Sunday, July 11, 2010
Rainy Day in Dovedale...
How come we have had days and days and DAYS of heat and sun, and as soon as me and my mum decide to take time out of work to go to Dovedale... it rains!!
I knew this wasn't going to be much of an endurance challenge, as mum doesn't like to walk too far and was tired, so planned a 6 mile route through Dovedale to Milldale and back across the hill tops. Mum bought the dogs over and we piled them in my car. We had a slight drama over mum losing her phone when I dropped her off at Morrisons to get cash out, but luckily an honest member of staff had handed it into the store...
Many roadworks and tractors later, we drove down the narrow, twisty road into the car park and paid our two pounds to park (quite a bargain!) As we hoped, it wasn't too busy, and once we had the dogs sorted we set off eating home made ice cream from the kiosk in the car park. The stepping stones were apparently shut so we opted to use the bridge (quite hairy crossing with a kamikaze Jake eager to get to the water).
Walking Into Dovedale
The stepping stones had been sectioned off, and it looks as though what the workmen are doing is cementing thick stone slabs on top of the existing stepping stones... I appreciate that they must be at risk of being worn away but seems a bit of a shame as I'm sure it will detract from their original character.
We let the dogs off; Jake immediately took to the water like a duck and Gemma, as usual, didn't move more than a few inches from mum's feet.
Thorpe Cloud
It was a quiet day in Dovedale (bet it's murder at weekends!!) with only a few hundred schoolchildren in seemingly endless school parties. They all seemed to be walking the other way, and, as they filed past, there were the usual cries of 'Oh, look at that cute little dog!' Gemma got quite a lot of attention!
Me With Jake!
There is a good path through Dovedale, including a short climb with stone steps, a lot of which appear to have many fossils embedded in them- I do remember reading that these rocks were actually under the sea millenia ago!
Gemma has a unique way of walking... if she is tired, she will stop until she is carried for a few minutes (luckily she's a small dog- hope Jake doesn't get any ideas!) If she gets a piece of grass or vegetation stuck to her fur she will stop until it is located and removed. This can make progress rather painfully slow at times!
Doveholes
Just past the caves of Doveholes, it started to rain quite persistently. We took shelter under a large tree for a few minutes, until it eased, and then carried on to Milldale where we intended to eat lunch. There was a shelter with seats in it, but is was completely full of walkers wearing various brightly coloured waterproofs, so we elected to sit on a bench near the stream. I got us a coffee from the little shop which sells food, drinks and maps, and we sat in the drizzle. We were just about to eat our sarnies when Jake started coughing and brought up a wad of green water vegetation coated in white froth- don't you just love dogs!!
We defied the rain, which started again in ernest, and ate lunch- we even had a second cuppa! Typically enough, as soon as we finished the barn emptied. We made the decision to walk back the way we had come, rather than go up and over the hills, as we would have the shelter of the trees and Jake would be able to go back into the water.
We had a few showers on and off walking back, but were largely sheltered. We had a bit of excitement when
mum was convinced she had seen a kingfisher sitting on a stone, and in her eagerness to get a closer look stepped on Gemma- but it turned out to be a dipper (no, I don't know how she could confuse a brown and white bird with a kingfisher...)
Milldale And Viators Bridge
Jake Loving The Water!
We took our time on the way back, taking photos...
Mum And The Dogs
Gemma
We made it back to the bridge and had a welcome hot chocolate from the kiosk. Typically enough, as we drove away the sun bloody came out! Talk about rubbing it in... still, we did manage to have a good day and it was nice walking and chatting with mum.
Saturday I had originally intended to do the 28 mile Little John Challenge Walk, but my friend wanted to walk with me so I set my sights a little lower as she's not into walking distances. We walked about 5 miles in all, as she was feeling the heat, so not quite the training I had intended but still quite nice to walk and chat, and enjoy a coffee and a cake afterwards (and pub meal before!) I will do the Little John Challenge soon...
I have entered the Gym for Heroes challenge which my gym is participating in. There are two challenges for either teams or individuals- 3 hours non stop challenge (1 hour rowing, 1 hour on the stationary bike and one hour on the treadmill or elliptical) or 12 hours non stop challenge (4 hours on each) I was seriously intrigued by the 12 hour challenge, but seriously don't think I'd be up to that (it's more Jo's thing!) so I have registered for the 3 hours, which has to be completed between 24th and 30th July.
I have had quite a tough gym session this morning and have started to use some of the training schedule which was drawn up for me for the MdS, and I managed to do a lot more than I thought I could- so it looks as though the training isn't going so badly!
I knew this wasn't going to be much of an endurance challenge, as mum doesn't like to walk too far and was tired, so planned a 6 mile route through Dovedale to Milldale and back across the hill tops. Mum bought the dogs over and we piled them in my car. We had a slight drama over mum losing her phone when I dropped her off at Morrisons to get cash out, but luckily an honest member of staff had handed it into the store...
Many roadworks and tractors later, we drove down the narrow, twisty road into the car park and paid our two pounds to park (quite a bargain!) As we hoped, it wasn't too busy, and once we had the dogs sorted we set off eating home made ice cream from the kiosk in the car park. The stepping stones were apparently shut so we opted to use the bridge (quite hairy crossing with a kamikaze Jake eager to get to the water).
The stepping stones had been sectioned off, and it looks as though what the workmen are doing is cementing thick stone slabs on top of the existing stepping stones... I appreciate that they must be at risk of being worn away but seems a bit of a shame as I'm sure it will detract from their original character.
We let the dogs off; Jake immediately took to the water like a duck and Gemma, as usual, didn't move more than a few inches from mum's feet.
It was a quiet day in Dovedale (bet it's murder at weekends!!) with only a few hundred schoolchildren in seemingly endless school parties. They all seemed to be walking the other way, and, as they filed past, there were the usual cries of 'Oh, look at that cute little dog!' Gemma got quite a lot of attention!
There is a good path through Dovedale, including a short climb with stone steps, a lot of which appear to have many fossils embedded in them- I do remember reading that these rocks were actually under the sea millenia ago!
Gemma has a unique way of walking... if she is tired, she will stop until she is carried for a few minutes (luckily she's a small dog- hope Jake doesn't get any ideas!) If she gets a piece of grass or vegetation stuck to her fur she will stop until it is located and removed. This can make progress rather painfully slow at times!
Just past the caves of Doveholes, it started to rain quite persistently. We took shelter under a large tree for a few minutes, until it eased, and then carried on to Milldale where we intended to eat lunch. There was a shelter with seats in it, but is was completely full of walkers wearing various brightly coloured waterproofs, so we elected to sit on a bench near the stream. I got us a coffee from the little shop which sells food, drinks and maps, and we sat in the drizzle. We were just about to eat our sarnies when Jake started coughing and brought up a wad of green water vegetation coated in white froth- don't you just love dogs!!
We defied the rain, which started again in ernest, and ate lunch- we even had a second cuppa! Typically enough, as soon as we finished the barn emptied. We made the decision to walk back the way we had come, rather than go up and over the hills, as we would have the shelter of the trees and Jake would be able to go back into the water.
We had a few showers on and off walking back, but were largely sheltered. We had a bit of excitement when
mum was convinced she had seen a kingfisher sitting on a stone, and in her eagerness to get a closer look stepped on Gemma- but it turned out to be a dipper (no, I don't know how she could confuse a brown and white bird with a kingfisher...)
We took our time on the way back, taking photos...
We made it back to the bridge and had a welcome hot chocolate from the kiosk. Typically enough, as we drove away the sun bloody came out! Talk about rubbing it in... still, we did manage to have a good day and it was nice walking and chatting with mum.
Saturday I had originally intended to do the 28 mile Little John Challenge Walk, but my friend wanted to walk with me so I set my sights a little lower as she's not into walking distances. We walked about 5 miles in all, as she was feeling the heat, so not quite the training I had intended but still quite nice to walk and chat, and enjoy a coffee and a cake afterwards (and pub meal before!) I will do the Little John Challenge soon...
I have entered the Gym for Heroes challenge which my gym is participating in. There are two challenges for either teams or individuals- 3 hours non stop challenge (1 hour rowing, 1 hour on the stationary bike and one hour on the treadmill or elliptical) or 12 hours non stop challenge (4 hours on each) I was seriously intrigued by the 12 hour challenge, but seriously don't think I'd be up to that (it's more Jo's thing!) so I have registered for the 3 hours, which has to be completed between 24th and 30th July.
I have had quite a tough gym session this morning and have started to use some of the training schedule which was drawn up for me for the MdS, and I managed to do a lot more than I thought I could- so it looks as though the training isn't going so badly!
Labels: Dovedale Dipper, gym for heroes
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Event Report- The Dove Dale Dipper
I decided it was high time I actually took part in something a bit more endurancy than a run up the road, so hauled myself to Hartington to take part in this year's Dipper. I didn't do this last year as I opted for the Kent 50 instead, so was quite looking forward to it.
I parked up and grabbed a coffee, seeing a few folk I know including Sue, who is a stalwart at these events, and Stuart, who organises the Ponton Plod.
It is usually very, very hot but this year was a bit of an exception- as we were crowded in the street, ready for the blast of the horn to signal the 'off', one of the organisers said he wasn't going to give his usual speech on using enough sunscreen (although I had put some on) and warned that as July had been so very wet, parts of the course was very slippery, particularly the stone path down into Milldale (I am so notoriously bad at going downhill I worried about this all day!) I had opted to wear my newish running shoes as my old ones have truly had it and need chucking.
We set off- I am not going to give a detailed description of the route as I have covered this before in 2007 event reports. We started to climb, and I saw Ian, who I met on the Waltham Winder and Spires and Steeples last year. Stuart passed me, and I assured him I will be putting in my entry for the Ponton Plod very soon! He is a very fast walker.
We reached the High Peak Trail and I had a little jog along here to the checkpoint at Sparklow- I passed Stuart and his friend, and ended up leapfrogging them a few times throughout the day before they lost me for good!
The High Peak Trail
The weather was a little cloudy but dry, and luckily remained dry all day- though sadly not underfoot! A lot of the fields had very muddy patched which were impossible to avoid. There were also a lot of fields with cows in- some were indifferent but others were quite curious, crowding and making loud sniffing noises (I expect I stunk!) I adopted a strategy of dealing with cows... jog to catch up with the person in front and use them as a shield!
Descending
The route to Longnor is quite undulating, I ran some of the flatter and downhill bits (although some were rather muddy). We ran into a little trouble- I was following a few others downhill through a field towards the road, on a clearly defined path through the grass, when some walkers ahead turned back- apparently we had missed the path, and the landowner was waiting at the bottom, with a camera- we retraced our steps and found a very unobvious stile which led into a field full of cows!
Ominous Clouds!
You Can See The Path Ascending To Longnor On The Left Of The Photo
There is a sharp ascent on a track into Longnor and the second checkpoint, where the angry landowner was berating the poor checkpoint volunteers about all the walkers and runners clambering over his gate. I totally wasn't concentrating when I left the checkpoint and nearly missed the turning- luckily a couple of blokes called me!
This part of the route was extremely wet- at one point we had to follow a path through a patch of gorse, and my feet just sunk in the water up to ankle level- I ended up with wet feet for most of the day. Just before the third checkpoint, we had to wade through a field of crops which was practically a pool!
The chap at the checkpoint reckoned that you could tell the runners from the walkers as the runners had mud higher up their legs!
This was half way, and there was still the climb up Ecton Hill to come- but first there was more mud to be negotiated.
Looking Towards The Folly And Ecton Hill
Finally I could see Ecton Hill in front of me and after a little more mud sliding downhill, attempted the climb- which is just long and steep, and a bit of a slog. I could tell I hadn't done this in a while!!
Ascending Ecton Hill
There is a fantastic view from the top though, but difficult to do justice in a photo. There is a lovely scenic walk along the side of the hill before dropping to the road.
I had remembered a certain part of the route here I thought may possibly be muddy- well, it wasn't just mud- it was ankle deep, wet, gluttinous, extremely sticky mud! A few lady runners ahead were struggling to keep their balance and I failed miserable, landing on my bum. One of the runners took a photo of her feet in the mud and I was tempted to do the same, but my hands were covered in mud and I was worried about getting it all over my camera!
I tried to walk forwards and ended up on my bum for a second time. I put my hands out to save myself so looked as though I was wearing a pair of elbow high dark gloves! I am so glad I had the foresight to take a plastic sleeve for the route description or it would have been unreadable! (And my comments are sadly unprintable!!)
I must have looked a sight, as after the final steep ascent to Whetton I passed a group of walkers going the other way, who looked at me in amazement and said 'Where have you been!?!'
A nice chap at the Whetton checkpoint helped me to wash my hands- I thought I'd better before spreading mud over the cake on offer!
The route to Castern Hall and the next checkpoint was pretty straightforward, I had a little run downhill but a group of walkers caught me up at the checkpoint. There were crisps on offer which made a nice change from sweet stuff and offered some salt. I had a chocolate flavour energy bar with me but didn't really like it.
Finally, after more fields full of cows...
Cows...
... it was time for the descent to Milldale which had been giving me concern all day. I had to pick my way down, as the limestone stones were covered in mud, making them very slippery, and my by now completely mud covered running shoes offered no grip at all. I had to stop and let loads of folk go by and was rather put out when one woman just ran downhill as though it was nothing!
I knew that the route was easy from Milldale to the end, and had a little (very slow) jog to the last checkpoint. I followed a group of walkers up Wolfscote Dale who were keeping a very good pace, which I tried to match- I was too tired to jog at this point. The path through Wolfscote Dale is around 3 miles, and would usually be lovely, but after 23 miles it becomes a bit of a drag and seems endless!
Finally we turned off, and were on the fields and tracks back to Hartington. A few runners passed me, and when we went downhill I looked at my watch and realised it was nearly 5pm- I decided it would be good to try to get in dead on 5, so started a slow, shambling jog, passing the group of walkers I'd been trailing through the dale. As I neared the village, I heard footsteps behind me, and the group had all decided to go for a jog finish, so we all finished together in 8 hours exactly!
I grabbed a coffee and realised that the queue for jacket potatoes was growing, so thought I'd best join it. It didn't appear to be moving, and somebody said that they were waiting for more potatoes to be delivered. This took 10 minutes- a long time when all you want to do is sit down! There was a huge sigh of relief and the queue started to move again- but just as I got to the counter and was about to request cheese and beans they ran out again! I felt ready to murder the woman who'd been in front of me as she had taken two- one for her and a friend! It took nearly half an hour to get one- but they were nice...
When I got home, I realised that my previous Dipper PB had been 8 hours 30 minutes, so I had beaten it by half an hour! I know I had a really heavy pack when I last completed it but I was quite pleased as I haven't done anything for a while!
Not that I will be doing a lot this week as I am off to Wells tomorrow to spend some time with mum and my little sis- and the dogs...
I parked up and grabbed a coffee, seeing a few folk I know including Sue, who is a stalwart at these events, and Stuart, who organises the Ponton Plod.
It is usually very, very hot but this year was a bit of an exception- as we were crowded in the street, ready for the blast of the horn to signal the 'off', one of the organisers said he wasn't going to give his usual speech on using enough sunscreen (although I had put some on) and warned that as July had been so very wet, parts of the course was very slippery, particularly the stone path down into Milldale (I am so notoriously bad at going downhill I worried about this all day!) I had opted to wear my newish running shoes as my old ones have truly had it and need chucking.
We set off- I am not going to give a detailed description of the route as I have covered this before in 2007 event reports. We started to climb, and I saw Ian, who I met on the Waltham Winder and Spires and Steeples last year. Stuart passed me, and I assured him I will be putting in my entry for the Ponton Plod very soon! He is a very fast walker.
We reached the High Peak Trail and I had a little jog along here to the checkpoint at Sparklow- I passed Stuart and his friend, and ended up leapfrogging them a few times throughout the day before they lost me for good!
The High Peak Trail
The weather was a little cloudy but dry, and luckily remained dry all day- though sadly not underfoot! A lot of the fields had very muddy patched which were impossible to avoid. There were also a lot of fields with cows in- some were indifferent but others were quite curious, crowding and making loud sniffing noises (I expect I stunk!) I adopted a strategy of dealing with cows... jog to catch up with the person in front and use them as a shield!
Descending
The route to Longnor is quite undulating, I ran some of the flatter and downhill bits (although some were rather muddy). We ran into a little trouble- I was following a few others downhill through a field towards the road, on a clearly defined path through the grass, when some walkers ahead turned back- apparently we had missed the path, and the landowner was waiting at the bottom, with a camera- we retraced our steps and found a very unobvious stile which led into a field full of cows!
Ominous Clouds!
You Can See The Path Ascending To Longnor On The Left Of The Photo
There is a sharp ascent on a track into Longnor and the second checkpoint, where the angry landowner was berating the poor checkpoint volunteers about all the walkers and runners clambering over his gate. I totally wasn't concentrating when I left the checkpoint and nearly missed the turning- luckily a couple of blokes called me!
This part of the route was extremely wet- at one point we had to follow a path through a patch of gorse, and my feet just sunk in the water up to ankle level- I ended up with wet feet for most of the day. Just before the third checkpoint, we had to wade through a field of crops which was practically a pool!
The chap at the checkpoint reckoned that you could tell the runners from the walkers as the runners had mud higher up their legs!
This was half way, and there was still the climb up Ecton Hill to come- but first there was more mud to be negotiated.
Looking Towards The Folly And Ecton Hill
Finally I could see Ecton Hill in front of me and after a little more mud sliding downhill, attempted the climb- which is just long and steep, and a bit of a slog. I could tell I hadn't done this in a while!!
Ascending Ecton Hill
There is a fantastic view from the top though, but difficult to do justice in a photo. There is a lovely scenic walk along the side of the hill before dropping to the road.
I had remembered a certain part of the route here I thought may possibly be muddy- well, it wasn't just mud- it was ankle deep, wet, gluttinous, extremely sticky mud! A few lady runners ahead were struggling to keep their balance and I failed miserable, landing on my bum. One of the runners took a photo of her feet in the mud and I was tempted to do the same, but my hands were covered in mud and I was worried about getting it all over my camera!
I tried to walk forwards and ended up on my bum for a second time. I put my hands out to save myself so looked as though I was wearing a pair of elbow high dark gloves! I am so glad I had the foresight to take a plastic sleeve for the route description or it would have been unreadable! (And my comments are sadly unprintable!!)
I must have looked a sight, as after the final steep ascent to Whetton I passed a group of walkers going the other way, who looked at me in amazement and said 'Where have you been!?!'
A nice chap at the Whetton checkpoint helped me to wash my hands- I thought I'd better before spreading mud over the cake on offer!
The route to Castern Hall and the next checkpoint was pretty straightforward, I had a little run downhill but a group of walkers caught me up at the checkpoint. There were crisps on offer which made a nice change from sweet stuff and offered some salt. I had a chocolate flavour energy bar with me but didn't really like it.
Finally, after more fields full of cows...
Cows...
... it was time for the descent to Milldale which had been giving me concern all day. I had to pick my way down, as the limestone stones were covered in mud, making them very slippery, and my by now completely mud covered running shoes offered no grip at all. I had to stop and let loads of folk go by and was rather put out when one woman just ran downhill as though it was nothing!
I knew that the route was easy from Milldale to the end, and had a little (very slow) jog to the last checkpoint. I followed a group of walkers up Wolfscote Dale who were keeping a very good pace, which I tried to match- I was too tired to jog at this point. The path through Wolfscote Dale is around 3 miles, and would usually be lovely, but after 23 miles it becomes a bit of a drag and seems endless!
Finally we turned off, and were on the fields and tracks back to Hartington. A few runners passed me, and when we went downhill I looked at my watch and realised it was nearly 5pm- I decided it would be good to try to get in dead on 5, so started a slow, shambling jog, passing the group of walkers I'd been trailing through the dale. As I neared the village, I heard footsteps behind me, and the group had all decided to go for a jog finish, so we all finished together in 8 hours exactly!
I grabbed a coffee and realised that the queue for jacket potatoes was growing, so thought I'd best join it. It didn't appear to be moving, and somebody said that they were waiting for more potatoes to be delivered. This took 10 minutes- a long time when all you want to do is sit down! There was a huge sigh of relief and the queue started to move again- but just as I got to the counter and was about to request cheese and beans they ran out again! I felt ready to murder the woman who'd been in front of me as she had taken two- one for her and a friend! It took nearly half an hour to get one- but they were nice...
When I got home, I realised that my previous Dipper PB had been 8 hours 30 minutes, so I had beaten it by half an hour! I know I had a really heavy pack when I last completed it but I was quite pleased as I haven't done anything for a while!
Not that I will be doing a lot this week as I am off to Wells tomorrow to spend some time with mum and my little sis- and the dogs...
Labels: Dovedale Dipper, Ponton Plod, Wells-Next-The-Sea
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Back On Track???
Thought it was high time I updated- I was going to do it Wednesday, honest I was, then we had a power cut- that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!
I had a lovely weekend in Blackpool. Saturday was actually nice- it was a novelty to have a day without any of the wet stuff, in fact it was pretty warm, so me and my sis took a walk round Nicky Nook, in the Trough of Bowland area. It's not a long walk but it's quite scenic.
We were walking down the road to the footpath when we saw a roe deer buck in a field;
Roe Deer
I only got a blurry photo as he jumped a wire fence and high tailed it into the woods.
We followed a track through woods to the reservoir;
Grizedale Reservoir
There was a huge slab of stone by the path so we sat and chatted for a time, which was great as we don't often get the chance to do that. There was a short steepish ascent to the trig point on Nicky Nook, and we had a great clear view right over to the jagged skyline of the Lakes.
The Lakes And M6 Motorway
Me On Nicky Nook
After the walk we had a deserved cinamon scone in Scorton.
Sunday I went to see Shayla, the pony my sis is part loaning. We took her into the indoor school and I had a walk and trot- I wasn't on her for that long but could feel my legs for a few days afterwards!
Two cute kittens live in the house opposite my sis, and think her garden belongs to them (her own two cats aren't terribly amused!) It was fun to watch their antics;
Adopted Cat!
I didn't do much Monday night, and went to see Lucky Tuesday. I felt so bad about my lack of training and crap eating that I stopped the car on the way home, got out and jogged for 30 minutes in my work clothes and trainers!
Wednesday I hauled myself back to my Total Tone class (ooh that hurt!) and last night I went out for a walk/ run which turned out to be more of a walk as I was chatting on the phone at the same time...
I think I'm back on track- or getting there... I will feel better after the Dipper on Sunday!
I had a lovely weekend in Blackpool. Saturday was actually nice- it was a novelty to have a day without any of the wet stuff, in fact it was pretty warm, so me and my sis took a walk round Nicky Nook, in the Trough of Bowland area. It's not a long walk but it's quite scenic.
We were walking down the road to the footpath when we saw a roe deer buck in a field;
Roe Deer
I only got a blurry photo as he jumped a wire fence and high tailed it into the woods.
We followed a track through woods to the reservoir;
Grizedale Reservoir
There was a huge slab of stone by the path so we sat and chatted for a time, which was great as we don't often get the chance to do that. There was a short steepish ascent to the trig point on Nicky Nook, and we had a great clear view right over to the jagged skyline of the Lakes.
The Lakes And M6 Motorway
Me On Nicky Nook
After the walk we had a deserved cinamon scone in Scorton.
Sunday I went to see Shayla, the pony my sis is part loaning. We took her into the indoor school and I had a walk and trot- I wasn't on her for that long but could feel my legs for a few days afterwards!
Two cute kittens live in the house opposite my sis, and think her garden belongs to them (her own two cats aren't terribly amused!) It was fun to watch their antics;
Adopted Cat!
I didn't do much Monday night, and went to see Lucky Tuesday. I felt so bad about my lack of training and crap eating that I stopped the car on the way home, got out and jogged for 30 minutes in my work clothes and trainers!
Wednesday I hauled myself back to my Total Tone class (ooh that hurt!) and last night I went out for a walk/ run which turned out to be more of a walk as I was chatting on the phone at the same time...
I think I'm back on track- or getting there... I will feel better after the Dipper on Sunday!
Labels: Blackpool, Dovedale Dipper, Trough Of Bowland
Monday, August 06, 2007
The Dovedale Dipper
Yesterday was the Dovedale Dipper, and it was, surprisingly, a scorching hot day. Just like the last two years, but I’d been wondering due to summer we have(n’t) had so far!
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 Trail
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 Wetton
The 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 Hall
A group of walkers had a quick drink and passed through, and I left just behind them. It kept alternating between sunny and cloudy, but was still very warm, We had a climb then a fairly steep descent to Milldale, which was packed with tourists; I stopped at the little shop and bought an Orange Maid lolly, which revived me! The last check point, number 6, was down the road from Milldale and at the start of Beresford Dale. I was told that there were still quite a few runners (and walkers) to come through, and so far about 15 folk had retired. There were hula hoops on offer here, which made a welcome change from custard creams. I drank plenty and made sure my water bottle was full- I don’t think you can drink enough on days like this!
The 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 Dale
Hartington, Approaching The Finish
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!
The next checkpoint wasn’t too far; the route took us along a delightful path around the hillside with great views into the valley, before descending to Castern Hall and checkpoint 5. Last year, the check point was in a lovely spot with chairs, and, as my legs had started to ache, I decided to have a sit down. However, this year it was in a slightly different place and had no chairs, so I sat on a stone step. Unfortunately, this caused one of the volunteers to think I was struggling (there was a chap sitting down a bit further away, in quite a rough state, and they were awaiting transport for him) and he proceeded to fuss over me, bringing me over drink and biscuits! He looked at my pack and remarked on the size of it, before saying "You could do with making it lighter". I didn't quite have the courage to tell him exactly what I was training for so just made vague noises about 'training for other events'.
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
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Midweek Update...
Not been up to an awful lot since Saturday's trek. Monday I ran 4 1/2 miles, and picked up the pace a bit, and touch wood; still no Achilles pain, soreness or creaking- it really feels as though everything has suddenly gone back into place, but I am going to be very, very careful with it...
Tuesday I did some weight training at home, and used my cross trainer for an hour whilst watching Diet Doctors... excellent motivation!
I am going to see a friend tonight, so I will bike there, not sure how far it is but there are a couple of decent hills! I am having to pick up the pace a bit as I intend to enter the Dovedale Dipper and also the Bullock Smithy, which eluded me last year (damn chest infection!!)
I am also, very slooowly, catching up with my holiday blog- it just takes ages to upload the photos!!
Tuesday I did some weight training at home, and used my cross trainer for an hour whilst watching Diet Doctors... excellent motivation!
I am going to see a friend tonight, so I will bike there, not sure how far it is but there are a couple of decent hills! I am having to pick up the pace a bit as I intend to enter the Dovedale Dipper and also the Bullock Smithy, which eluded me last year (damn chest infection!!)
I am also, very slooowly, catching up with my holiday blog- it just takes ages to upload the photos!!
Labels: achilles tendonitis, Bullock Smithy Hike, Dovedale Dipper
