Day 10 - Something, something and a lack of inspiration

Roadford Lake to Bridestowe - 30/5/08

I've been trying to write this blog for the last hour or so but its one of those nights where my creativity appears to have abandoned me and I'm left with little idea of what to write.

To be fair, today has hardly been full of adventurous exploits. that's not to say that it hasn't been enjoyable, it's just not been particularly eventful. Given that the distance for today was a little under 11 miles, it's not surprising that there were few surprises (Does that make sense??). I shouldn't complain though as I have three very long days coming up in a week or so and I shall be wishing I was back on the afternoon stroll that today became.

Knowing that my route was hardly taxing today, I made the most of a nice long lie-in which, despite being under canvas (in the world's soggiest field), was actually very pleasant. When I did finally drag myself out of my sleeping bag, most of my fellow campers were already up and out on the lake in/on their various contraptions. Given how humid it was this morning, it was all I could do not to grab a wetsuit and join them, but being the dutiful LEJOGer I reached for the boots instead. As if to reward my dedication, when I went up to pay for my accommodation they refused to take my money and told me to donate it to my charity instead.

Buoyed by this act of generosity, I left Roadford with a veritable spring in my step. This probably wasn't the best day however for such exuberant movement as the combination of humidity, pack and exertion meant that 20 minutes down the road I was absolutely drenched. Apologies here if I have put any of you off your dinner, but as I have said before I have (and always have had) a tendency to sweat profusely at the best of times and this morning was bad even by my standards. Helpfully, the high hedges lining the road did a sterling job of blocking all and any breeze, which meant that I continued to dissolve as I meandered down the lanes.

Around the time I was re-joining the Two Castles trail, I stupidly started to think that a bit of rain would be quite welcome in order to clear the air. I should know by now that you should "be careful what you wish for..."as no sooner had this thought crossed my mind than the first rumble of thunder was heard. Despite the continued lack of breeze at ground level, said storm somehow managed to follow me all the way to Bridestowe. It then hung around long enough for me to enjoy pitching my tent in the rain (yet again) before disappearing to, presumably, harass some other poor hiker. I'm beginning to think that I've offended the weather in some way as, since setting off on my journey 10 days ago, I've failed to have a single rain free day. I wouldn't mind but I always thought that the South was the warmer and drier part of the country. I'd expect this sort of weather back home, but not here. Ah well, got to love the British summer haven't you!!