I’m home after my last Challenge for possibly quite a while. I certainly found it very tough and have been sleeping on and off for the last few days. This view made the entire trip worthwhile all on its own.
There will be more when I have waded through the 350 emails, a zillion phone messages and the huge pile of mail heaped by the front door.
Nice pic. Look forward to the trip reports, Alan :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Terry. They might be a little while; My diary looks a little fraught at the moment.
ReplyDelete:-)
Welcome back Alan, its been very quiet in the blogging world during the last couple of weeks!
ReplyDeleteIt has to be said, there were quite a few Bloggers on the walk this year!
DeleteI'm really looking forward to reading their reports, to jog my memory... I took small Moleskin notebook which had copious notes in it... up until the start point.
It all went downhill from there.
:-)
Welcome back sir. I to look forward to the reports.
ReplyDeleteGood to meet you, as brief as it was.
Hi Davy - It's great to put a face to a name! You really should apply for the next Chally - it's a wonderful trip.
DeleteGreat photo. I look forward to the write up - it was interesting following the progress of various bloggers and the weather looked pretty nasty for much of the walk.
ReplyDeleteHi Chris
DeleteI don't think the weather was *that* nasty; We had a crappy 1st Sunday and one or two roughish other days but otherwise it wasn't too bad. The first week was cold though, which meant that rest stops were few & far between. It was important to eat & drink "on the go". I wonder if a few of the folk who had to drop out suffered through not getting enough rests.
That is a cracking view Alan. Good trip I hope.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mark. It was a good trip and I had to modify our route here and there due to the weather and my own capabilities on one or two days. Our start really was magnificent, but it deserved a fitter chap then me! The crunching descent from the ridge was an absolute killer on the thighs! They took almost a week to fully recover!
DeleteI shall have to move somewhere hillier.
Some say bad and others like you. Well done pal and look forward to more.
ReplyDeleteI think most folk found problems with the constant bitingly cold northerly winds - possibly because they didn't take enough insulation layers? I'm guessing here, but I am jolly glad I had my merino base layer, fleece and insulated gilet under my Gore-Tex jacket. My Patagonia SG pants were warm too.
DeleteGood kit selection, appropriate to your needs, is important on the Challenge.
Welcome back to the granddad of outdoor blogging :)
ReplyDeleteHi Robin
DeleteI also have a million posts to read on all the blogs. There is never enough time...
:-)
Nice pic but i hope you didn’t go in that direction.
ReplyDeleteIt’s all been very quiet in blog land like Geoff says. Comments have been few and far between. You’d have thought 3000 were on the challenge instead of 300.
Ah - Are you saying it's the noisy ones who do the Challenge then?
Delete:-)
I can only assume so.
DeleteLooking forward to your further report, Alan. From our southern start point it's really quite puzzling as to why so many people dropped out; as usual our route seemed to avoid all the 'excitement'. Now ploughing through nearly 1000 photos. And trying to find time to read some of the other reports.
ReplyDeleteKeep busy!
Martin
Hi Martin
DeleteDay 3 (Sunday) was particularly unpleasant. We opted for our Storm Weather Alternative, along Loch Arkaig (I suppose about halfway 'up' the Challenge region). On the first couple of days Andy Dave & I had been quite fortunate in avoiding the soakings that we had noted going on to our immediate north. It looked like Mallaig starters were getting thrashed at the end of Day 1, while we were left unscathed. We could see quite violent storms to the north of us.
I can only assume - and this is a guess - that Challengers were getting really cold. The winds were biting northerlies which precluded any decent rest-stops. This had the knock on effect of sore feet, dehydration and lack of decent food intakes during the day: All quite debilitating. Cumulatively this takes its toll over a few days.
I'm looking forward to seeing your pictures.
Interesting. We weren't much above 500 metres on the first four days, so were probably relatively sheltered. And most of the time the eVent shell over a t-shirt was adequate, though a fleece was sometimes also deployed. I suppose that staying completely dry helps (thanks must go to Nikwax TX.Direct for that). Our coldest day was Day 9 (Saturday 19th) when the cold wind blowing down Glen Tilt nearly demanded a third layer. It was a fabulous walk from Blair Atholl to Mar Lodge, though.
ReplyDeleteThat's a nice photo that is.
ReplyDeleteI must go there one day.
Oh ... I did ... Lovely!
If you remember, I was the chap at the back "taking photographs" (that's a euphemism for sneaking much needed rests lest my heart burst out of my rib-cage). I doubt if you have any pictures, seeing as you were way out in front with Dave...
Delete:-)
Loads of pictures me.....
DeleteI like hills I do, I come from the Fens.
To me they are a novelty, I am not sure what to do with em.
And NONE of the pictures are of Dave's crashing up hill in the distance.
He was long gone before I go there.
Alan, I'm just about to get stuck into your trip reports day 1 & 2 so will be sure to make comment as appropriate.
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to say it was good to meet you finally on the Challenge and so glad you (and others) urged me to stay on the list for a place. I wouldn't have missed it for all the tea in Tesco.
How splendid of you to say so, Sir!
DeleteIt seemed to me that you made a real go of the Challenge: You grabbed it with both hands and had your evil way with her!
Quite splendid and spot on!
:-)