Day 12 Armathwaite to Kendal

We enjoyed our stay at The Dukes Head, pretty village, good pub, excellent Lancaster brewery ale called Lancaster blonde. The route for the day Started with a 400ft climb to higher Hesket to get us back on to the A6. The road continued up toward Penrith, climbing steadily. We stopped in Penrith for coffee and lemon drizzle cake and picked up a couple of lovely prepared salads from a buzzing little local bakery. In fact we were pleasantly surprised with Penrith, it had a great atmosphere with some interesting shops.

Fat Bloke Conquers Shap

From Penrith we made our way about 11 miles still climbing to Shap village where we found a convenient seat to have our salads. Girding our loins we set off for the last climb to the summit of Shap amid beautiful scenery all around us. The weather was good with the wind behind us but it was still really hard. My muscles were screaming and my bum aching. I found my mind wandering and I kept coming back to the issue of the nether regions and how to ease the pressure, all sorts crossed my mind and I thought I had the ideal solution! I would get some sheepskin and Put in my pants. I discussed this amazing idea with Neil when we stopped and we decided I would buy just one slipper and cut it up, or Neil suggested a mitten or maybe a muff, I had to stop the conversation here.

Fat Girl Conquers Shap

Eventually we summited Shap, I was a bit dissapointment there was no flag like on Everest but the good thing was a massive downhill, we flew down and I was terrified! A few more miles of gentle uphills and more down brought us to Kendal and The Old School House B&B. We have decided to have a day off here, stay two nights as it's right in town and Kendal should have enough to keep us occupied.