

Keswick to Latrigg was a steep climb and we’d barely had time to warm up before we the ascent began, but we quickly gained height and beautiful views out over the peaceful waters of Bassenthwaite and Derwentwater. Once at the top we skirted round Lonscale Fell, heading towards Skiddaw House where we had a good rest and feed.

From Skiddaw House it was a pleasant 3.5 mile trek over moorland and peat bogs to a tarmac road before the arduous pull up to Great Lingy Hut. The path was hard to follow and although we didn’t lose our way there were times when we weren’t sure we were going the right way. Lee had enough energy to go on ahead and check that we were going the right way. Eventually we saw Great Lingy Hut, which looked like a glorified garden shed from the outside. Inside it was very cool with a wooden sleeping platform and a visitor’s book. We were feeling quite chuffed by now, at having done most of our climbing, when we saw a retired teacher from Caldew who put us firmly in our places by telling us he once ran the whole of the Cumbria Way in just two and a half days. We covered the 26 miles to Dalston in 12 hours; he did the 31 miles to Carlisle in about 4 hours!

High Pike was not far from Great Lingy Hut and we reached the top easily. Then we got lost. Not badly but we ended up going back to the Cumbria Way in Hesket Newmarket instead of Caldbeck. It gave us an excuse to get some much needed liquid refreshment at The Old Crown. From Hesket we covered the remaining 10 miles back to Dalston with increasingly sore feet and a bit of help from Abba, Michael Hutchens and Scissor Sisters. Now, where did I leave that foot spa?