Macmillan
organise a number of ‘Mighty Hikes’, long-distance single day walks, around the
country but this was the first in the Lake District. Over 1000 people had registered for the 25
mile trek, including me, my colleague Pete and another group from the
Manchester office. We were set off in
waves of 200 or so every half hour.
Under cloudy skies, with a sense of nervous expectancy, at 8am we were
off.
The
first part of the route was on level ground alongside Derwent Water. A long stream of green tee-shirt-clad walkers
stretched ahead of and behind us. The
clouds cleared and by the time we reached the first rest stop at Borrowdale, it
was very warm. We found a shady spot to
eat the croissants and pastries provided by the organisers before rejoining the
route. ‘How’s it going?’ I asked Naomi
from MAN34 as I caught her up in gently sloping valley of Langstrath. ‘Absolutely flipping awful,’ she replied
(approximately). An honest assessment,
though there were still 15 miles to go.
Shortly
after this was the big, hard climb of the day up the Stake Pass. It was tough in the heat but a good
path. At the top I lay back on the grass
in the sun and rested my eyes.
Unfortunately this caused the marshal to panic, thinking that I had
collapsed from exhaustion. I reassured
her I was only having a kip and complained that she had interrupted my sleep.
Lunch
was in a marquee in Langdale and it was an excellent spread of salads and cakes
(of which I probably ate too many). There
was also the chance to refill water bottles, as there were at each stop, and to
try some High5 energy drink (jury still out on that one). Pete and I had a quick chat with the other
Manchester walkers before moving on again.
The
walk out of Langdale was hot and airless.
Higher up at least we had had a bit of a breeze to cool us down. We passed some kids in the river at Chapel
Stile and would have loved to have swapped places. There was another climb over into Little
Landgale and the effort was telling in our legs. The paths would beautifully through fields
and woods but the afternoon stop couldn’t come soon enough. Again we found some shade and tucked into
Freddo and Fudge bars. People were
easing their boots off for some relief, revealing plasters galore. ‘Is that it for climbs?’ one girl asked. ‘Just one more,’ I replied, more or less
truthfully.
The
climb went steeply up to Loughrigg Tarn then kept on agonisingly until finally
we saw a glimpse of Windermere. We
started descending, then heard the crowds and then found ourselves being
applauded over the finish line to receive our medals and a glass of fizz.
It
had been a brilliant day: well organised, excellent route, good company and
camaraderie. Along the way members of
the public had encouraged us and said what a good cause we were walking in aid
of. So far Pete and I have raised £1355,
which is absolutely amazing. I would
definitely enter a similar event and would recommend others to do the same.
