 |
||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Just Practicing"Walking in the Lake District
|
|
Staring: Alan, Claire, Mark, Pete, Alistair, Andrew and Michelle. See the team details page.
Deben Rotaract is in training. Training for the Rotary Mountain Challenge - to climb three mountains, in three countries, in 24 hours. Unfortunately, most of them live in Suffolk, where the more educated locals have seen pictures of mountains in books, but unless they've ever left the county, have never actually walked up more than a gentle slope. What the Rotaract team, representing RGBI, needed was to get themselves over to a bunch of mountains, and practice walking on them. As it happens, an opportunity arose...
| ||
| ||
|
In a show of synchronicity the theme for the Conference was "Ain't No Mountain High Enough!". By no co-incidence, the Rotaract Mountain Challenge had long adopted this as the motto for their enterprise. Five Rotaractors from Deben had gone up to the conference - including half the mountain challenge team. While there, they'd given a presentation about the venture, and even collected £100 while doing so. Handy, as the other part of the challenge was to raise £5000 for Sight Savers International.
Monday Mark, Claire & Michelle left the conference and went for lunch in Bowness. During lunch, they arranged to meet Andrew, the ringer of the team. Andrew is a non-Rotaractor from Newcastle Upon-Tyne who had worked with Claire in the past. As he had also spent part of the previous year climbing up Kilimanjaro, the team decided he'd make an ideal replacement for the 8th Rotaractor in the team, who had decided to take the job of a lifetime offered to him in Australia. Oh well, everyone has their own priorities. The four made their way to the first B&B they'd reserved, and were soon re-joined by Alan. Next to arrive was Pete, whizzing up in his 2-seater sports car. While this had got him to Windermere fast enough, he was later to regret his choice of vehicle...
| ||
| ||
|
Tuesday Upon getting up, and heading down for breakfast there is a browse of the map. The plan is to go up Gridsdale Pyke, which Andrew has done before. He offers a choice of the easy route or the slightly tougher one, but which is still very gentle and pretty much a walk in the park. Alan thinks to himself that it is much easier to get an idea of someones grading scale AFTER you've been out on a walk with them. So, along with the rest of the group, votes for the easy option. The first of a number of good, common sense, suggestions takes place - the team has two maps, so put them in different packs, and not have one person carrying them. Solid stuff. Heading out the door, the intrepid six pause only to pick up a number of the miniature Kendal Mint Cake sachets which the B&B offers free to it's patrons. Meanwhile, the girls, having stopped for petrol almost immediately having started the journey, merrily follow the signs to the town where the mountain is, and are pleasantly surprised when Andrews car comes zooming towards them in the rear-view mirror. "How did he end up behind us?" "Don't know. He must have got lost." Meanwhile... the girls have driven into the car park and realised that mountains don't come equipped with plush toilet facilities, and that shepherds bush does not simply refer to a place in London. So, with Pete about to open a door, they quickly put the car in gear and whizzed back to the nearest pub.
| ||
| ||
|
Two and a half hours later, they return to their cars. (Sorry, sorry, sorry).
| ||
| ||
|
The gang drive to the nearest pub (the girls knew the way) for a quick drink. Then back to the B&B, where they meet up with the final member of their party - Alistair. After a most excellent evening meal at another of the pub crawls pubs, our friends retire to their beds.
Wednesday The plan for the day was to go up Helvellyn. This is one of the mountains the gang would actually be doing for real in two months time. The route discussion had been quite easy - they'll be going up the route that was planned for the event. The only reason there was any discussion at all was that between the seven of them, they'd all forgotten to pack the planned route details. The girls set off first, followed by Pete (in a separate car, if only to distance himself from the 'girls' tag), with Alan, Andrew and Mark bringing up the rear. The guys lost sight of the others quite early on, but no matter, they knew the way. At the junction they lost the girls yesterday, they go straight on... then change their minds, do a 180, go back and turn off. After a short distance they change their minds again, go back, and carry on the road they originally planned. This turns out to rejoin their second choice anyway. | ||
| ||
|
It is observed that the Rotaract team is fine when navigating on mountains (There is 'Up' and there is 'Down'). But when in cars, they have trouble ('Left', 'Right', 'Forward', 'Backward', and in the case of Claire, 'Up' and 'Down' again).
Helvellyn take a little over two hours to go up. On the trip, they take in the fantastic views of the nearby lake. They admire the stone cut steps carved into the rock. They gaze down at a passing fighter plane, and note with some satisfaction that this means they are higher. Alistair keeps having to be reigned back in to the others. Eventually someone suggests sticking some rocks in his backpack. Alistair obligingly stops, takes his pack off, and puts some rocks in it. (He later claims he was just putting his jacket in it, but the others know the truth). Nearing the top, Andrew points out Striding Edge. Everyone else laughs politely, while silently thinking that if he even suggests they go across it, then they'll simply swear the wind caught him, and there was nothing they could do. Helvellyn is not the tallest mountain in the UK. It's not even the tallest one in the Lake District. But our debonair Debenites did declare that any mountain where you walk past snow in late Spring is clearly high enough. Michelle throws a snowball at Claire. It misses. Claire glances from Michelle to Striding Edge, and the group continues to the top. Claire has it in mind that she'll just chuck her ice-cream at Michelle when they get to the top, having been assured that there really is a van up there this time. | ||
| ||
|
Almost two hours later, they return to their cars. (For some reason, it took less time going down...) Andrew drives off to his home in the North, while the rest of the crew drive round to the other side of Helvellyn, being careful to stay in convoy, in order to get to the youth hostel that was to be their home for the next two nights. Pete pauses just before the final stretch of road, as the travel instructions had said the road wasn't tarmaced, and Pete, as mentioned earlier, drives a little sporty number that's very low to the ground, and not exactly designed for off-roading. He and Mark look at the road, and decide it doesn't look too bad, and it doesn't continue for too long. After too long, they realise that not only is the road getting worse, but that it goes a lot further than first thought. Unfortunately, there wasn't any way to turn round, and Pete was leading. Many tears later (sadness from Pete, laughter from Mark) the wrecked roadster reaches the youth hostel. After dropping their kit, everyone decides to go for a bite at the pub down the road. Pete was due to drive back to Suffolk, and chose to go after lunch. As the mountain walkers of tomorrow begin their evening walk to the pub, Pete begins his somewhat slower drive to the same place. Mark waves cheerfully at the others, having decided on the 'quick' way down.
Thursday | ||
| ||
|
This turns out to be their longest walk yet, and for good measure it even had a few hilly bits to traverse. Alan comments how at times it's so peaceful, listening to the sounds of nature; the birds in the sky, the wind in the trees and so forth. Claire queries what he means by 'at times', but works out the answer before everyone can tell her.
Having come full circle, the group return to where they started. The coffee shop. They check the menu and find that, for once, there really is ice cream available at the end of the walk.
Friday
"Who dropped you on your head while you were a child?" - Claire to Mark "I like prawns but not cooked prawns" - Michelle "Could you at least pretend to breath heavily every so often, just to make me feel better" - Pete to Alistair "I was born ready. Not for this, but..." - Mark "We're much better when we actually get on the mountains. It's just cars we can't cope with" - Alan
"Why does none of this make any sense to me?" - Claire "Champion" - Andrew "I have no talent" - Clare
"I was debating whether to get my nuts out or not" - Michelle "I have no balance" - Claire
"I wish I had lots of cousins. Then I'd have... lots of cousins" - Michelle
"You see I wasn't as stupid as you all thought" - Claire "Champion" - Andrew
|
|
For shorter descriptions about some of our past events, click here
For full writeups of some of our other trips, enjoy;
We'd love to hear from you if you are interested in coming to an event,
or if you are a local charity or community project and would like our
assistance. |