Day 4 - Grasmere to Glennridding

Wed 9th - Grasmere to Glenridding

8.63ml, 6h 40m

I got bitten on the right shoulder by a horsefly yesterday and have a large lump just where my rucksack strap goes .. just what I need. I think I had the beginnings of a blister on my left foot after yesterday's walk so this morning I put on a Compeed to try and avoid any problems.

We needed to be walking by 9am so it was a quick turnaround after breakfast. I just made it after almost forgetting to pick up my packed lunch from reception! Another long slog, this time up Great Tongue to the top of Grisedale Hause then a small drop down to Grisedale Tarn (1800ft) where we stopped for lunch. After lunch we made our way down Grisedale into Patterdale.

I felt better today. The soreness in my quads has gone and I wasn't struggling or out of breath or sweating so much today. We took plenty of short breaks today and didn't try to rush the pace either uphill or downhill.

The group has really gelled well and there is a lot of support from the others if you are struggling for any reason. Ian was handing round jelly babies this afternoon and Jane had some humbugs she was sharing. Chris the leader has a portable stove with him and at Grisedale Tarn was making tea with his wife Sue. Sue also had the bright idea of soaking my small towel in the beck. The cold water made it really refreshing and I handed round the cold towel to everyone who wanted to use it.

We are now in Patterdale and I have stocked up on some jelly babies at the nearby shop as I seem to have been eating everyone else's! 47.5 miles done and Chris has already warned us tomorrow we are in for a long tough day as we are heading for Shap, 17 miles away over some big climbs (we will do 2500ft of ascent by the end of tomorrows walk). It looks like it may be raining by the afternoon so the plan is to set off at 08:15 to allow us to keep a steadier pace and hopefully, arrive in Shap before the rain does.