Stage 4 - Man Down!

During the trip back to Wales it became pretty clear that I was in no fit state to carry on with the challenge. Between us we guessed that I was suffering from dehydration, exhaustion and a pinch of hypothermia added in just for fun. Luckily there were 3 vets to look after me. The decision was made to leave me behind.

In retrospect its pretty obvious that this was a good plan. The weather up Snowdon was terrible with poor visability and the aches and pains of two others mountains dragging the group down, although they made it in the end.

For my part, I arrived home at 0500 Sunday morning, said hello to the dog, and then went straight to bed. There was the sensation of being dehydrated for a couple of days with my body not being happy with lots of liquids at once. I started the horse EMS on Monday, staggering in to the place, hardly able to walk due to general bad legs and hips. Everything seems to be fixed, except for a few huge bruises on my legs where I fell in the river.

All over now. I'm upset that I didn't make it up the last peak, but it was the most sensible option. Maybe next year.

Photos!

Managed to retrieve some pics from the trip, but only Ben Nevis so far. Other people are sending me photos but I don't really expect them to look at all decent after the bad weather. I shall upload soon. They are on facebook anyway.

Stage 3 - Scafell Pike

The trip to Scafell took a little longer than we expected, although I'm pretty sure I was asleep for at least a small portion of the journey. It's really difficult to sleep with your neck at a 90 degree angle.

When we arrived at 2000 there were a few other people around that we recognised from Ben Nevis so we all set off together in the rain. The first major problem we encountered was a river crossing. The rain had been torrential all week, so this river was pretty fast and swollen. We all crossed without much trouble, but it wouldn't be fun in the dark on the way back.

Climbing the next section I was having real problems with my legs and hips which even the stupid amounts of ibuprofen couldn't hold away. The ground wasn't too rough or particularly steep compared to Ben Nevis, but I was in trouble. The rest of the team had also slowed down somewhat so I was able to keep up and make it to the next rest station. By this time we had climbing 800 meters and the weather was closing in, as was the night. We followed the lights of people coming back down to guide us to the summit, all the while telling really really bad jokes to keep us entertained. For example:

"There are 10 cows in a field, which is closest to Iraq?"
"Coo eight" *works better with a Scottish accent*
OR
"Two cows in a field, which one has foot-and-mouth disease?"
"The one that's on fire"

We got to the top in basically darkness with a visability level of around 3 meters. A couple of quick photos of the GPS and it was time to get off the hill. We had to follow each other off the hill following the really bad track with torches and the GPS to guide us down. I honestly believe that without the GPS it wouldn't have been possible to descend as quickly and safely as we did.

By the end of the climb we had the river corssing left, and I was a mess. Basically I had overexerted myself by not eating much all day, combined with the hassle of getting off the hill and dodgy hips. Consequently I fell in the river and got soaked. Luckily I had a good grip on a rock and didn't fly off downstream.

Arriving back at the car we couldn't help but notice the arrival of mountain rescue and an ambulance, probably for the people who we had passed still making the ascent in the night as we were heading down. If they didn't have GPS they could have easily got in trouble. We packed up and got ready for the trip to Wales. I felt really ill, but couldn't figure out why. The options were numerous! Half a mile in to the trip I was quite sick at the roadside. That over and done with, back off to Wales, and more sleep.

Final bit tomorrow!

Stage 2 - Ben Nevis

We arrived at Fort William around 0915, touched the water, then quickly drove to the base of Ben Nevis. I say quickly, but that doesn't include the roundabout near Morrisons that was so fun we had to go around three times. The car park at Ben Nevis is about 36m above sea level. The summit is 1344m above sea level. We were in for a big climb.

We started off fairly fast, passing all the other people on the track, but after 15 minutes of walking up rocky steps I was wishing I'd packed less. That said we were moving quickly and got up the first 500m of elevation in about 30 minutes. A couple of brief rests and 90 minutes later we were nearing the top. The summit itself looks like something from the moon - there is no greenery to be seen, just rocks. And snow. And more rocks. It was bloody windy up there too! A few photos followed to prove we got to the top, then the descent.

After flagging on the final section of the ascent I was determined not to slow everyone down on the decent so took the lead and basically ran down the scree slope. The weather continued to hold all the way down to the base, with our grand total from touching the water being 4.45, time for peak 1 - 4.30. Not bad. I went in search of ice cream in the Ben Nevis cafe thingy but couldn't find any. I was less than impressed, but by this time I couldn't feel my right foot, so decided running in to town wasn't the best plan for a cornetto. We piled in to the car and started off for Scafell Pike. According to the GPS, our ETA was 2000. Climbing in the dark isn't fun, descending is less fun.

Annnnnnnd more tomorrow!

Stage 1

The 3 peaks challenge is over for this year. After a busy day of moving everything to the new flat and tidying, I was collected by the rest of the team (Al, Barbera and JP) with all my kit and we headed off to the hotel somewhere near Loch Lomond. The hotel was ok, except they had lost our booking (apparently the website doesn't work or some other nonsense) so after a bit of complaining we headed to the bar. First we sat outside, then near the door, then inside, gradually moving further and further away from the damn midges. With breakfast planned for 0700 we retired to bed.

We awoke at 0645 for a quick wash with no illusions about staying clean over the next day, then headed off to find breakfast. 0700, no sign of life. 0715, no sign of life. At 0730 we finally got some food, already 30 minutes late in leaving. Then it was back in the car for another few hours to Fort William.

More later....

Nearly Away

This is my last post from my current flat as tomorrow we move. I need to pack up my computer along with a few more clothes for the trip. There are still bits and pieces, but for the most part it's done. All that's left is the cleaning. Anyone free tomorrow is more than welcome to help out! :D

Oh I also finished my chicken EMS today. I've learned a lot as the farm is organic and things are rather complicated. The people were great which always makes things easier. Horses next week in Wales. Evil creatures.

3 Peaks

During my last visit to Wales I was asked by the vets I was working with if I would like to join them on the 3 peaks challenge this year. I decided this sounded like fun and I've always wanted to try it. I got a call last week asking if I was still up for it.

It's not going to be easy, especially given my week of work previously and the travel involved, but it does mean I get free transport home! We are planning to do this on June 30th. I'm working on a chicken farm until June 29th. And I need to move house.

The plan so far:

• Monday 25th - Start chicken work. Also start to tidy flat and get ready to move out.
• Thursday 28th - Finish moving things out of the flat. This could be an issue as I don't have anywhere else to live yet. Or anywhere to store stuff. I shall sleep in a sleeping bag tonight.
• Friday 29th - Go to work. Get back home around 1800. Eat. Finish cleaning. Change kit load from smelly boiler suit to many thin layers. Load up with mars bars. The Welsh team are possibly coming to find me around midnight.
• Saturday 30th - 0400. Start climbing Ben Nevis.
• Saturday 30th - 0900. Get off Ben Nevis and drive south. Sleep in the car.
  
• Saturday 30th - Unknown. Climb Scarfell Pike. Drive south and west. Sleep in the car.
• Saturday 30th - Late. Climb Snowdon.
• Saturday 30th - No later than 2300. Get off Snowdon. Get in to pub. Sleep in the car.
• Sunday 1st - Die.
• Monday 2nd - Start 3 weeks work with horses.

We shall see. Updates as and when I get more organised. The big thing is finding somewhere to store my stuff and somewhere to live. If all else fails I can store bits of kit in various locations around Edinburgh. Going to be a pain to get it back though.