Saturday morning, sun shining. A good day for an adventure.
I’ve never really been one for walking, but when the opportunity came up to climb Pen-Y-Ghent I couldn’t say no. Maybe purely due to the fact I struggle to say no to anything. Anyway, en route to the mountain, I say mountain, but I was really expecting a small hill since this is England we live in. After driving in the ‘Landy’ for around 2 hours it came into sight and the true nature of what I (a man that probably drinks and smokes far too much) was taking on now hit me! It was big. Really big and covered in snow!
At this point with me being a 35-year-old child, I got very excited. Very, very excited and started to wish I’d brought the sledge for the way down. Bouncing out of the Land Rover in the car park, I couldn’t wait to get going. Boots on, flush with hot chocolate, sticks, warm coat and hat, I was ready to tackle a mountain.
Ascending… Not as easy as I thought, but strangely rewarding as you get to the top of each little peak (little probably not the best choice of words). Around half way up we hit the snow- it was immense. The child took over, I ran , I jumped, I landed…SNOW!
After a little play in the snow and a quick hot chocolate we carried on to the top. This was the really good bit of the mountain, as it got really steep and rocky. Looking down it was amazing to see how far we’d come.
I’d climbed all that!
At the top there wasn’t much of a view unless you enjoy looking at mist, fog and clouds which we’d climbed up into. We had a quick bite to eat sheltered by a wall and having left a stone at the top, secure in the wall, I thought it would be rude not to make a snow angel. So I did!
As we descended , I walked through every patch of snow there was, some waist deep. While the rest of the group called me mad, laughed and avoided it. We were soon at the bottom, enjoying a beer in the local pub.All in all, it was a fantastic day with John and Up Mountains. I can’t wait for the next challenge, but must remember the sledge next time
Up Mountains 