I'm back ! Pain has gone and I'm well up for it!

It's been well over a week now since the last entry - not good in the world of blogging I know - no excuse.

Last weekend I went to the Lake District for a gentle "amble" (not!). The map below shows the area around Helvellyn where we went. (I went with some mates and their mates, if that makes sense). The route wasn't actually as marked but if you follow the Glenridding to Helvellyn bit via Striding Edge and then instead of going up and around you go down and around over St Sunday Crag and then end up back at Glenridding, then that's the way we went. About 11 miles in length. Now considering that I haven't done any serious walking for at least 27 years (yes that was twenty-seven, it's not a typo), I think it went rather well. Legs held up, mostly - knees got a bit cranky at the end on the downslope - and the new boots and socks were really comfy (I didn't notice the blisters at all on both heels until we got back to the pub - and then in bed every night this week when they stuck to the sheets, yummy!).

The top of Helvellyn was covered in snow (as you can see- that's Striding Edge behind me) so that added greatly to the excitement (honest).

Monday was HobbleDay. Yes, a day spent hobbling around wondering what the hell was going on inside those dead bits half way down my legs and why suddenly they'd decided to stop bending. It did get a better as the day went on though, that is until the blisters stuck to the socks! I'll leave the rest to your imaginations. It got better during the week though and I'm raring to go for the next trip now - any takers?

You may well be asking what this has to do with getting published - well of course I now have this wonderous idea of sending off an article to the walking mags describing the differences and pain that a 27 year gap between Lake walks can cause. Watch this space.

To see all the pictures of the day go to http://picasaweb.google.com/gough.chris1/LakesHelvellynApr2008