A bof in the fells. (August 20th 2006)
You'll never believe this.
Screature, Jo and the bof's wife were off on the train to Carlisle for some retail therapy and The Screature asked the bof if there was a high fell he'd like to do.
Without even pausing for breath he said, "Gable."
I could've spit. I mean, Hairy was going to drive the three ladies to Aspatria for the 10.10 train, he had to be back at about 4.30 to pick them up again and the bof wanted to climb a fell over an hour away! (It's a bit less when Hairyface pretends he's Donald Campbell,but not much.) That meant that they'd have to get up and back from Wasdale Head in under three hours!! (Hairy won't go up from Honister as he says it's for wimps.)
Now to be fair, Hairyface could probably have climbed Gable and back in under three hours but the bof's only exercise was ruining a good walk (Golf!) in the flat boring bit down south and probably couldn't do there and back in five!
I wondered what H would do, but he simply said, "I'm not taking the girls up there, it's too stony and their paws are very tender already." This was true. I had really raw paws and so did Io. We would've gone up Gable but it would have hurt. He then offered, "We could go up back of Skiddaw. It's not quite as high, but very grassy. The girls will love it and it'll not hurt their paws." Given the time considerations I though that was a smart idea.
The bof had no choice but to agree, really. So after dropping off the shoppers at Aspatria we were at Longlands in under fifteen minutes. Hairyface set off at a pretty leisurely pace at first and the bof was coping quite well. Now, H doesn't usually stop when he's walking, he just goes on and on at the same even pace until he hits the summit.
After a steady climb we hit the branch of paths where the steepness started. H. started to stride out a bit, into his walking rhythm, and the bof started to get a bit breathless. H. kept asking, "Am I going too fast?" and the bof would say, "No." So he'd up the pace a little more.
After about half a mile he asked, "Do you want to stop?" The bof said, "No." so H got a little faster. By the time we made the depression on the top of little Sca Fell, the bof was quite away behind and panting like a knackered carthorse. H. and us sat in the shelter and we waited until puffing Billy caught up. I honestly thought the bof was going to have one of those heart attack jobbies - which H had about three years ago, although you'd never tell .
After a few minutes heavy breathing we set off to the top of Knott, (see previous entry) and lunch. There was no Jonathan Edwards on the way back down and there was very little chat as the bof seemed rather breathless.
We had a great day out and our paws were no more sore than when we set off. The girls had a good day's shopping in Carlisle. We had a great day on a very quiet fell, and the bof had been somewhere he'd never been before, guided by someone who knows the area well enough not to need a map to navigate - but do you know? I don't think he enjoyed it much at all. Still, he could now cross off four more Wainwrights!
Guess what, no photo's for this entry. Wonder why?
Screature, Jo and the bof's wife were off on the train to Carlisle for some retail therapy and The Screature asked the bof if there was a high fell he'd like to do.
Without even pausing for breath he said, "Gable."
I could've spit. I mean, Hairy was going to drive the three ladies to Aspatria for the 10.10 train, he had to be back at about 4.30 to pick them up again and the bof wanted to climb a fell over an hour away! (It's a bit less when Hairyface pretends he's Donald Campbell,but not much.) That meant that they'd have to get up and back from Wasdale Head in under three hours!! (Hairy won't go up from Honister as he says it's for wimps.)
Now to be fair, Hairyface could probably have climbed Gable and back in under three hours but the bof's only exercise was ruining a good walk (Golf!) in the flat boring bit down south and probably couldn't do there and back in five!
I wondered what H would do, but he simply said, "I'm not taking the girls up there, it's too stony and their paws are very tender already." This was true. I had really raw paws and so did Io. We would've gone up Gable but it would have hurt. He then offered, "We could go up back of Skiddaw. It's not quite as high, but very grassy. The girls will love it and it'll not hurt their paws." Given the time considerations I though that was a smart idea.
The bof had no choice but to agree, really. So after dropping off the shoppers at Aspatria we were at Longlands in under fifteen minutes. Hairyface set off at a pretty leisurely pace at first and the bof was coping quite well. Now, H doesn't usually stop when he's walking, he just goes on and on at the same even pace until he hits the summit.
After a steady climb we hit the branch of paths where the steepness started. H. started to stride out a bit, into his walking rhythm, and the bof started to get a bit breathless. H. kept asking, "Am I going too fast?" and the bof would say, "No." So he'd up the pace a little more.
After about half a mile he asked, "Do you want to stop?" The bof said, "No." so H got a little faster. By the time we made the depression on the top of little Sca Fell, the bof was quite away behind and panting like a knackered carthorse. H. and us sat in the shelter and we waited until puffing Billy caught up. I honestly thought the bof was going to have one of those heart attack jobbies - which H had about three years ago, although you'd never tell .
After a few minutes heavy breathing we set off to the top of Knott, (see previous entry) and lunch. There was no Jonathan Edwards on the way back down and there was very little chat as the bof seemed rather breathless.
We had a great day out and our paws were no more sore than when we set off. The girls had a good day's shopping in Carlisle. We had a great day on a very quiet fell, and the bof had been somewhere he'd never been before, guided by someone who knows the area well enough not to need a map to navigate - but do you know? I don't think he enjoyed it much at all. Still, he could now cross off four more Wainwrights!
Guess what, no photo's for this entry. Wonder why?
posted by Maia [and Io] | 9:33 pm
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