After all of the hype and (some) training, the day had arrived. Lynda and I stayed overnight Thursday and Friday nights at a B&B wisely booked back in January when the challenge was mooted.
The Willows B&B, Horton in Ribblesdale
Rain was predicted by locals, the Met Office and anyone we asked, but we kept hopeful as Friday night at the Crown turned into an early Saturday start. Breakfast at the Willows was 06:00 and we rendezvous-ed behind the Crown Hotel with the rest of the group under the Epilepsy Action banner - and no rain!
 |
| Andy - our guide |
The Mountain & Glen team were our guides and advisers as we were split into teams ready for the off. We (myself, Lynda, Paul & Sarah) were in an Epilepsy Action team led by Andy the Taff, complete with walking poles, who I was to spend some time with during the day!
Mountain and Glen, great guys!
As we left the hotel, heading towards the church and the track up Pen-y-Ghent, we passed the public car park and loos where most folks made a last pit stop. As we waited, the rain started to come down. Waterproof over-trousers out of the pack and off we went, leaving Horton, heading up the road by the church towards Brackenbottom. The road has a gradual incline and just before you reach the farm there is a track to the left where the real walk starts. There is a constant uphill gradient, following the clear track onwards and upwards with Pen-y-Ghent out of sight, hidden by the rain and clouds.
We followed the track with a dry stone wall on my left before turning uphill to Brackenbottom scar where the track became a little more difficult, having to scramble over rocks at times. The field was now starting string out (to using racing parlance) with different groups heading up the mountain and people generally struggling with the conditions. Andy kept walking with the back markers of our group (no names) making sure they were OK and in good spirits, but the truth was that we were all soaked soon after leaving Horton - despite the array of expensive gear on show.
 |
| Andy leading, Lynda following... |
We kept going up the track, wall on our left and the usual obstacles such as limestone steps and boulders on the way. We eventually hit the Pennine Way and followed the track left up the steep path with steps leading into the mist. The rain was really coming down at this stage and we couldn't see ahead or behind us for any distance. At a certain stage of the ascent, as I remembered from my previous visit in June, we had to scramble up the track, often waiting for the queue to subside - yes, there were really lots of people doing this thing! Red Cross had 350 folks up for the challenge and I have to say that some of them were poorly equipped - we even saw one idiot with Morrison's carrier bags over his trainers to help in the wet conditions!
 |
| Lynda, not smiling |
After a steady scramble the track flattens out somewhat with a gentle approach to the trig point and the summit. There weren't many happy faces on the top but we did manage a few photos to capture the magic. As we waited for our group to assemble, Andy emerged from the mist with our back marker on this stretch - Lynda. She was not smiling!
We assembled and hid from the rain and wind behind the stone shelter, ready for the descent and the track across the bogs towards Birkwith where the Mountain & Glen mini-bus would meet us with hot drinks etc. The descent is quite wide, but steep and on rough ground which skirts round the side of the mountain. There is the Pennine Way path off to the left which leads back to Horton and many of us wanted to take it! We continued on to the dreaded bogs on Horton Moor, Todber Moss & Red Moss and we were soon sinking into the mud as we crossed in the mist. The guides helped us traverse boggy streams and other traps, but we all saw people lose their boots and others sinking in to alarming levels before being helped out. This was miserable!
 |
| Paul, Sarah & Lynda |
Lynda and Sarah were at the back of our party and Andy radioed for support so that he could push on with the main group. After much boggy progress, we reached the van at Birkwith and gratefully drank hot tea & coffee and grazed on energy bars while taking on more bottled water. Paul squeezed out his walking socks and got ready for the re-start as Lynda & Sarah arrived. It was here that they both retired after 8 miles, grateful for hot drinks and shelter. Their day was over!
We continued on the track, towards Nether Lodge and Lodge Hall, a long snake of intrepid walkers, undeterred by the conditions. It was here that cramp kicked in and Andy's advice was to consume crisps and salted nuts to recover salt in the system. As I had neither I made a mental note for future extreme hikes! The cramp was in both thighs and getting worse as we approached the next checkpoint on the Gauber Road where the van (and Lynda) were waiting. I was almost giving up at this stage but went along with the encouragement around me and continued towards Ribblehead, the station and the pub.
 |
| Viaduct on a good day! |
At the Ribblehead T junction, we didn't stop to admire the viaduct as on previous walks, but headed across Batty Green, parallel to the railway and on towards Whernside. We followed the track, past the signal box and house, then as before with Dominic, we crossed the line at the aqueduct and started uphill, pausing only to take on water (not much left here as I had not refilled at the Gauber Road!) and graze on energy bars. I was quickly becoming the dreaded back marker of the group, struggling to keep up and so becoming Andy's best mate. I was struggling here and only with Andy's support and the 'Himalaya Pace' trick did I eventually make it to the summit of Whernside where we expected to meet the rest - as per Andy's instructions.
 |
| Whernside descent... |
As we started the descent, having made sure the rest of the group were OK and with another M&G guide, the weather lifted a little (Alhamdulillah!) and I found the energy to take a photo. The descent was awful with the steep steps previously described in 28th June blog. These were made worse by the rain and the constant flow of what looked like cement slurry - very slippery. It took quite a while to get down and to the track ahead - the conditions and the number of people making the descent caused mayhem. Andy and I proceeded along the path while radio calls advised us that, if hot tea was required, then we should buy it at the Philpin Farm snack bar where they were doing a roaring trade and did not need the M&G (and other) competition. We reached the farm at around 16:00 and I really enjoyed the hot tea and a cheese butty while I looked for a towel to throw in. I wasn't going to make it to Ingleborough and so I joined other members of the group, who were also stopping, in the van ride back to Horton, 17 miles under our belts.
Paul Johnson and two ladies from our group made the full 25 miles and I admire them for doing so - it was not my day, but I'll be back!!
No comments:
Post a Comment