I had negotiated breakfast back from 8:30 to 8:00 with the bristly landlady, so I was off for 8:30 after my ticking off about the hot water machine.
A long and steep road climb out of Settle in now much improved weather got things off to a start, but I felt tired and had developed various semi-blister toe afflictions and an increasing pain in my supposedly good knee. From Scaleber Force, which I never saw, I took the track following Brookill Gill Beck (rather than my gpx route) to its end at SD 861589. From there (Hellifield Moor Top) I varied again taking the southward path marked on the map to arrive at Haw Lane leading into Hellifield. That "path" proved to be a two kilometre thrash through cow trodden gloop and reeds with no hint of a path despite gpx saying I was on track. When I got to the lane the foot problem had intensified as had the right knee with more pain, and I walked very slowly into Hellifield realising there was no way I could walk the eight miles to Barnoldswick where I had booked in at the Fountain Hotel. So, after life saving tea in the new café I hobbled slowly up to the station and caught the train home. By the way, traffic through Hellifield was non-stop, and with apparently little observance of speed limit - I had to cross the road three times and it was a life threatening experience.
A summary and thoughts about these five days of walking will follow, hopefully providing response to my various commenters.
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| About halfway up the steep road climb out of Settle |
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| Hellifield, Pendle Hill behind. The last part of the cow trodden quagmire route is shown in red leading to the green field and then Hall Lane - click to enlarge |
I've been doing my Monday morning blog catch-up, and have arrived finally at this post.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry to hear this news, Conrad. You won't need any advice from anyone in sorting the leg problems out, apart from maybe your GP or surgeon. But you have my admiration in bundles Sir, for attempting your walk so soon after your accident.
I hope things go well for you, Conrad. The very best of luck in getting yourself sorted to your complete satisfaction.
Alan S. - Thank you for your kind words, and careful avoidance of criticism for my over ambitious distances, I have now posted a summary trying to put all that into perspective. One only learns from trying.
ReplyDeleteJust catching up with your blog posts, Conrad, as have been distracted by middle daughter's wedding last weekend. So sorry to hear you've been struggling and had to abandon the walk. Oh dear. How very frustrating and disappointing. I shall read the next post for further details... 😟
ReplyDeleteRuth - read on. It is now Thurs. 26th Aug. and I am not optimistic about the knee, but will post shortly about it.
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