Sorry it took so long to reply. I’ve done a bit of a trip report, apologies if it is a little long, I found it hard to restrict too much. I hope you find it of some interest.
The big ideaThe idea of this trip was first floated over a late-night game of Risk. Having spent the last few hours trying to conquer the world, it didn't seem like a big deal to conquer a few mountains in the British Isles, over a few days.
And so it was, the ideas were turned into plans and we put feelers out to see what the interest would be amongst friends. Within a couple of weeks we had our maximum of 14 seats in our minibus secured with a deposit. We crumbled to further pressure from others who were mad-keen to join us, increasing to 16 the number of seats filled. With only 17 actual seats on the bus, it was going to be tight. Various threats were issued that we were going to borrow an Easyjet hand luggage sizing basket and reject anything (or anyone) that couldn't squeeze in.
Most of our party had either not done much by way of a multi-day walking trip or what they had done amounted to a DOE trip some 15-20 years ago, so the challenge was a bit of an unknown quantity for us all.
A few practice walks later and people were well aware of their limitations and a bit of healthy competition started to flow. Folks were then able to set their own training schedule depending on how unfit or terrified they were.
Trip Day One (Slieve Donard)Alarms were set for about 5am and with a few pick-up points timing was important to get off to a good start. As more and more got on the bus it became clear that most folk hadn't got much more than a few hours sleep. For some it was sheer excitement, for others it was the dread of what the next day would bring. For me, it was hoping to goodness that I had booked the ferries for the right weekend! We had only started the trip and already we were down a few hours sleep, here it goes.
I always thought the trip would get off to a great start if we could only get a dry spell for at least the first morning, then the spirits would be high. And boy it didn't disappoint, it was a glorious morning, the Mournes looked majestic as we were driving towards them. Excitement was building, well at least amongst the first few rows of the bus; the rest could see nothing but bags and more bags.
We took it easy up Slieve Donard, bit conserving energy, bit enjoying the company and a lot of simply enjoying the view before us, behind us and all around us. A snack and a few pics at the top and then off we went again, bang on time.
'Friendly' acknowledgement that there was one man still on his way up.
It was then off to Dublin for the 2:30pm ferry to Holyhead. A wee quick jaunt on the other side and we arrived at Bangor where we would be staying for the night.
Tap & Spile - Home of some great ales and a huge mixed grill, or the 5th peak as it came to be known.
A great day had by all, everyone was buzzing.
Day 2 - Snowdon and Scafell PikeBuzzing you say....Day 2 or still night time of day 1? The 04:30 alarm clock went off. Up and at 'em.
Snowdon05:50 and we were off on foot from the Pen-y-Pass car park, which surprisingly had quite a few cars in it already. The plan was up the Pyg track and down the Miner's Track. Bathed in sunlight we were blessed once again.
Crib Goch ahead, part of the Snowdon horeshoe, but not for us, at least not today. We turned left with it towering above
Rumblebum & whoRya with the Miner's Track far below and the Pyg Track snaking along the mountainside on the right, all heading towards the peak of Snowdon.
Unfortunately the weather closed in a bit so we didn't get a view from the top. I didn't even notice the restaurant. I did notice some folk bivvying though. I thought it odd they were still in bed at this time of the day, oh yea it was still only 8am!
On the way down we had to don the waterproofs, but it was short-lived and we got to dry out again walking down the Miner's Track
The real 'icing on the cake' was that my auntie and uncle who live in North Wales were waiting back at the car park where they had set up a table with tea, coffee, freshly made baguettes and home-baked cakes (
A good blogger would have tied that in with the icing on the cake thing!). A few poor weary walkers, probably at the end of their
3 peaks (pah! wusses!) started to enquire how much it was for a cup of tea. Our guys were quite struck by the kindness of the act and the gratitude was evident on their faces.
The car park was now completely full with, bus after bus and car after car getting turned away - get here before half nine!
But not much hanging around for us, off we went on our long journey to the Lakes. There is always a risk in blindly following a satnav, ours took us up over the hills along very narrow roads which resulted in a few games of chicken with oncoming cars. Size usually wins and our bus seemed to successfully dictate that it was the car that should back-up to the nearest passing point. One car somehow managed to nearly reverse into a ditch on the
opposite side of the road! We’ll be kind and say that it must have been a confused European tourist in a hire car.
Scafell PikeWe had debated quite a bit, especially following advice offered on this very site, about what route to take on Scafell Pike, in the end settling on Wasdale Head being the starting point. The thinking being, that in a straight toss up between one hour extra on a bus or one hour extra walking, that our group would cope better with the bus.
It was about 4:30pm now and with the sister of one of our group blazing a five hour trail in her car to meet up with us, but running a little late, the bulk of the group set off from the National Trust car park. Funny how a bit of waiting about can lead to a bit of mischief. In this instance a decent-sized rock managed to find its way into one climber’s rucksack.
Our route involved crossing Lingmell Beck, then following the path alongside the Brown Tongue. At the fork in the path just before hollow stones, the right hand path would lead us up to a short scramble up onto Mickledore, the col between Scafell Pike and Scafell.
Once our late arrival joined us we struck off at a steady and brisk pace to see if we could catch the rest of the group. I really enjoyed this walk since travelling in a small group I was able to completely find my own rhythm. A couple of us opted for charging straight up the ridge of the Brown Tongue rather then taking the path on the side of it. This made for good progress, with not having constantly excuse ourselves past the other groups of walkers. It did make for a steeper ascent though….just the way I like it.
The overtaking lane.
We caught up with rest of the group at the bottom of the scree and we made our way up the steep scramble to Mickledore, this required the use of our hands for the first (and last) time on the trip.
I had wondered what the guys would make of this section, kind of expecting a bit of banter along the lines of “who’s flippin’ idea was it to go up that?”, instead everyone seemed to enjoy the challenge and variety it presented.
Looking back down over Mickledore, with Scafell rising behind.
From there it was a winding path up through a huge boulder-field. I imagine this can present real navigational issues in poor visibility, the presence of cairns every fifteen metres in some sections is evidence of that.
Shifting clouds opened up different views in every direction. With thoughts in the back of everyone’s minds of how every minute spent here was time less in bed, in what was already set to be (
by design) barely worthy of being called a night’s sleep, we didn’t hang around long.
We made our way down via the Lingmell Col. It was on our descent that we got only our second spell of rain, again this was short-lived and didn’t present any real problems except to one person who’d left his waterproof coat in the bus. Again, we enjoyed a really pleasant dry spell in which to dry out before reaching the bus….some needing it more than others!
Voted as England’s favorite view, okay admittedly this photograph doesn’t entirely capture it.
I have to say we were probably all thinking Scafell Pike was going to be pretty horrible. Guys we met on Snowdon could only describe it as "a right ....." All in all, I really enjoyed our time on it.
More travel, our destination Braehead, Glasgow. This was a first for me, not Braehead as I've been to the indoor ski slope there before, but getting into bed at 1:00am and setting my alarm for 4:30am. What sort of man needs to get a shower at 1am before getting into bed, then gets another one three-and-a-half hours later to start the day, all while on a four peaks challenge?! He’s on this forum, he can defend himself.
Day 3 - Ben NevisThe drive up to Ben Nevis from Glasgow is stunning, letting you share many of the same views that those walking the West Highland Way experience.
From everything I heard about this mountain and the tourist route up it, what it lacked in technical challenge it made up for in length. Well it is the biggest in the British Isles after all.
Being the last mountain on our challenge and perhaps having in the back of our minds that it could present us each with our own tough mental challenge, we seemed to each just take off at our own pace with an implied “see you at the top” sentiment. As it turned out this let us fall into some natural small groups where we could act as a spur-on for each other.
Well I’m sure you get it by now, we had a great weekend for weather! On Sunday morning it was clear that we were set for another glorious day. As we started off at a quick pace, the sweat was lashing off us. Having heard horror stories about the infamous West of Scotland midge, the Jungle Formula had been slapped on liberally. This was now running into my eyes constantly, which was rather annoying, to say the least.
With the ferry in mind we had set a cut-off time; at which point those still on their way up would turn back. All told there was probably only about 40 minutes between the leaders and those bringing up the rear. Only one member of the group turned back. Whilst still potentially within the timescale, his knee was starting to give bother. With at least one hour’s climbing still to do, but also a massive descent it may well have been the right decision. You just never know I suppose. I know of one friend who felt he should have stopped whilst doing a marathon but pushed on ahead, causing damage to his knee that would take a long time to heal.
I found Ben Nevis a bit of a slog if I’m honest; the zig-zagged path seemed to go on for quite a while. When my companions and I asked someone who was on the way down “how far we were from the top” and received the reply that we “were probably still at least an hour off it”, all our spirits sunk a little. In truth we were probably only about 30-35 minutes away. There is a big difference in your mind at that point of the walk. On reaching the snow-field all our spirits picked-up and a sense of nearness (and a bit of childishness) started to kick-in. How many chances do you get to trade snowballs in June!
On finally reaching the top we were greeted by one particularly cheery climber from another group who congratulated us and gave us all a croissant. It was a little bizarre, feeling more like we had been the 100 000th customers that year to reach the summit bakery or something like that. It tasted good all the same and the kindness was appreciated. Again we had some shifting clouds at the top but periodical views were opened up on all sides. The summit was obviously somewhat colder but thankfully without any wind-chill. Some of the group reached the top still in a base layer but didn’t hang about too long.
The climb felt long but boy did the descent feel longer. Some of the guys ran pretty much the whole way down rather than trying to constantly hold themselves back whilst trying to control the heavy impact on the knees. Or perhaps they just thought of the bragging rights of finishing the challenge first. Or probably the more likely explnation was the thought of a nice cool pint waiting at the Ben Nevis Inn!
Speaking of which, the Nevis Inn did do some great food and a good pint also. One of the most satisfying pints I think I’ve ever enjoyed.
We got a decent run back down the road to the boat.
Final thoughtsWe knew when planning the trip that the time deadlines were fairly tight. We knew we were going to get very little sleep. We knew the bus was going to be a squeeze. But most all we knew that the idea of the trip had captured our imagination, we had all signed up in a flash.
In all matters the trip delivered. We would be lucky to get such great weather, over such a wide area again. The timing went like clockwork. We enjoyed safe passage on the mountains. The group bonded really well, and it was everything a road-trip should be. Tiring…..but great craic. We were all surprised how our bodies kept going, especially with little more than one good nights sleep spread over three nights. But they did, I suppose having a big goal in mind made that happen.
Since we have come back many people have asked me if I would do it again. I’ve always answered no. It’s not because I found the challenge side of it to be too tough. Yes it was tiring but we did take longer over it than other groups do. I think we got the balance of fun and challenge just right for us. But rather, it is the idea of swooping into these areas of outstanding natural beauty and only spending as long as is absolutely necessary to tick them off before leaving again that I wouldn’t do again, on those mountains anyway. I’d like to return to all the areas again, but next time I’d spend longer. Then again, that wouldn’t quite be a road-trip with your mates…..
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Topic: Four Peaks Challenge (Read 14460 times)