Well, we're all back in one piece (each).
It was a hard slog.
In total, there were 5 of us. Steven, Rixy, Scott and Myself set off from Bradford, and met Jools, from Howden, in the Cavendish carpark.
Despite Steve being 15 minutes late, we arrived on time at 10:00. The journey over was filled with giggles, but the weather was trying to put dampners on us.
When we got there, we spent about 20 minutes just milling about, gearing up, and discussing the route. We followed Jools lead, as his map was waterproof, which they hadn't invented 20 years ago when I got my map!
We lost Steve pretty quick, but he then re-appeared, right before out eyes!!!
(NB: He wore his Airsoft gear, the most suitable gear in his possesion, before forking out loads, on kit he may never use again. Fair enough.)
We followed the path up towards Strid Wood, stopping 20 minutes in to re-check the map, get more 'comfortable' and drop a layer.
We donned our layers again, and carried on into the open.
Despite the weather, the going was easy, and the view wasn't too bad.
We carried on walking...and talking (which is fine on the level, we'll come to walking, talking AND climbing uphill later!)
We discussed walking, ales, guns etc...proper MAN stuff ;-)
We crossed Barden Bridge and re-checked the map.
At this point, I was guaging how far we had gone, how far we had to go, and how far we HADN'T climbed yet! I knew there was something to come, but it didn't hit until a mile or so later.
Through the farm, over the road, and up the track...UP...UP...UP...and UP. We covered about 800 yeards, then we had to take a breather where the track leveled out to cross a road. That was steep!
What none of us, apart from Jools, realised was what was to come. It got STEEPER!!!
Fortunately the track weaved, which I guess helped, probably.
Steve was lagging a bit, but we kept holding on for him. It wasn't until we were rounding the next corner that we realised how bad it hit him.
Never mind, drop his rucksack and feed him sweets and water, that'll sort him out.
The hill was steep, very steep. After 20 minutes, he was sorted. He had just over exerted himself I thing, maybe we kept the pace a little too fast. Who knows. Either way, he picked himself up (we shared his pack for a bit) and carried on...carried on up. Just as we were nearing the end of the steep climb, there was a gate, a locked gate. Just what we wanted, but we had to climb over it, as it was locked. The obviously slightly more experienced ones climbed over near the hinge end, Scott climbed over the wobbly middle haha.
We were however, all fools.
As we jumped down the other side, we saw the stile...off to one side...hidden behind a wall!
We carried on up the hill, and once again into the open, exposed hillside.
A little further up...
The higher we got, the colder, wetter and less enticing it became. We were nearly there though, just over this next ridge. Surely?
The going was quite tough here. The path was narrow and we all had our heads down, just tramming along.
As we crested the ridge, the going got better, well made paths and a steady incline were well appreciated.
And then...the summit.
We could just see it through the mist. A little further than I expected, but it was there...in sight.
We got our heads down and went for it. The path there was OK, and we all had the summit in our sights.
As we got near, there was an outcrop of rocks...and an alert on Jools' GPS said there was a geocache nearby! He hunted for it, we got some shelter!
It was decided we would have a bite to eat there. Jools and Scott got their butties out, Steve got his Jetboil out (which he was sharing with Rixy), and I got my Dutch Army Meths Stove out.
Little did I know that I would turn to Steve for his Jetboil. By the time my water had started becoming tepid, we had cooked up 3 rat pack meals on Steve's stove...time for me to change mine. (Thanks to Jools for sharing this, if you subscribe to Trail magazine, you get a FREE Primus Solo HERE)By the time our meals had cooked, my water was just warm enough for a quick brew.
We stood around, shivering but having a good laugh and a dig at each other.
The weather was poor, but the spirits were high (even though Jools never found his cache.
We had been stood around in the cold and rain, but sheltered from the wind, for nearly half an hour, so it was time to move on and touch the trig, before heading down.
We did the further 200 yards, and in the weather, it was a bit of a scramble to the trig.
Unfortunately, Steve never made it, and plunged to his death in the clouds below...only joking...he just stayed at the bottom of the scramble as his legs/feet were knackered.
Scott, Myself, and Rixy, at the Trig.
The view from the trig.
From the trig, we chose to go towards Lords Seat, and down past the Grouse Butts. The path was excellent. Man made from big slabs of stone. This was a lovely pasth to walk, after the slog up.
It was pretty uneventful on the way down. We got talking between ourselves about this and that, and just kept going as the weather was worse than ever.
Many things were learnt from the trip out today.
I learnt that, despite the weather, I'll be heading out again.
I have Whernside booked for 18th November ;-)
I also learnt that I need LOTS of new/different kit if I'm venturing out more. I thought my kit would be OK, but it was actually less than adequate.
Steve has already been in touch, to discuss some better kit for himself, which surely mean he has got the bug?
Despite missing Brother David (due to his injury), it was a good set of lads to be out with, and I look forward to more outings soon.
Here's a map of the outing, with some good stats HERE
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