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High Street epic spoiled by new boots agony

High Street epic spoiled by new boots agony


Postby Pointless Parasite » Thu Apr 12, 2018 8:35 pm

Wainwrights included on this walk: Arthur's Pike, Bonscale Pike, Gray Crag, High Raise (Far Eastern Fells), High Street, Loadpot Hill, Mardale Ill Bell, Rampsgill Head, The Knott, Thornthwaite Crag, Wether Hill

Hewitts included on this walk: High Raise (Far Eastern Fells), High Street, Loadpot Hill, Rampsgill Head, Thornthwaite Crag

Date walked: 10/04/2018

Time taken: 6.45

Distance: 27.5 km

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I've been wanting a pair of Meindl Bhutan boots for years and finally decided to get a pair to replace my Salomon hiking boots. For the first few trips to the mountains after buying them there was too much snow, so I needed to stick with my old Asolo mountain boots and crampons. I'd worn the Bhutans a few times around town during the recent snow and they felt fine. A trip to Patterdale, with a forecast of lousy wet weather, looked to be the ideal opportunity to give the new boots a try out.

On the Saturday, I spent a fairly miserable day traipsing around Place Fell and a few other hills in the rain:

Image
Patterdale by the pointless parasite, on Flickr

The new boots felt OK at the time, although when I went out for a quick stroll in the evening I felt an unpleasant pain just behind the medial malleolus of my right ankle. Hopefully it would by OK the next morning....

No. The pain was still there. At least the weather was looking good:

Image
Arnison by the pointless parasite, on Flickr

Vets in Patterdale offer some unusual services:

Image
Hartsop Dodd by the pointless parasite, on Flickr

Image
Gray Crag by the pointless parasite, on Flickr

Image
Grey Crag ascent by the pointless parasite, on Flickr

Image
Grey Crag ascent 2 by the pointless parasite, on Flickr

There was very little climbing to be done after reaching the summit of Gray Crag.

Image
Gray Crag summit ridge by the pointless parasite, on Flickr

Image
Stony Cover Pike by the pointless parasite, on Flickr

No mistaking the summit of Thornthwaite Crag:

Image
Thornthwaite by the pointless parasite, on Flickr

Finding the summit of Mardale Ill Bell was a compass and map job:

Image
Mardale Ill Bell by the pointless parasite, on Flickr

The summit of High Street was also under cloud but things were clearer further North.

Image
High Street summit by the pointless parasite, on Flickr

Right ankle very painful while descending to the Straits of Riggindale :(

Image
Riggindale Crag by the pointless parasite, on Flickr

I might of already climbed The Knott when I did the C2C, but there was no harm in doing it again:

Image
The Knott by the pointless parasite, on Flickr

Same with Rampsgill head:

Image
Rampsgill Head by the pointless parasite, on Flickr

Image
Ramps Gill by the pointless parasite, on Flickr

Onward to High Raise:

Image
High Raise by the pointless parasite, on Flickr

My right ankle was still painful, although both feet were perfectly dry despite the boggy terrain. This was the exact reason I'd bought these boots :D

Image
Wether Hill approach by the pointless parasite, on Flickr

Wether Hill :thumbdown:

Image
Wether Hill summit by the pointless parasite, on Flickr

Image
Loadpot summit by the pointless parasite, on Flickr

Approaching the summit of Loadpot, the pain in my right ankle was becoming serious :( I had to do something, so I put on another couple of socks to try and pad it out a bit. I was dismayed to find the pain was exactly the same. Walking slowly didn't make a scrap of difference, so the only thing was to just grin and bear it and finish the walk.

On to Bonscale Pike:

Image
Bonscale from Loadpot by the pointless parasite, on Flickr

Image
Hallin Fell from Bonscale by the pointless parasite, on Flickr

Image
Ullswater from Arthur by the pointless parasite, on Flickr

Image
Mell Fell group by the pointless parasite, on Flickr

Climbing Arthur's Pike, the pain in my right ankle was becoming unbearable :( I was constantly wincing and involuntarily yelping out loud every time my foot inverted just a little. Oddly, the left ankle was absolutely fine. This is the exact reverse of the usual situation with my mountain boots, in which the left boot is often agonising while the right is fine.

Image
Arthur summit by the pointless parasite, on Flickr

Image
Arthur descent by the pointless parasite, on Flickr

Somehow, despite enduring boot problems for 27 km, I'd managed to time my arrival into Pooley Bridge almost exactly to catch the bus back to Penrith, a full 2 hours before I'd expected 8)


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After I'd hobbled back to my house in Sunderland I finally managed to get the dammed right boot off and was greeted with instant relief. There was no pain at all when walking around, so I couldn't have injured it. It was a little red and tender over the medial malleolus but that was it. My ankle has remained pain free ever since.

God knows what to do. I've got a trip to the Cairngorms in a couple of weeks, but there's no way I'm risking wearing the same boots again. I'll see what the snow conditions are like, and chose between my Asolo mountain boots or Salomon hiking boots.
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Pointless Parasite
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Re: High Street epic spoiled by new boots agony

Postby malky_c » Thu Apr 12, 2018 10:30 pm

This route isn't a million miles off what I had planned for the Easter weekend. I was going to go the other way, camp around Glenridding, and finish up over the Dodds the next day. Ended up going down Borrowdale instead. Glad to see I'm not the only fool taking the rather protracted bus/train/train/metro combination from Sunderland to the Lakes :lol: .

Unlucky with the boots - I use the same ones and find them really comfortable. My gripe with them is that they wear out too quickly and start to leak.
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Re: High Street epic spoiled by new boots agony

Postby davekermito » Sun Apr 15, 2018 9:41 pm

Super route and great photos.


Been there with the boots many a time!
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davekermito
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Re: High Street epic spoiled by new boots agony

Postby Graeme D » Mon Apr 16, 2018 2:23 pm

Yes, I noticed lots of signs advertising those unusual sounding vets services when I was down there last week! :shock:
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