Walking and talking…

The past year has had very few highlights especially given the gravity of the challenges that have been thrown our way or in the case of this blog, my way. I can however say that I made a couple of decisions that feel like real winners. First, I now have a day off in the week! Taking Wednesdays off has been a real plus. I may not have achieved much more in a week with the extra time but it has certainly given me a feel for not going to work everyday. My biggest regret is not doing it sooner. Dave beat me to it, but how good would it be now to be able to walk the dogs together on a Wednesday.

The second decision or choice was to take up the offer from an old friend who I haven’t seen for years. ‘Come hiking with me someday’, so I did. We have now had four days out just walking up big hills whilst  chatting. Just putting the world to rights. The funny part about old friends is the shared history and in our case similar views on many things. So talking hasn’t been a problem unless of course we have been pushing our way up a steep rise in which case it’s a case of letting the heart and lungs get on with it.

There is lots of evidence to support the principal that sometimes you need to create the right environment to be able to have a good conversation. It’s been great re-connecting with an old friend and putting the world to rights whilst covering 35,000 steps up over 200 floors! Of course the scenery and openness of the terrain also helps.

Now hiking isn’t something I have ever done much of although I have fancied the idea. Time is a massive pressure in just about everything I do. That and the pressure I put myself under to cram in as much as possible. A full twelve hour day and most of it out of contact with the world is a scary prospect. So where is the best place to start? What’s the point starting with a small hill when you can start with the highest peak in England! Almost seven hours walking on a stunning day in September. The views were breathtaking. We started off by following the Corridor Route up Scafell Pike in the Lakes. So these first few photos are me and John, @Lancj1 on route and at the summit. The hills were quiet until we joined up with the more popular route as you can see by the busy summit photo. John is quite the gent with his walking pole.

John does a lot of hiking and knows most of the routes or at least about which are the best to take. Following the famous Wainwrights guide to to the Lake District mountains, a guide I didn’t know existed until recently, has now become something of an interest. There are 214 fells documented in the guide and John is working himself through them. Looks like I’m going to build up a tick list of my own. Fancy that, five years working in the Lakes, travelling up and down the M6 everyday and I’ve never walked a single fell. Having been a fan of skiing, this is the first chance to stand at the top of a mountain without the snow. Unlike many people, I found the downhill harder on the joints than the uphill. I have one bionic hip and I’m heading for a second so the jolting on the down hill can be a real pain.

Further information about the corridor route can be found in this short YouTube video for anyone who wants to see what the route is all about. Just keep skipping the ads!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2C-z9BeSyE