Yes, Luna. We do have to go to the very top

Sun 5/5/24

I had been worried about whether would be up for a second day's activity. The early signs weren't great - campers were amused to see a large dog having to be dragged around the campsite. But, once we were at the start, she was fine. While we were waiting for the others to catch up yesterday in the wet, L had shivered a bit so I bought her first ever coat from the LifeVenture tent. It looked good on the model dog!

We opted for the "Cafe" route - which was expected to come in just under 20k.

Latest start allowed was 10:00. Yes, we left at 10:00. And then had to double back to unload dog poos.

Start was retracing our steps alongside Buttermere. Lovely again! Once we left the flat, the grassy fell soon became scrambly again as we climbed Fleetwith Pike. Luna and I were ahead of the others and, when, N appeared below us, she asked for some photos (for her social profiles!). Unfortunately, while I was doing this, Luna got bored and wriggled out of her harness! She was free on the mountainside )well, big hill) and immediately disappeared! I hared off after her but no sight or sound of her. After 5 very long minutes, I got a call from the others - L was back with them. I was quite a way uphill by then and made my way back down. L was a bit panty - stressed? - but it was good to get everything back to normal!

The scramble continued up what looked to be an impossible climb, but which the dogs coped well with. Once over the top, we passed through some old slate workings and down a long slate track to a cafe at Honister. On the way down, Luna got super-excited by something - I think it was a dog that looked like a sheep - and dragged me down the track that was covered in slippery slate. I couldn't get any purchase and had to run 50m to avoid disaster. I did stop her and get her calmed down.

The route said that if we reached the cafe after 2:30, we should give up on the rest of the day and get a bus etc back. We got there at 3:00! But this was a reflection of our late start rather than speed, so we carried on (and were back well ahead of the 8:00pm cut-off).

At some point on this day's walk, my trail shoes disintegrated. The LH sole was flapping at the front and the back. But using laces to to tie the sole to the uppers got me back to camp.

The last few miles were along the other side of Buttermere - again just beautiful.

Back at camp I managed to borrow a demo pair of trail shoes from the event sponsors (SCARPA).

Tea and cake and then Pizza from the Pizza tent!