Sunday 24th May was a fine sunny day in and around the Howgills so i decided on a long walk comprising the northern and southern Howgills from Gaisgill (NY 640054). A good reference to this walk can be found at Langdale & The Calf (Howgills). I made slow progress to the Calf due to getting slightly lost near Docker Knott (headed North towards Hand Lake instead of South). There are some fine views on the way, especially of the Langdale skyline.At approx 4pm the Calf was finally reached - 7 miles from Gaisgill. I wasn't too concerned about the time as i knew i had daylight until at least 9pm given the weather conditions.
I decided to have an apple and a drink and consult the map near The Calf Tarn (SD 671975) as i knew i had to fork off soon as to avoid taking the Bowderdale or Cautley path. Evidently i wasn't concentrating on my footing as the next thing i knew i went over on my ankle (felt a pop inside) and was rolling around on the fell in agony. There wasn't another walker about for miles - i was on my own fearing the worse. After ten minutes i dared have a look at the ankle, so off came the boot. I was initially relieved not to see any bone sticking out and i could move my toes - a good sign! I then decided to try and stand up and put some pressure on it, at which point i then fell on the floor in pain again. It was at this point that my "Auntie Gill's" prophetic words only the week before came haunting me "those boots don't seem to offer much ankle support do they" - Gill your new name is Gypsy Gill...So here i was 7 miles from my car at Gaisgill, no one in sight to help but i had very good 3G coverage on my phone (and a working GPS system). I knew Sedbergh was nearer to me than Gaisgill but i didn't fancy the descent back to Sedbergh knowing that i would have to put pressure on my ankle. The contours on the map looked much gentler on the way back to Gaisgill. I decided to try and stand up and put pressure on the ankle again. All i can say is that the Endorphins and adrenaline must have kicked in as i could actually hobble. It was a long painful 7 mile hobble but i eventually made it back to Gaisgill at 8:15 pm. I even managed to take some more photos in spite of the pain..
The drive back from Gaisgill to Sedbergh is thankfully motorway so not much gear changing was necessary until coming off the motorway at Junction 37. I couldn't face going to casualty that evening so i spent a painful night which i got through on panadol and beer (WARNING, THIS IS NOT RECOMMENDED BY THE MEDICAL PROFESSION!!).On the Bank Holiday Monday morning i went to the Westmorland Hospital who looked after me fantastically. The ankle was x-rayed and i was told that the "good news is that it's not broken but the bad news is it will take as long as a fracture to heal" The fact that i walked on it for a further 7 miles means a potential healing time of between 6-8 weeks. I was offered a plastering (the ankle that is) and cruches but decided that i needed some mobility to drive. So we've had the pictures of The Calf and now it's time for...
THE ANKLE.You've gotta laugh, haven't you...
