Silver How

The photos in this post are from our climb up Silver How near Grasmere on Friday. We picked this walk because it was described on my Ordnance Survey maps app as "Leisurely". Never was a walk more badly described! It was a climb up one of the lower fells - easy enough for serious walkers, but tough going for us. I am asthmatic and M's lung capacity is restricted by scoliosis, so steep hills leave us both winded. It was worth it for the stunningly beautiful views, and fortunately we bounce back quickly once we get our collective breath back. 

We started in the village of Grasmere, and to start with it was a relatively gentle walk, which lulled us into a false sense of security. Just look at those colours.  

This was the point at which we started to realised it was going to be tricky. Is it the bed of a stream or the path? Gorgeous, but a bit of a scramble. Fortunately we had walking poles as well as boots, which made it easier to keep our balance. Nearer to the top we almost missed the path completely, until we realised that we needed to cross a stream on stepping stones. 

Once we reached this plateau near the top of the fell we sat down on a rock and refuelled on bananas and fresh air. Apart from the occasional fellow walker, this really was getting away from it all. The heap of stones is a cairn marking the path. 

This was the point where we started to head back down, with the peak up to our right. At one point it looked as though the path - or what we thought might be the path! - was disappearing over the edge.

Fortunately once we got to what appeared to be the edge, we discovered there were stone steps cut into the rock. Pretty uneven, and we would have struggled without the walking poles to compensate for dodgy knees and lack of balance. 

As we got to the bottom of the steps our phone signal kicked back in and we picked up a text from H to say she had passed the first of her accounting exams which she had taken the previous day. That bit of good news put a spring in our step for the rest of the walk. At the bottom we passed the end of Grasmere - the lake - before heading back to the village and a late lunch. The walk was less than three miles in total, but took us two and a half hours - we are not speedy walkers at the best of times, and we are very, very slow climbers! It may have left my legs tired, but my inner batteries were very definitely recharged.

Annoyingly, although I came home feeling refreshed and energised by the fresh air and exercise followed by relaxation back at the hotel, I am now feeling tired and foggy brained. We got our flu vaccinations yesterday morning. M's left him with a sore arm but otherwise OK. My arm was fine, but by the afternoon I felt as though I was wading through glue. Apparently my body is not appreciating the battle of immune system vs. inoculation. Whatever lingering virus I had at the beginning of the year has left me irritatingly prone to fatigue. It seems to be very like long Covid, except that the dates are wrong. There do seem to have been other nasty viruses around last winter, so I think it must have been one of them. Hopefully in another day or two my immune system will have sorted itself out and my energy levels will pick up again.