A review of the Oxfam Trailtrekker - part 3

Now on painkillers we left for Conistone. I was in absolute agony here the blister I'd just treated on my right heel was killing me and my boot was rubbing on my left ankle. My stomach was still playing silly devils and my knee was giving me grief. I figured that we had about 7 hours to go if all went well, then it would all be over. The only saving grace that I didn't have to concern myself with chafing.

The light was just coming back here but it was still absolutely freezing, even with all the layers on with mittens and hat I couldn't get warm and we were some way into this section before I finally shed a layer.

It was also on this section of the hiking trail where questions were asked about the feasibility of completing. I'd stopped for a second and when I caught up with the other two guys they divulged that they thought they didn't have sufficient in the tank for another 30k's, I advised I'd come too far to sack it so I was going to plough on - likely with another team for safety reasons. One of the guys accepted the challenge and said he was with me. Dave was looking greener and greener by the minute. Not long later there was a tent giving warm punch laid on by Oxfam Trailtrekker, there was a steward here and a girl who was retiring. Dave took the opportunity and gracefully bowed out. Gutting that one of the blokes you've come so far with and has endured so much with you isn't able to continue with you. He was completely shot and had absolutely nothing left in him, he was hallucinating and didn't have the energy to keep his head upright any more. He later admitted he thought it was down to the fact he'd not eaten enough. We gave him a hug and left him in capable hands.

We headed through Kettlewell and on to Conistone. Our support team met us again, we weren't there long. We'd sacked off food now and were relying on dextro tablets, Kendal mint cake, lucozade sport and nurofen. I figured that we wouldn't have time to digest the food for it to work, plus I was so bored of eating. We just troughed sugar and high/fast energy stuffs to drive us on.

We were now only 21.5kms from home. I thought this wasn't far, I would normally not even be feeling any fatigue on this but after 80kms its a bit of a different matter. The climb out of Conistone was not an easy one either, well not at this stage in the game. Now every step was excruciating. I'd not changed my socks at the last stop thinking I could endure 20kms from here, after all it wasn't far, what an error. My feet felt massively bruised on the soles and the blisters were biting badly, the failure in my quest to prevent blisters was overwhelming. It was now a case of one foot in front of the other, I kept saying "inching ever closer" repeatedly to myself. This was fast becoming the most painful thing I'd ever done in my life. At the top of here the path leads you over moorland which was mud that had dried to be like uneven concrete which again isn't great for the soles of your feet. About halfway over the moorland though there is a section of about 100 metres of road. There was an ice cream man here giving all the Trailtrekker participants an ice cream, a great touch.

On the next section we were talking to some guys, I divulged the pain I was going through, they suggested I change my shoes, I told them I'd gone light and didn't have any, so they suggested socks, again - I'd gone light and didn't have any, one of the guys offered me a pair or his. My team mate had a pair which he let me use, this eased the pain and onwards we went. It was a nice gesture of the other chap though underlining the feeling of camaraderie that runs through all participants of the event. Before long we were onto the stretch into Hetton and the temperature was starting to soar as the sun was high in the sky.

It was uneven underfoot and was sore, I think the softest of marshmallows would have been met with a wince at this stage. The road into Hetton was like a Roman road and was as straight as a dye for as far as the eye can see, which wasn't great for morale, I found the best way to deal with it was to look at the floor as I trudged on.

At the end of this straight we turned right into Hetton and walked to the church where the water stop had been set up for us. I was running out of steam at 90 miles an hour now but this was the time to dig deep and find the resolve to get to the end, it was no distance now (comparatively) to get to the finish line.

The Oxfam Trailtrekker crew were amazing here though, they were all very chatty about nothing in particular trying to keep us all buoyant. As soon as we arrived they told us to sit down and take a load off our feet and asked us what we wanted. I asked for a coffee and a juice which were in my hands in no time, shortly followed by a tray of biscuits for us to help ourselves to. We were also asked if we had any bottles they could fill for us, I asked for my camelbak to be half filled as I didn't want to carry the extra weight. One of the support crew asked how many were left in our team and on discovering there were only 2 he told us to join another team in case one of us passed out en route to the finish line. Which we duly did (join another team, not pass out) but with refreshed fire in our bellies and the line so close we were now fuelling solely on Kendal mint cake and dextro's and were really pushing for the finish.

Coming out of Hetton we headed left through a stile and the hiking trail took us alongside the stream. Essentially we followed the stream all the way to Flasby where we went through a gate and took a left over the stream. The road went up the hill and passed a farm before the hill continued through a countryside field. We were now continuously chewing our way through Kendal mint cake and dextro's. The feet were still pretty painful but were numbed by the adrenaline of now being able to smell the finish line. The route continued through High Wood then into what was Crag Wood although this has now been felled.

Before long the uphill is done and its downhill all the way into Skipton although it still is about 3 miles or so to go. This slog whilst painful was endurable as the finishing line was lunging towards us. Before long we were heading over the overpass with Skipton in sight. We were marshaled through a housing estate and into Aireville Park. This truly was the last straight of was had been the toughest undertaking of my life both physically and mentally.

My wife and my teammates girlfriend appeared in the distance, cheering us along, what a welcome sight they were. My shoulders could take no more and I offloaded my pack onto my wife, it was as though my shoulder muscles were continuously being stabbed with red hot needles. A few yards later the hiking trail arrived at the school gates and were met by marshals and supporters. Our numbers were radioed it to someone, I had no idea who. As we rounded the corner onto the field the finish line came into sight and the cheers from the supporters became louder. We crossed the finish line, completing the Oxfam Trailtrekker, 100km (63.5 miles) in around 27 hours and 50 minutes mostly in pain of some description in some part of my body or other. What an achievement... We sat and had a couple of beers which never touched the sides. I said at the time never again but the following week we all met up for beers for a birthday and with the blisters healing and the sense of achievement sinking in we thought that knowing what we know now we could slaughter that time and those that didn't do it wanted to complete it. So that said - bring on the Oxfam Trailtrekker 2014.

A review of the Oxfam Trailtrekker - part 2

On departure from here all our kit was checked by Oxfam Trailtrekker staff as we were now to be walking through the night and at this point it was raining further along the course so we had to be ready for the wet. We also needed to show we had high viz vests, head torches, space blankets, food, water, map, compass and Oxfam Trailtrekker instructions for safety reasons which we did.

We ploughed on to Cam Farm which was to be quite a leg. The hiking trail kicked off being mainly uphill. It was turning dark by the time we arrived at Cam Farm and my blisters were now starting to bite despite the taping and using stride out along with fresh socks at every opportunity I definitely hadn't prevented them. The chafing however was under control, I was ladling the Vaseline on at every opportunity and fortunately it was working - I had no inclination that anything was a problem down there. We were fed homemade soup and pizza at Cam Farm which was great for morale along with biscuits and hot coffee. There was a medical team on standby too to look at participants feet if they were in bad shape. I daren't even look at this point, they were feeling bad, and we pushed on.

This was where it had rained (although we never actually got rained on) and it was really soggy underfoot. I was suffering waves of nausea at this stage and my stomach was doing somersaults, I can only put this down to the food I was gorging in order to continue to fuel myself. I think over the course of the Oxfam Trailtrekker I would burn around 7000 calories, around two days food consumption so I would need to consume that many more calories then I would normally in order to stand still. Obviously this wasn't possible so I just had to chew through as much as I could.

The absence of any hiking trail here meant us yomping through the mud in the pitch black which eventually led to road. It was demoralising in the pitch black but the road only marginally improved things, you don't notice when you're not walking so far but the road is so unforgiving and the soles of your feet take a battering when the ground is so hard leaving the soles feeling badly bruised.

At Deepdale water stop one of our guys retired. He'd given it his all and couldn't go any further. To be fair he'd not trained as he'd been pulled in as a replacement as one of the other guys had pulled out on the Thursday night. In fairness he should really have retired much sooner but through bloody mindedness he'd carried on.

We gave him a hug and left him at Deepdale to be reunited at the next check point in Buckden, which for those doing silver was the finish point at 65km. This section was really quite rubbish, we were hurting, it was pitch black, we were literally following the glow stick on the back of the pack of the person in front of us. It was unpleasant and morale was low. It was a slog through to Buckden. We were however welcomed by the team with sausage sandwiches which was awesome, before I could enjoy the feast though the toilet was calling, my stomach was getting the better of me. I almost dozed off. The sandwich was thrown down as there was too much repair work to do with my feet and we were up against it. The temperature was down at 1 degree which we later found out and sat still was bitterly cold, meaning we had to don all our layers whilst we lanced and plastered our wounds. This was getting pretty unpleasant, stick a pin in your skin a jet of fluid fires out of your heel, squeeze it dry and plaster it up.

A review of the Oxfam Trailtrekker - part 1

There was a briefing and meal organised for the Friday night at the school where we were due to start on the Saturday morning. With 350 teams competing, if you can call it competing, there were 4 start times, 6am, 7am, 8am, and 9am. Being that we were to come from Leeds we decided to go for a 9am start so our sleep wasn't limited. If we were camping at Aireville School as some people were I think we'd have likely gone for 6am.

Naturally the meal was a hefty pasta feast as we were carb loading for the 3 days prior to the walk. The briefings were at every hour from 6pm until 9pm, due to the volume of participants we wouldn't all have fit in the briefing room at the same time, 1400 people is a lot of folk. The briefing only reiterated the info we'd read in the booklets that were avalable online, what I hadn't realised though was that over the 100km we were to ascend the equivalent of Ben Nevis and Snowdon put together which is a fair challenge.

We were back in the morning for the breakfast that the Oxfam Trailtrekker had put on for us which was a fried breakfast and porridge. Apparently fried breakfast is good for slow release energy and is good for morale to kick off with. We'd been eating like pigs for a few days though, so much so that I was getting bored of eating, it was all for a purpose mind.

We got away at just after 9 and the walk took us through Aireville Park and along the canal to Gargrave my knee was starting to give me grief at quite an early stage, like within a couple of miles, which was quite disconcerting and I was wondering if it was gonna be my downfall. In fairness it was only 7 months since I'd had reconstructive surgery on my knee and i hadn't really given it time to settle down. I couldn't sack it off at such an early stage though. I couldn't quite get the cycling shorts in the right place either, I wasn't sure if washing them had compromised their integrity and I was altering them every few hundred yards, this too was starting to concern me, if I couldn't get this right now only a few miles in what would I be like at 40 or 50 miles, chafed the living daylights out of, that was what! Not good. All my work trying to prevent chafing would have been in vain.

The intention was to breeze through the first water stop, which we did only stopping for the loo and to get food out of our bags, which we ate on the move. I'd made stacks of peanut butter sandwiches and cheese and pickle sandwiches, I had bananas, cashews, haribos, tracker bars, boosts, and enough dextro's to sink a cruise liner. This was all to be washed down with whatever water i could carry and 16 bottles of lucozade sport (sports drinks are better as they have salt in to replace the salt you lose through sweating).

The first check point on the Trailtrekker (our support teams were allowed into check points but not into the water stops) was at Malham. At all stops, be it water stops or check points, there are devices whereby you carry a toggle on your wrist that you put into a slot and it recognises you as you check in. This has two main functions, one is so that friends and family can log on online and see where you are and the other is so that the organisers can track you for safety reasons and so that if you go missing along the hiking trail they can identify your last known position and search for you from there.

At Malham we had a quick sock change to keep the blisters at bay and restocked on food and were off again. This section we were faced with the ascent of Malham Cove which is a series of steps all the way up to the limestone pavement. My knees were really suffering here but I seemed to be suffering less with my groin so it appeared I'd managed to prevent chafing to a reasonable extent, there was still a long way to go though. For the major ascents I'd decided to use walking poles in an effort to conserve energy. There is a payoff with poles though I find, that your shoulders end up in pain. This ascent out of Malham was reasonable but that wasn't the end of it, we just kept on going up and up and up to about a height of 660 metres.  When we got to the top of Fountains Fell you get a great view of the back of Pen Y Gent but at the same time what goes up must come down. I don't like going down, or should I say that my knees don't like going down. Some of the other guys love going downhill and flew, I was on knee preservation so took it steady and in pain.

At the bottom of this hill was the next water stop where I had a coffee and used the loo. We took five minutes to patch up feet and blisters before we headed off. For some reason, I can only assume there was no phone reception for the check in units, the check in point was a few hundred metres down the road. We did this before we struck off on the hiking trail up and over the side of Pen Y Gent before we descended into Horton in Ribblesdale for the next check point.

Again our support crew were there, along with a surprise and incredibly morale boosting visit from my parents, and at 25 miles or thereabouts our feet were starting to suffer. We stuck pins in all the blisters that looked like they'd pop as my quest in how to prevent blisters had clearly failed and patched them up. I used blister plasters and taped them on with zinc oxide tape then put on fresh inner socks and outer socks. At this stage though, whilst sore, they were still bearable. We had hot soup, made for us by our support team again great for morale. With the same swift process of stocking back up with food that was now becoming a chore to eat but without fuel we're going nowhere.

More more more of the Leeds Country Way

Leeds Country Way

A much nicer day, I set out on another training walk for the Oxfam Trailtrekker along the Leeds Country Way - a far nicer day this time though. I went for it in my new Merrell Moab mid boots to try break them in but more about that later. Again the same start as the norm and set off through a particularly busy Temple Newsam Park, as it would be on what was the first weekend of pretty spectacular weather, and dare I say it the last for a while. I plodded through the wood in an attempt to shirk the crowds who normally walk up and down the Avenue in Temple Newsam.

The bridleway then skirts Bullerthorpe Lane and emerges not far from Thorpe Park. Rejoining the Leeds Country Way by the M1 I followed the same route through the farm and along the way to Scholes, this part of the route I had already done and was the more pleasant part of the route previously walked. Leaving Scholes via a hiking trail adjacent to the vegetable plots the route heads towards Barwick in Elmet. From here it improved vastly with a more countryside feel.

The route takes you through and alongside various fields which were still dotted with snow - even though it was over a week since we last saw it snow. Not long later the Leeds Country Way arrives in Barwick in Elmet which again is pleasant enough but I'd far rather be walking out of civilisation. I suppose there are plenty of country pubs to benefit from though which is always a plus, more so if you're walking for about 6 or 7 miles, more of a hindrance when you're hoping to walk 20. But Barwick in Elmet is quite nice. You follow the road passed the church on the left with the pub on your right. A left turn leads you out of the village. There's a public footpath which you may be mistaken in taking but by heading down the hill another footpath which is the Leeds Country Way presents itself.

You head out of the village here and over a stream which seemed like a perfect spot for a bit to eat and to micropore the blisters on my feet, blisters are the only bad thing about walking. This leg takes you along the side of a field and leads you over a track where trespassing is prohibited, bit confusing. Skirting a tree line beyond which there was a field of lambs this was one of the nicer stretches of the day, until I came across the A64. This is a treacherous road to cross not only due to the speed of the cars but also as one direction is a complete blind spot. Through Kiddal Wood and you're on the hiking trail to Thorner. Hugging the southern-most edge of the village, by road, then footpath, then road again until it bends to the right you head through the centre of the village. You pass the Mexborough Arms as you cross the crossroads and head out of the village. Through gates and up the hill you arrive in a small hamlet where Oaklands Manor is. On into the hamlet and you can see the yellow marked post which signs the Leeds Country Way. It's only a small hop down the field and you're back onto a road and walking a short hop down to Moat Hall which is the next right hand turn.

At the next opportunity I headed over a style and followed a footpath which turned into a complete bog. Navigable only by crossing make-shift bridges made out of logs. This path emerges into a field and you soon find yourself in Bardsey. Here I consulted the walkmeter and found I was suddenly 12 miles in and I now had to get home. I looked at the map for the most direct route and beautifully discovered that I could maybe shave off a mile or so by just heading in a straighter line then the straight line I'd taken to get here.

I basically backtracked to Thorner along the roads and cut off right before the Leeds Country Way. Walking through Thorner a path headed right before I hit the Leeds Country Way which I took thinking it would reduce the mileage. Which no doubt it did. The path took me into Saw Wood which is attached to Kiddall Wood which I walked through earlier. The path went to oblivion and just seemed to disappear so I just trudged through the woodland until I was close to the A66 then headed east looking for a marked footpath which I duly found.

I then crossed the road and walked down the hill, increasingly concerned at the lack of footpath, I wasn't wrong though as it was once again marked at the bottom of the hill. The hiking trail from here was well marked back to Scholes whereby I followed the standard route back to Temple Newsam park and home. According to the trusty walkmeter on the iphone I'd covered around 23.25 miles which was more than I'd set out for and was pretty pleased with the effort. Hot bath and a homebrew necessary. This was a far nicer stretch of the Leeds Country Way, looking forward to the next leg.

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I'm back! On the Leeds Country Way Hiking Trail

Leeds Country Way

The forecast wasn't great but with my physiotherapy in my head and the Oxfam Trailtrekker in the forefront of my mind I decided to give the Leeds Country Way another shot. I was going to walk from home, through Temple Newsam Park and wind up in a pub somewhere, likely Barwick in Elmet and set myself up in a boozer with a fine mead and call a lift. Which isn't quite how it ended up working out... I figured I'd set out to do about 16 miles but would feel my way through it as it had been a while since I'd been on a walk that far.

So I left home and if was spitting, albeit not too heavy. I walked through Temple Newsam Park and headed in the direction of Swillington. Temple Newsam Park itself is really pleasant. The Leeds Country Way is nowhere to be seen at this point and I'd probably covered 2 - 3 miles before I hit it close to the outskirts of Woodlesford. It started off more pleasant than my previous experience. It winds along footpaths and bridle ways through the outer suburbs of Leeds but passing through the likes of Great Preston (where I think I went wrong) and Kippax do detract from what you expect to be a Country Way as these are not the most pleasant of places. I was trying not to refer to the map too much either as it was throwing it down by the time I got to these places which in itself suggested that I should consult the map more as I should never have been in Kippax itself.

Once out of Kippax though the route takes you down a disused railway where I only came across a couple of cyclists and a couple of dog walkers which was nice, although I'm sure if it wasn't heaving down there would probably have been more traffic.

I then wound up walking into Garforth. Again the route takes you straight through the middle of the town, the surroundings of which you don't expect on a route called the Leeds Country Way. It was whilst walking through Garforth that a thoughtful and observant driver roared through a puddle and soaked me to the bone from the waist down which was far from ideal. Suppose that now meant that I wouldn't be finishing me day in the pub. Not amused!

Once out of Garforth the route heads back into the countryside, accompanied by snow now - which only lasted about 15 minutes in fairness. The route here takes you over the railway and then the M1 heading through a farm and off towards Scholes. The route continues to be marked with the picture of an owl and the letters LCW (Leeds Country Way) which you will see above and is really easy to follow.

Approaching Scholes I still felt pretty ok so I decided to add some miles on and make the yomp back home. It was here that I left the Leeds Country Way and I walked back passed John Smeaton Leisure centre. Through the industrial estate I turned left and when the opportunity arose I turned right and crossed the unmanned crossing of the railway. I then followed a hiking trail in the direction of Thorpe Park Industrial estate. Instead of trudging through suburbia I opted to walk back through Temple Newsam Park to home. I was aching when I landed back, 20.5 miles was the distance according to the iphone walkmeter. Encouraging but still a long way to go.

Again not overly enamoured with the Leeds Country Way but I think the further north I go the nicer it will be. We'll see...

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Oxfam Trailtrekker

A chum of mine likes a challenge, well don't we all. He's been wanting to do something big for a couple of years, so we did the Yorkshire Three Peaks, then the National Three Peaks. He was planning to do the Yorkshire Three Peaks on back to back days which would have been pretty heavy. We were looking at having a stab at the Lakeland 3000's but for one reason or another this never happened, probably because we felt the Lakeland 3000's was almost too much. I then recalled some pals doing this beast, the Oxfam Trailtrekker, well it's a beast in my eyes.

The Oxfam Trailtrekker has 3 different levels, bronze, silver and gold, with differing distances around the Yorkshire Dales. So of course if you're going to test yourself you'd might as well go for broke and really fire headlong into it with full commitment. He told me we were doing gold. It's for teams of four, the other two guys he's roped in aren't so sure we can do it, 100km's is a long way. Especially when we've got just 2 months to train for this behemoth of a yomp.

So the training for the Oxfam Trailtrekker starts here, odd to think that 5 months ago I was barely hobbling out of hospital having had reconstructive surgery only to be having a shot at this monster just around the corner. Bring it on. Yeah I'm full of it now, unlikely ill be as bullish after having meandered for 40 miles around the Yorkshire Dales.

Long walks - something to get your teeth into.

Following my jaunt on the national 3 peaks and my preparation for the Lakeland 3000's (which sadly I haven't managed to embark upon yet due to my pesky foot) I thought I'd have a scout around the Internet to find out what challenges I could set myself - cos we all like a challenge don't we!

I was humbled upon my first click through google where Stuart Ashley and Susan Cullimore-Pike walked the "Heart of Scotland" walk (read the full article here). This beast is 104 miles long! That is a monster of a walk, which I will hasten to add they completed in one sitting in an amazing time of 38 hours and 41 minutes. This kind of puts into perspective what some folks are capable of. At the same time The TGO challenge is a huge undertaking too at around 200 miles and I'll take this opportunity to congratulate those who completed it recently. These are challenges that really take grit and determination and leave you with an enormous sense of well being.

This brought me to the awesome website of The Long Distance Walkers Association which has loads of long distance walks all over the country and is exceptionally well put together. This has really wet the appetite and has instantly given me a list of walks I'm keen as the proverbial mustard to have a shot at. I think I'll be starting with the shorter ones mind and build up to the 100 mile plus blister fests.

The National 3 Peaks Challenge - Snowdon (Peak Number 3)

View Snowdon Round Trip in a larger map

It transpired the girls had already made it to the top however they had actually taken the route that the train takes to the top of Snowdon from Llanberis.

We were very well versed now at getting enough clobber together for the ascent of a mountain (this one being Snowdon) and we were set to go in no time. We managed to leave the car at about 2:00pm in blazing sunshine without a cloud in the sky, should we not have been so exhausted and in such a hurry it would have been a really pleasant saunter up to the top. An executive decision was made to head south and take the Miners Path (there are two routes, the Miners Path and the Pyg Track) as it was generally flatter and more meandering than the Pyg track - until they meet about 2/3rds of the way up Snowdon. This turned out to be a one of my all time backfires. Whilst I was walking on the flat or almost flat my heel rubbed on the back of my shoe and it was tender feeling as though someone had packed my shoe with broken glass.

I was trailing the pack by some distance, the time was against us badly but the pain really prevented me making any quicker progress, hopefully I could make it back on the uphill. The walk itself is stunning though passing by various lakes as you go. Llyn Teryn is the first you pass, from here you can see a pretty ugly water pipe that bisects the landscape as it climbs straight up the mountain. This pipe carries water to the Hydroelectric works below in Cwn Dyli. By the waters edge you can see the remains of the miners weekday barracks.

As you continue up the path, there is no real ascent being made at this point and it was pretty punishing, you arrive at the very blue Llyn Llydaw. Blue because of the copper content of the lake which is as a result of all the copper that has been thrown in to the lake by the miners. This naturally means that there are zero fish in here. It's good to know this in advance as it does look pretty welcoming when you're actually there. You head over the causeway that goes over the lake and you pass on the right hand side the remains of the copper crushing buildings. These are reputed to have never made any money, so much so that there is a letter from a Victorian lady who describes "we have a new hobby in Wales, we dig holes in the ground and pour money into them!" great investment - sounds like some of our banks!


You get an awesome view of the summit of Snowdon from here along with the walkers hiking along the ridge line. With it being such a great day - there were hoards. The road-like path continues up to the next lake, Glaslyn, which is smaller than the last. From here the path ascends to meet with the Pyg Track (named after the Pen y Gwryd, the name of the hotel at the bottom of the pass much used by the earlier mountain walkers). This is really where the climb begins and my pain subsided. I'd caught up with the other guys here and I was starting to get concerned about the diminishing hours we had. This was slightly compounded due to the volume of people heading up the mountain which slows you down as you end up going at their pace rather than yours. Everyone stayed positive though and we were striding out where we could in order to ensure that not only did we get to the top but that we get to the bottom by 6:45pm.

Some of the guys exchanged pleasantries with what I assumed was someone they had already met on another hillside before this one. As she left them I overheard her say to her walking companion "They are in totally the wrong place to complete it in time!" My heart sank and so much ran through my particularly mushy and slow brain (it was even slower than normal). I voiced my concerns to the blokes. Some where positive, some were down. We stopped and exchanged views on chances of success, we had three hours to get to the top and back down again. From over our shoulders we heard "You'll easily get to the top in three hours!" from a helpful stranger. I asked him if we'll get down again in that time, the look on his face confirmed our concern. "Yeah, hmmm, if you run."

We'd come all this way, had such nightmares and run into problem after problem. If we hadn't got caught in traffic in Glasgow, if we hadn't got lost in the Lake District, if we had bought an Atlas when we had the chance, if we had brought an Atlas with us in the first place, if we had brought a TomTom, if we'd done any of these things we'd have done it but noooooooooo. That said something took over and the sensation of what we'd already done dawned on us, we were 21 hours in and we have to give it some to do it but it wasn't out of the question yet so with grit and determination we forged our way for the summit, foaming at the mouth as a result of the volume of dextrose tablets I was troughing. Best to go for it then repeat what we'd already done at a later stage.

We managed to get to summit by 4:30pm. We saw Michelle and Nicky and they were full of encouragement which was a top boost - they'd been up here an age so were pretty ready to head down fortunately. There was no time for anything, no cup of tea, as was originally planned, no ice cream no nothing - apart from the photos to prove we'd been there. The Pyg Track is shorter but steeper so we decided to get down this one, jogging on all but the flat bits (jogging on the flat was exhausting and agony). The pad in the back of my shoe was pushing my foot forward and I could feel my toe getting bruised, no time to worry about it. This is exactly where accidents happen if you're not careful but it was dry the light was great and I wasn't feeling the urge to redo this whole 3 peaks challenge in order to complete it in the 24 hours to speed was my best friend.


We made great progress on the descent and when we rounded the corner that revealed the finish like with time to spare we could rejoice, we had about done it, we were there we surely couldn't fail at this point. We waited for all the guys so that we all crossed the line together, which we duly did, with an enormous sense of satistaction and joy and in need of a pint. We got down off Snowdon and into the car park by 6:15pm and the Saturday, completing the national 3 peaks challenge and the mountains of Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon, along with the four hundred and some miles in between in 23 hours 30 minutes. And we were thirsty, really thirsty, so we quenched it. Oh joy.

The National 3 Peaks Challenge - Scafell Pike (Peak Number 2)

View Scafell Pike - 3 Peaks in a larger map

Bleary eyed we got out of the van in the Lake District and put clean socks on and my shoes ready to drag ourselves up Scafell Pike. This was far from a pleasant experience. I hadn't changed the dressing on my foot as it had wept during the first walk and it had dried so I didn't was to pull the wound off with the dressing. I'm not sure if this was the reason or not as to why it was giving me so much grief from the off. I was thankful that I had the key for the van in case I ended up turning back.

We'd left the van (075873) at 6am and only minutes later started passing people that we recognised from Ben Nevis, I was a bit delirious at this point, due to the total lack of sleep although looking at the dudes heading off for Snowdon I actually felt quite fresh, this was what we were to look forward to and more (or worse). Looking up you can see the path trace up the Scafell Pike and again into thick cloud - ace! This is a spectacular view on a clear day however this wasn't to be one of them.

You follow Lingmell Gill heading up Scafell Pike with the stream on your right. You then cross the stream where the path veers to the right (at 195075). This can be a bit of a precarious crossing and if you stay and watch long enough you should see someone go in, one of our guys did. This is always a source of huge amusement and lifts spirits - even if it's yourself.

By this point everyone is feeling the burn and on little or no sleep anything was an effort. Harry had made himself a strong mix of lemon cordial and water which turned on him with a vengeance and ended up exiting his body with great haste on a number of occasions all over the hillside. The view of Wastwater (the deepest lake in the Lake District and indeed inEngland) is awesome from this ascent. However it wasn't long before we'd hit the fog line and the views that we'd enjoyed disappeared into the mist leaving us staring at the floor and trudging uphill one step at a time. I employed the slow but sure theory and kept plugging away.

The path forks (at 202074) and we took the left fork, I've made this mistake before and the right fork takes you up towards the Lords Rake and some pretty challenging gullies leading to the Scafell Pike summit - this was not the day to be attempting this. There was a constant stream of people heading down now as we trudged up through the cloud one step at a time. The fatigue was setting in pretty heavily now but we had a place to be and a time to be there so no stops were scheduled on this ascent and none were taken, just a steady yomp to the top.

Eventually we arrived, in the cloud, at the top of Scafell Pike with the second of the three summits now conquered. The time was by now around 8am and we had to get down, with very limited visibility there was nothing to hang around for apart from to catch our breath. With the burn affecting different muscles groups on the descent everyone roared off aiming downhill - next stop the bottom. There was still patchy snow at the top with gave a clue as to the temperature, up here though it felt nowhere near as baltic as it was up on Ben Nevis in Scotland only hours earlier.

With poles out to cushion the impact it wasn't too long before we'd emerged out of the cloud and the view of Wastwater was pretty impressive. No time really to take it in, today was a challenge rather than a ramble. In brief sporadic moments the cloud whipped back up and surrounded us momentarily eradicating the view. We yomped back down to the van with knees starting to give a bit a grief but we were through half way now and although time was tight we were in with a shot of completing the 3 peaks in the 24 hours.

We arrived at the van for 9:30am to the smell of sausages as a car next to us (all the other vans had already left for Snowdon) prepared lunch for themselves or their compadres who had hiked off into the yonder somewhere to return to a hearty feast. Feeling pretty shattered now, starving and craving snags we'd managed to get up and down Scafell Pike in three and a half hours, fair play we weren't pulling up any trees but we were pretty pleased with that and it certainly put us back in the running for complete the 3 Peaks in the 24 hours which I certainly thought had slipped from our palms as we were tearing though non marked villages around 4 hours earlier.

Same drill as before we all grabbed food, took off shoes to give our feet a breather and jumped aboard the, by now a bit grotty, fun bus. There were shortbread crumbs all over the back seat and coffee swilling up and down the floor. These were minor issues we could sort at a later stage for now we had to get to Llanberis and the base of Snowdon like yesterday.

With that in mind Ken took the wheel and we tore out of the Lake District (I think) - I managed to get some sleep in and dozed pretty much until we came off the A55.

View Directions to snowdon in a larger map

We were meeting a couple of our girlfriends, who were going to climb Snowdon with us but they'd got a reasonably early start so were already there to our knowledge. We arrived somewhere near the bottom car park and the roads were lined with cars, the weather had brightened up a treat and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. If we weren't so tired we may have marvelled at the view.

Being right up against it timewise we drove to the car park with our fingers and toes crossed for a space. There weren't any so we decided to wait on the off chance people would be leaving. It was the right call and within 10 mins we were in the car park and throwing kit on to get a shift on. It was touch and go whether we were going to get up and down before 6:45pm.

The National 3 Peaks Challenge - Ben Nevis (Peak Number 1)

View Ben Nevis in a larger map

Suited and booted we started off across the bridge opposite the Youth Hostel (717128) at 6:45pm we figured we had until around 10pm before we'd start losing light so we had to get cracking. This became particularly important when we realised that Ben Nevis summit was shrouded in cloud - somewhere, anywhere up in front.

We started off up the foothills following the path that zig zagged as we went. Not 10 minutes after we started everyone was stopping to shed layers that we'd donned in the expectation that it was going to be cold - err wrong, at least for the time being.

The path winds it's way up the hill then crosses a waterfall by means of a bridge. We seemed to be passing an awful lot of people heading in the opposite direction to us however only one passed us heading up the way. On the whole we got off to a great start, my heel was giving me some grief on the flat but anything more than a gradual incline and I walked on the balls of my feet meaning I couldn't feel anything.


The path wound to the left up one side of a huge valley, it was here that we started to get some awesome views of the mountains at the far side of Glen Nevis and Glencoe far into the distance.


As we appeared over the initial ridge on Ben Nevis at a height of about 500 metres and we came across the Lochan Meall an t-Suidhe, here we could see hoards of people (including the only chap that passed us) in the distance heading down the path. Whether they'd hit the summit or not I wasn't sure, it did strike me that they probably had as it appeared to be an odd time for such hoards of people to be yomping up Ben Nevis - the biggest mountain in the UK. As we turned the corner (at 147725) you can start to see where materials have been lifted up the mountain in order to restore the pathways which is so vital for what is really a tourist attraction. With the number of people that walk this path on an annual basis it's state is sure to deteriorate in a short space of time, this is why it is so sad to hear that the operations of the Nevis Partnership are to cease operations (read the full article here) which will largely affect the condition of the mountain paths.


Going was slow giving priority to those going downhill at this time, it was phenomenal how many people were starting to appear from out of the clouds which were now starting to get thicker and thicker.


It was essential that at this point we all stuck together and at all times we could all see each other and should anyone fall out of sight we all hollered until we were all as a group again. Bit slow going but always better safe than sorry. Once we were in the cloud I was constantly checking the Satmap to ensure that the path that we were on was in fact the right path as visibility was limited. This is a very well trodden path and the way ahead is very clear. Some passers by let us know that it was about 20 mins to Ben Nevis summit from the start of the snow.

It seemed to be relentless with no snow in sight and no landmarks to get a gauge of the distance the only fix on location we had was the Satmap Active 10 which gave us the altitude and therefore the ascent we had left.

Realising we were running short on daylight we really had to push on and the thigh burn was really kicking in as was the biting cold. Gloves, hats, jumpers were all thrown on to keep the cold at bay even though we were slogging our guts out to get up there it wasn't enough to warm the extremities. Not far later we hit the snow and we were forcing ourselves on gasping for breath, not down to the altitude more the exertion due to the pace we were doing. Poles were now a necessity, dragging ourselves up the hill, without them would have been a case of 1 step forward, 2 steps back.

Knowing that we couldn't be up here for long as we had to be out of the cloud this side of darkness we were striding out jeering each other on, everyone was well aware of the time frame but hearing it from the other dudes made sure you didn't ease off the gas and I didn't until I got cramp, as did Si. Every step it was firing up my left quad from my knee to the top of my leg both on the inside and out - every step I was screaming into the mist in fierce pain. We'd not eaten a bite since we left the van and we were paying the price. Kenny had some nuts to hand so he loaded my palms and I troughed them, this seemed to do the trick and kept it at bay for now.

I'd never been up Ben Nevis before so didn't know the landmarks on the summit, Ken did however and recognised the cairn with the shelter at the top - which apparently was an observatory in times gone by. Gotta say the view of the stars from here on a clear night would be heavenly, sadly we weren't blessed with that fortune. We had the customary photo where everyone put on a loose smile to prove that we'd been there, we ate chocolate and we got head torches out of bags to guide our way down - all in about the time that it's taken you to read the last two lines.


And we started off down the way at pace to try to get out of the cloud and out of the cold. We couldn't get out of the cold quick enough and checking the temperature it was around -2 degrees. My hands were in agony with the cold. Dave let me borrow his gloves to try get some warmth back into them. I carried my poles under my arm and put all my fingers and thumbs into the gloves together in an attempt to get some feeling back. Sadly we couldn't wait for this and had to truck down in the meantime. Si's cramp hadn't dispersed he was now onto re hydration sachets to try get rid of it. It had instant benefits but didn't get rid of it entirely. As we emerged out of the cloud the night lightened up. Bizarrely the cloud was localised over the summit of Ben Nevis itself and in places the sky was quite clear giving us enough light to descend the hill under.

From this point we didn't need torches until we rounded the valley top and walked past the loch that we'd past earlier on. Lucky really as Pike had lost his (turns out he lost it in his bag, that was on his back, we later found out). The descent was a touch slow and the zig zag path out of the valley and back to the river was pretty rocky. This is where accidents can happen so there was no point in rushing things and writing ourselves off, particularly as some of us were in trainers. My foot gave me a fair amount of grief here not having sight of where I was putting my feet.

Successfully down we got back to the van at midnight with Ben Nevis done. We literally opened up the boot chucked all our clobber in and got some food out, we were on the road within minutes following the 265 mile route to teh Lake District as laid out on the map below.

View Larger Map

Pike was at the wheel this time, giving the rest of us the chance of some kip. Well kip wasn't really what we got as we careered down the Highland B roads and along the windy shores of the colossal Loch Lomond. I more got a headache where my head bounced off the window for around 90 minutes in a semi slumber as we ricocheted south leaving me feeling as though I was wearing the window like a brittle sombrero.

Somewhere around Glasgow (I think, I'm not sure, it was still dark though) we changed driver and Dave had a blaze.

On the motorways now I did sleep-ish.

At around 4am I was woken up (I don't know who it was by) with the words "Dave says can you drive?" I was behind the wheel seconds later to give Dave a shot at trying to get some snooze in before we set to with Scafell Pike in the Lake District.

Having been asleep my eyes were still half glued shut where my contact lens had set behind my eyelids. My vision was a touch foggy although I thought it better to keep this nugget of wisom to myself for the time being. I took over the driving as we'd just come off the motorway heading around the Northern Lake District heading for the coast. This is where we really started to regret not having bought an atlas. We had two iPhones which were both telling us to go in opposite directions. We had an OS map for Scafell Pike, which we would have been able to use in about 9 miles time, so we were in the hands of god and we guessed. After some time of blazing round country lanes in the dusky light, following our noses we somehow successfully arrived at a roundabout that we'd torn round about 45 minutes earlier, the challenge was slipping away from us already. In the end the trusty satmap got us back on track in the right direction and we arrived at the car park at 5:45am to a line of hire vans occupied by drivers awaiting the return of their climbers so that they could get underway to Snowdon, we didn't have that luxury.

The National 3 Peaks Challenge - getting started

Date: 14th-15th May
National 3 Peaks Mountains: Ben Nevis 1344m (Scotland), Scafell Pike 980m (England), Snowdon 1080m (Wales)
Distance: 24 miles
Vertical ascent: 2980 metres
Time Allowed: 24 hours
Road miles 475 miles

In the face of all adversity and totally ill prepared (from a point of view of training not from an equipped angle), on Friday 14th May 2010, 7 of us embarked on a self supported attempt of the National 3 Peaks Challenge.

My day started in hospital having my foot treated and dressed. I had a surfing accident about a fortnight back in Australia where I had the heel of my foot sliced off leaving me unable to wear shoes or trainers. The prospect of doing some 20 odd mountain miles along the hiking trail in flip flops was not turning me on so I had to somehow conceal and protect the yellow and green soggy mess that my heel had become in order to make the yomp palatable. Once dressed I was packed up with plenty of dressings and given strict instructions to strip it all off after each mountain and let it dry out in the hours between walking before redressing it to start the next of the 3 peaks.

All the chaps arrived at mine and we set off in the fun bus just 15 mins later than hoped at 11:45am, not bad considering 2 of the guys had meetings that morning.

Half an hour up the road we realised that we had no satnav, furthermore we had no atlas but with senses of direction and iPhones being overworked we decided we'd plough on and get an atlas when we stopped. This necessity slipped our mind at the first stop and at the 2nd they were £20 so our senses of direction were to continue being overworked unless we acquired one for a fraction of that price.

We were hoping to be at Ben Nevis base to kick off on the first hiking trail of the 3 Peaks by 5pm to get the show on the road. Naturally this plan was whisked out of the window as we hit the Glasgow rush hour traffic. After crawling into Glasgow for what seemed like an age we decided it might be wise to postpone the attempt by a day as mounting Ben Nevis in the dark was a particularly bad idea, well it was never going to happen. It crossed our minds to get a hotel for the night and go out for a few beers. Everyone got excited at this prospect, until we realised that the van had to be back by 2am on Sunday morning not leaving us enough time to do Scafell Pike and Snowdon. Dissapointment spread amongst the ranks, this meant it was do or die (well not literally, more like do or don't).

With that in mind and Kenny at the wheel we forged our way through Glasgow and got the hammer down Fort William wards.

With white knuckles, sweaty palms and palpitations we arrived at the base of Ben Nevis and parked in a layby across the road from youth hostel in Glen Nevis at a time that seemed to be before we'd left Glasgow however it was indeed around 6:30pm (Friday 14th May), here we were ready to start the National 3 Peaks Challenge. We all leaped out of the van and ripped bags out of the boot as we changed into our walking kit in the middle of the road ready to get a wriggle on and get up that hill. Not off to a great start, it could surely only get better. Well that was one way of looking at it.....

The Lakeland 3000's

I was in the pub the other night having a few fine beverages when I had a banter with Si, a Dark chum of mine, with whom I completed the Yorkshire 3 Peaks hiking trail year. This was no walk in the park but we managed to complete the 25 miles in just over 10 hours (some of the blokes did do it in under - one ran the last 8 miles from the top of Ingleborough which was a feat in itself - he was keen for a pint though in fairness). Just after we completed the Yorkshire 3 Peaks hiking trail it was muted that we undertake something a bit more challenging this year (as if that wasn't enough) so he has come up with a new challenge which I haven't quite come across before and thinking about it for very good reason. We did originally discuss doing the National 3 Peaks however on further inspection it appears that this would be too easy (cough cough splutter wretch). Since our chat on Friday I've searched high and low for a walking resource that details or explains this "8 3000 Peaks" route (or similar) to no avail however I am pretty sure there must be some headcase out there that has bitten off this mouthfull and successfully chewed it. Undoubtedly there will countless more folk out there that will have had a good gnaw and ended up spitting out the mangled mess!

The challenge is to take in the 8 highest peaks in England (all over 3000 feet) within 24 hours. All of these are in the Lake District and are as follows;

Skiddaw northern fells 3054
Lower Man (Hellvelyn) eastern fells 3035
Hellvelyn eastern fells 3117
Broad Crag southern fells 3064
Ill Crag southern fells 3068
Scafell Pike southern fells 3209
Symond’s Knott southern fells 3146
Scafell southern fells 3164

This is gonna be a huge undertaking, being around 42 miles in length and around 10,500 vertical feet it is going to be torture but it is being done for a great cause - Dreams Come True.

The plan is to break the colossal hiking trail into 3 roughly even parts and head to the Lake District to walk each leg in preparation. The aim of these acclimatisation walks is two fold, firstly and the most obvious is for physical training - 42 miles is a fair slog and without training, especially in the hills, it will for sure be impossible. Secondly we need to know the route we are to take. If we head in the wrong direction for even as little as 15 mins on the day we will have obviously have to backtrack that 15 mins, saving time is essential and we can't afford that delay, nor can we afford the wasted energy in covering that ground.

I wondered what this years challenge was going to be. Not any more.........

Below is a map of the route we're going to take;

View 8 peaks route in a larger map