The planning for this one went the usual way. Much scouring over maps, checking and packing, then unpacking and checking again of equipment. Eventually, I finished work and off to the Peaks I went!
Parking up in a suitable spot, I donned my pack and changed from trail runners to lightweight walking boots and shouldered my pack. Locking the car, I darted into the woodline at the side of the lay-by and checked the OS app for a direction steer. I had poured over the maps so much in the past week that I knew the first few km in my head.
Within minutes, I came across a father and teenage daughter who were collecting wood for a wild camp. We shared a cheery hello, me assuring them I wasn't staying and the father bemoaning only finding wet wood. We parted ways, and I soon cleared the woodline onto a back country lane. The first hill loomed just ahead, and I knew that a very steep climb up to the first summit was in order... I stopped at the bottom of the hill, readjusted my straps, gobbled some jelly beans and began the ascent. It really was steep going all the way to the top....
I was huffing and puffing a bit by the time I hit the summit but the view was worth it. The sun had began to set and I looked forward to the inevitable night-nav to my planned camp site. A quick picture at the top and off I trotted.
Darkness descended and my pace slowed accordingly. Confident as I am in navigating in the dark, I didn't want to come a cropper by not paying attention. It was a delight to be moving in the dark. I enjoyed it. The slight chill in the air made me put on a windshirt at a checkpoint. I slurped some water and bolted down half a snickers bar for good measure.
The drag up to the plateau loomed ahead. In the dark it didn't look too ominous and I was still feeling chipper. Halfway up I needed a little breather. By now it was 10pm and I was tired. I looked back as the moon popped out and cast a shadow over me.
I enjoyed the chill breeze and for first time this year I shivered, being only lightly dressed and sweating from my exersion. Not far to the plateau and my camp site I continued.
Within a short while I stood upon my planned campsite. An outcrop of rocks, quite a popular location and thankfully empty ( I had been wandering about having to find an alternate location should it have been inhabited already). I got the tent up PDQ was soon set for bed. But before slumber, time for a cuppa soup.
The morning brought cloud. It was absolutley silent. I stood outside my tent and cat stretched. I had slept well. Packing everything away in slow time, I then sat on a rock and made my usual breakfast. Homemade oats in a freezer bag and a coffee with honey. Taken at a leisurely pace, I watched the cloud clear to open up the views down into the valley. As I shook out the remenants of my coffee I heard a cheery 'hullo' from over my shoulder. Two very early morning walkers sauntered by. They must of been up very, very early to be here already!
Finally packed up, I shouldered the pack once more. I had planned to circumnavigate the entire plateau in one day camping for a second night not too far from the first nights spot.
My limbs felt stiff and I assumed this was because of last night's 12km walk in. All my joints ached and I couldn't seem to warm up. I felt lethargic. I gobbled some jelly babies and drank water. I downed nearly 500ml in one go, and I realised that although I was well hydrated ( I drank well before bed and had drank my usual amount before breakfast), I couldn't slake my thirst. Putting it down to tiredness, I shivered and increased my pace in order to warm up...
By midmorning and having drank another litre of water, it wasn't just my joints that were giving me bother. My guts felt very rough and before long I had to dash between the heather and erm.... evacuate my bowels. Twas not a pretty site. I felt immediate relief, and making sure I left no trace and after carefully burning the loo roll to nothing, I headed on my way feeling a little better. But before long, another dash to cover was required, another evacuation of the bottom. This time I didn't feel relieved I felt drained. I wasn't feeling very well at all. I sat by the path feeling rather glum and had a look at the map. I had gone far enough so far that I was at a decision point.... carry on and hope my guts and body held out for another 18km, or cut my losses and walk the 13 odd km back to my car and forget about a second night's camp..... more pouring over the map while I drank more water......
In the end, I decided enough was enough, better get off the hills before I end up a statistic. I decided to get down by the shortest route, and then follow the valley floor back to the car. I saw a clough about 300m to the north. It was quite steep but leveled out after a while. It looked the fasted way down and the way my body felt, it was the best way for me. Time to get get off the hill.....
Now, when I said it was steep...... a good part of it was just about vertical and in my weakened state I was concentrating very hard and sweating profusely. I slipped a few times and had to lean back against the grass and rock to rest.
I took some pictures, but I'm not sure they show the steepness...
As I got to near the bottom of the clough I had to take a rest. My knees and hips were aching a lot and I honestly felt like I could just fall asleep. I sat on my rucksack feeling a bit sorry for myself. I drank water and ate a snickers bar. I half laid back on my rucksack and my bum got wet on the mossy grass. I almost nodded off.
After 20 minutes like this, I told myself to buck my ideas up and stop feeling sorry for myself. I had got myself here, so I had better get on with it. I strapped myself into my pack and got up. Then quickly dropped the pack. Time for another evacuation..... oh dear oh dear....
After what felt like an absolute age I made it to the bottom of the valley, sitting down on my bum again to rest. My god, I felt shattered. Everything ached. My guts hurt. It suddenly dawned on me that I hadn't updated my wife. I had been off the planned route for over 4 hours and literally nobody knew where I was...... a simple text solved all that. She replied within a few minutes with a thumbs up. Right, onwards......
I followed the Riverside path all the way back to my car. I kept an eye on the time/distance calculations and I was only able to average 2.3km an hour..... I made it back to the car feeling like my feet were made of stone. It had taken me almost the entire day. A quick text to my wife, my pack in the boot, I fired up the car and headed home.
I have absolutely no idea why I got so suddenly ill. By the next day I was totally fine.
Oh well, you can't win em all! Be safe in the outdoors folks, don't become a statistic......
Parking up in a suitable spot, I donned my pack and changed from trail runners to lightweight walking boots and shouldered my pack. Locking the car, I darted into the woodline at the side of the lay-by and checked the OS app for a direction steer. I had poured over the maps so much in the past week that I knew the first few km in my head.
Within minutes, I came across a father and teenage daughter who were collecting wood for a wild camp. We shared a cheery hello, me assuring them I wasn't staying and the father bemoaning only finding wet wood. We parted ways, and I soon cleared the woodline onto a back country lane. The first hill loomed just ahead, and I knew that a very steep climb up to the first summit was in order... I stopped at the bottom of the hill, readjusted my straps, gobbled some jelly beans and began the ascent. It really was steep going all the way to the top....
I was huffing and puffing a bit by the time I hit the summit but the view was worth it. The sun had began to set and I looked forward to the inevitable night-nav to my planned camp site. A quick picture at the top and off I trotted.
Darkness descended and my pace slowed accordingly. Confident as I am in navigating in the dark, I didn't want to come a cropper by not paying attention. It was a delight to be moving in the dark. I enjoyed it. The slight chill in the air made me put on a windshirt at a checkpoint. I slurped some water and bolted down half a snickers bar for good measure.
The drag up to the plateau loomed ahead. In the dark it didn't look too ominous and I was still feeling chipper. Halfway up I needed a little breather. By now it was 10pm and I was tired. I looked back as the moon popped out and cast a shadow over me.
I enjoyed the chill breeze and for first time this year I shivered, being only lightly dressed and sweating from my exersion. Not far to the plateau and my camp site I continued.
Within a short while I stood upon my planned campsite. An outcrop of rocks, quite a popular location and thankfully empty ( I had been wandering about having to find an alternate location should it have been inhabited already). I got the tent up PDQ was soon set for bed. But before slumber, time for a cuppa soup.
The morning brought cloud. It was absolutley silent. I stood outside my tent and cat stretched. I had slept well. Packing everything away in slow time, I then sat on a rock and made my usual breakfast. Homemade oats in a freezer bag and a coffee with honey. Taken at a leisurely pace, I watched the cloud clear to open up the views down into the valley. As I shook out the remenants of my coffee I heard a cheery 'hullo' from over my shoulder. Two very early morning walkers sauntered by. They must of been up very, very early to be here already!
Finally packed up, I shouldered the pack once more. I had planned to circumnavigate the entire plateau in one day camping for a second night not too far from the first nights spot.
My limbs felt stiff and I assumed this was because of last night's 12km walk in. All my joints ached and I couldn't seem to warm up. I felt lethargic. I gobbled some jelly babies and drank water. I downed nearly 500ml in one go, and I realised that although I was well hydrated ( I drank well before bed and had drank my usual amount before breakfast), I couldn't slake my thirst. Putting it down to tiredness, I shivered and increased my pace in order to warm up...
By midmorning and having drank another litre of water, it wasn't just my joints that were giving me bother. My guts felt very rough and before long I had to dash between the heather and erm.... evacuate my bowels. Twas not a pretty site. I felt immediate relief, and making sure I left no trace and after carefully burning the loo roll to nothing, I headed on my way feeling a little better. But before long, another dash to cover was required, another evacuation of the bottom. This time I didn't feel relieved I felt drained. I wasn't feeling very well at all. I sat by the path feeling rather glum and had a look at the map. I had gone far enough so far that I was at a decision point.... carry on and hope my guts and body held out for another 18km, or cut my losses and walk the 13 odd km back to my car and forget about a second night's camp..... more pouring over the map while I drank more water......
In the end, I decided enough was enough, better get off the hills before I end up a statistic. I decided to get down by the shortest route, and then follow the valley floor back to the car. I saw a clough about 300m to the north. It was quite steep but leveled out after a while. It looked the fasted way down and the way my body felt, it was the best way for me. Time to get get off the hill.....
Now, when I said it was steep...... a good part of it was just about vertical and in my weakened state I was concentrating very hard and sweating profusely. I slipped a few times and had to lean back against the grass and rock to rest.
I took some pictures, but I'm not sure they show the steepness...
As I got to near the bottom of the clough I had to take a rest. My knees and hips were aching a lot and I honestly felt like I could just fall asleep. I sat on my rucksack feeling a bit sorry for myself. I drank water and ate a snickers bar. I half laid back on my rucksack and my bum got wet on the mossy grass. I almost nodded off.
After 20 minutes like this, I told myself to buck my ideas up and stop feeling sorry for myself. I had got myself here, so I had better get on with it. I strapped myself into my pack and got up. Then quickly dropped the pack. Time for another evacuation..... oh dear oh dear....
After what felt like an absolute age I made it to the bottom of the valley, sitting down on my bum again to rest. My god, I felt shattered. Everything ached. My guts hurt. It suddenly dawned on me that I hadn't updated my wife. I had been off the planned route for over 4 hours and literally nobody knew where I was...... a simple text solved all that. She replied within a few minutes with a thumbs up. Right, onwards......
I followed the Riverside path all the way back to my car. I kept an eye on the time/distance calculations and I was only able to average 2.3km an hour..... I made it back to the car feeling like my feet were made of stone. It had taken me almost the entire day. A quick text to my wife, my pack in the boot, I fired up the car and headed home.
I have absolutely no idea why I got so suddenly ill. By the next day I was totally fine.
Oh well, you can't win em all! Be safe in the outdoors folks, don't become a statistic......
