A Little Hill Called Helvellyn

Back in Summer, we went to the lakes with some friends and on our way home, decided to go and climb a mountain. "What a great idea!" we thought.

With nothing but a bottle of water and a snickers each, and with one member of the party in trainers and another in wellies, we set off merrily up a little hill called Helvellyn.

It was absolutely red hot. We left our coats in the car, and set off swearing and sweating, stumbling up the rocky path and hating every second. Our feet hurt, our legs hurt, and Mr W was carrying a Quiksilver bag with our drinks and chocolate in, with fashionably loose straps that meant it was hanging low on his back - like the cool kids.

The walk was bloody hard work. So many times I wanted to just give in, I was hating every second! I was too hot, I had run out of water, I was absolutely starving, and all at once this big rocky thing was looming in front of us, with a sheer drop on both sides. Striding Edge.

We began making our way across it, unsteady on our feet and for want of better words - bricking it. Someone dropped a rucksack and we watched in absolute horror as it bounced its way down the almost vertical hill, hitting the side furiously at various intervals before coming to a sudden stop on the rocks at the bottom. There was no two ways about it - one wrong move meant certain death.

With renewed horror, we gingerly carried on. We made it to the other side, and were faced with a daunting final climb/scramble up what felt like a rock face. Surely we needed ropes for this kind of thing?!

Finally, we were at the top. It was completely and utterly freezing. The summit was shrouded in cloud and we were both cold and wet, as we took a few half hearted selfies and checked in on Facebook, before beginning our descent down the other side of the mountain.

My trousers were damp from the wet ground I had been scrambling up, and the cloud. My toes were agony because I was wearing pretty cheap walking boots in my correct shoe size. I've since learned that you should buy boots half a size bigger, to allow for thicker socks and toe movement on steep ground.

By the time we made it to the bottom, I had a perfect blister across the tops of my toes on both feet, from the toe seam in my socks (regular socks), chafed thighs from my wet trousers, a pounding headache from dehydration, and I felt sick and dizzy from not eating.

BUT - the high from managing to successfully climb a mountain was incredible!

After a pasty from a local bakery and a biiiiig drink of water, I was feeling much better. We discussed the highs and lows of the walk, and all agreed that we had caught the bug - we needed to do this again! Only better prepared.

On the way home, we were horrified to learn from Google that at least one person dies every single year, from falling whilst climbing Helvellyn.

We're now much better prepared for our walks, and refer to our walker's checklist to ensure that we haven't forgotten anything. But the love of mountain and walking adventures is still growing!

Did you learn a lesson the hard way like us?

L xx