Well the start at Horton-In-Ribblesdale was interesting... firstly parking in the wrong sports field car park... I parked in the field where Christians Against Poverty and the Brain Trust were based.... and then had to walk across the village to the car park for the Leukemia Research and Heart Trust Walkers Start... there was a large queue and I an even larger swarm of midges... Insect repellent a necessity next time. [Note "next time"]
After registration at 7.40 it was onto the first "peak" Pen-y-gent... a gentle incline and a short meander along The Penine Way and finally a scramble to the top.... Fantastic vViews, the sun was shining. albeit briefly... the snake-like procession made it's way down the slope towards Whernside... it looks pleasant, ambling over the moor alongside the viaduct... that is until you get the clouds of midges.... and the bog...
So in my wisdom I asked for some wind and rain to disperse them... Perhaps I should have been more specific as the heavens opened and a wind the likes of the Chinook came up the valley. Unfortunately from the moment you cross the railway until the moment you reach the foot of Whernside you are completely exposed. So I guess there's about an 8 mile walk there...
the path across the moor is narrow, if there weren't a procession of 600 or more people all trying to cross you could turn back if the weather was truly foul... as on Saturday...
I would expect a walk over the peak to be reasonably pleasant on a good day... but with winds gusting at 40-60mph it's not pleasant!! When combined with rain, which is being blown up from the valley and horizontally over the top. Biting into your face with each pace...
As the rain kept driving the ground underfoot became more treacherous, the mud becoming like slurry running down the hill.
Drenched to the skin at Hill Farm, 17.5 miles in 6 and a half hours, even the Hill Farm Hot Chocolate and Sausage Sandwich was unable to warm my core...
Walking to the next checkpoint I was advised that they were not letting people continue as the weather had closed in and it was not safe... so 2 peaks and 17.5 miles was as far as I got.
My pride would have made me want to continue but my head was telling me it wasn't safe... in the end I was glad I didn't have to make the call.
I waited for almost an hour for the minibus to take me back to Horton, there were some very cold wet and sick people to be taken back before me....
I intend to go back to complete the walk....
After registration at 7.40 it was onto the first "peak" Pen-y-gent... a gentle incline and a short meander along The Penine Way and finally a scramble to the top.... Fantastic vViews, the sun was shining. albeit briefly... the snake-like procession made it's way down the slope towards Whernside... it looks pleasant, ambling over the moor alongside the viaduct... that is until you get the clouds of midges.... and the bog...
So in my wisdom I asked for some wind and rain to disperse them... Perhaps I should have been more specific as the heavens opened and a wind the likes of the Chinook came up the valley. Unfortunately from the moment you cross the railway until the moment you reach the foot of Whernside you are completely exposed. So I guess there's about an 8 mile walk there...
the path across the moor is narrow, if there weren't a procession of 600 or more people all trying to cross you could turn back if the weather was truly foul... as on Saturday...
I would expect a walk over the peak to be reasonably pleasant on a good day... but with winds gusting at 40-60mph it's not pleasant!! When combined with rain, which is being blown up from the valley and horizontally over the top. Biting into your face with each pace...
As the rain kept driving the ground underfoot became more treacherous, the mud becoming like slurry running down the hill.
Drenched to the skin at Hill Farm, 17.5 miles in 6 and a half hours, even the Hill Farm Hot Chocolate and Sausage Sandwich was unable to warm my core...
Walking to the next checkpoint I was advised that they were not letting people continue as the weather had closed in and it was not safe... so 2 peaks and 17.5 miles was as far as I got.
My pride would have made me want to continue but my head was telling me it wasn't safe... in the end I was glad I didn't have to make the call.
I waited for almost an hour for the minibus to take me back to Horton, there were some very cold wet and sick people to be taken back before me....
I intend to go back to complete the walk....
