Last Tuesday I saw Mr. Patel at Kendal Hospital after ongoing knee pain. A second arthroscopy was proposed. I now await an appointment. Mr Patel’s advice was unbelievably heartening. After explanation of my x-rays expressed with the clarity of a mountain stream I was encouraged to keep walking, and prophet of doom remarks against backpacking were refreshingly absent.
I was told I may later have a replacement knee, but Mr. P continued positively: he said he was “one of the new breed” believing in people exercising and benefiting from the new technology to the full. Apparently design and methods have continually improved, and he placed no restriction on further walking with a new knee joint.
Because of the knee I have recently tried to be modest with walks, but this doesn't seem to work - whatever I plan becomes more arduous than intended, but with Mr P’s positive attitude I sensed liberation, indicating that maybe part of the problem was psychological?
Yesterday, on account of a brilliant Saturday forecast I shunned the overcrowded Lake District and headed for the Bowland Hills. Walking commenced at 11:00am (SD 544 617), and finished at 6:00pm after the round of Grit Fell and Ward’s Stone returning via Salter Fell.
Mr Patel had banished my negative thoughts - this was a round of 17.3 miles with 2801 ft of ascent. Although the knee niggles it is not enough to spoil the pleasure of a grand walk in remote surroundings. The peat was dry, and a pleasure to walk on and my feet were not wet even though I was only wearing approach shoes.
I felt fit and strong arriving at the finish by no means exhausted.
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| Click pics to enlarge |
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| Distant Ingleborough from near Grit Fell |
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| On the way to Ward's Stone |
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| The climb up to Salter Fell |
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| The walk followed a large part of the skyline |
You were lucky with the weather on Saturday [nice Fells], on Sunday saw nothing in the rain on Longridge Fell!
ReplyDeleteIt's great you are still putting in and enjoying a long day. Hope arthroscopy goes OK.
Off for a few lazy days climbing in Spain next week.
Gill OK?
One wonders how Mr Patel spends his days off. Perhaps driving down to Tryfan, parking at the layby and watching people fall off the Buttress. Then a little Carl Philip Emmanuel in the evening accompanied by several large Scotches. In Gamesmanship by Stephen Potter there's a character called Odoreida who turns up at that hotel at Pen-y-pass, walks with a stick, talks about "having had his day" and urges the youngsters to go and destroy themselves in Llanberis ("I always thought the west route route on Cloggy would go."). The opinion among other Gamesmen is that this is a dangerous game and sooner or later one of the youngsters, wearied of O's Olympian attitudes, is going to haul him up Cenotaph Corner to shut his babble. Perhaps there's a relationship; after all it's only one alphabetic step between Odoreida and Patel.
ReplyDeleteThank you both for Mrs BB's card.
JP - Those north Bowland hills do have a feeling of remoteness belying their proximity to civilisation.
ReplyDeleteJill is battling on - the due date is 16th October, but it looks more imminent to me.
Have a good trip to Spain.
BB - I shall have to take a fresh look at Mr P's motives - don't you think his preferred taste in music would be Ravi Shankar?
BB - I am familiar with the Stephen Potter opuses, but have failed to find the derivation of the name Odoreida after Googling and Wikipediaing. Perhaps you recognise some allusion?
ReplyDeleteRe: Odoreida. It's just conceivable - the process is called using his imagination - he dreamed it up. However, the Cloggy anecdote may have appeared in the sequel to Gamesmanship called Oneupmanship.
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