Monday, August 06, 2007
The Dovedale Dipper
I packed my large rucksack with a pair of trainers, waterproofs, fleece and about 3 litres of water- Just to build up strength, not because I thought I’d need them! I think it was quite a bit heavier than last year’s pack.
It only took me about 1 ¼ hours to get to Hartington, and I drove through the village without realising the car park had changed this year! I got to the Village Hall in plenty of time to have a coffee and apply loads of sunscreen. This is certainly a popular event, there were loads of walkers for both the 26 and 15 mile routes.
We set off, to the blast of the horn, and started climbing steadily to Parsley Hay. The route was undulating until we reached the High Peak trail which took us to the first checkpoint. I ended up following walkers or runners virtually all the way around, and hardly needed my route description. The organisers had sign-posted much of the route, too, with red and white ‘DD’ signs.
The High Peak TrailI had a quick drink (and biscuits- for carbs) at the first checkpoint and headed off along the High Peak trail before descending from it and climbing once more to cross an old railway. After this was quite a long downhill stretch, and it was along here that the first of the runners came past me. It was really hot now, and I was sweating buckets, but then I always do- at least my own personal cooling system is efficient, which is good, as I am going to need it in 2009!!
A guy with a fat cocker spaniel came past me, and I caught them up at a wooden stile; the poor dog was trying to heave himself through a small gap and was never going to fit, so I lifted him up and over the top! There are loads of stiles on this route, and the greatest variety I’ve seen, ranging from the usual wooden variety, to rocky steps up the side of a dry stone wall, the narrow stone ‘v’ type (which are very hard to negotiate when you’ve got short legs), small wooden gates with very powerful springs, plus an odd combination of ‘v’stiles and gates.
A climb out of the valley on a farm track brought us to the second check point at Longor, I was so hot I drank about 4- 5 cups of water. The following stretch had amazing views across the Peaks, before descending up through gorse bushes on a really wet, muddy track.
Views Across The Peaks
A steady climb along the road led to checkpoint three, at Revidge; Rich came in as I was having a drink; he is doing the MdS next year. We had a chat, and compared experiences, it was good to meet you too Rich!
I left the check point shortly after (behind Rich, who went off looking very strong) and soon reached the biggest climb of the day- Ecton Hill. It has got to be one of the steepest climbs in the Peaks! I had some flapjack to fortify myself, and decided to walk straight up without stopping. The gradient is very steep at first, but does ease off slightly; I managed to overtake quite a few people, including some runners!
Steep Hills Around WettonThe path contoured around the hill before another quite steep ascent brought us to checkpoint 4 at Wetton. I was quite lucky here; the volunteers manning the checkpoint had obviously had a picnic lunch and realised they had far too much food, so decided to offer it to us starving walkers, the cheese and onion quiche went down very well!
View From The Path To Castern HallThe next 3 miles were through Beresford Dale. This is actually a lovely walk; good paths, level, lovely views and a river, but after 22 miles it tends to drag a bit! My feet felt quite sore at this point, and while not exactly suffering, I was just focussing on finishing. I passed two women, one of whom was lying prone on the ground with an ice pack pressed to her neck. Her companion said to me “I remember seeing you at a checkpoint and wondering whether you’d make it, and you will!” I racked my brains and remembered they were part of the group that went through checkpoint five.
I asked her if her friend was ok, and she replied that she’d fallen, hurt her neck and now felt sick and dizzy. They’d sent another friend off for help; I asked them if they were ok where they were and they both said yes, so I went on.
Beresford DaleI was so glad to see the path out of the dale, which was surprisingly sandy (more good training!) After that it was just a fairly gentle walk back along lanes to Hartington, I was glad to finish. My time was 8 hours 30 minutes, I beat last year’s time by 8 minutes! They were serving jacket potatoes with cheese, beans or chilli, I was rather cheeky and asked for cheese and beans.
I felt fine after the food, and thanked them as I left, as it is a really well organised event. I’m aching slightly today, but not too bad! All good training, and the all important time on the feet. No exercise today though…
Hartington, Approaching The FinishLabels: Challenge walks, Dovedale Dipper, Peak District
