Monday, 13 August 2012
Scafell Pike
Pictures from Scafell Pike on World Hepatitis Day July 28 2012
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| Members of Compass York & SASS Sheffield join me on world hepatitis day. |
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| And there off !!! |
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| The A team ... Alex, Anthony, James ( our guide ) myself & Andy. |
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| Add caption |
This is the end !!!
Sorry it's taken a while to write the final chapter in my 3 peaks story...
Mount Snowdon
We set off for mount Snowdon in the early hours of Friday morning 27 july, the weather was cloudy with good visibility at ground level as we arrived at Pen Y Pass our start point. Our group consisted of my son Peter, Leroy, Mike, & Richard, all members of SASS Sheffield apart from Myself & my son, we are a team on our own & this was the latest in a long line of trials & tribulations only difference is we asked for this one.
After months of training on Kinder Scout it was time to go, no sooner had we pulled into the car park at Pen Y Pass we were out & being called back by Mike saying " do you want a photo " Yes, I replied, click ! & then we were on our own. We took pictures of ourselves using Leroys camera phone all the way up the mountain, starting at the blue gates of the Miners track. The top of Snowdon was in thick cloud & soon it began to rain lightly. the Miners Track is an easy, gentle climb up to the Mountain it criss crosses the Pyg Track as you rise up walking by a series of lakes, I was able to recognize our route from videos I had watched on youtube, something I recommend.
As you get to the point when your starting to wonder just how far left you have, the sound of the train offers you a friendly hint as to the answer, that & a series of upright stone pillars that grow in size the nearer you get to the top.
As we approached the top of our stone staricase, the clouds began to brake offering a glimpse of a view, then another & another, all helping to bring us both to fever pitch as we turned left toward the now visible summit trig point, it never fails to amaze me just how great a buzz you get when reaching the top. We laughed & joked our way up to take the now obligatory summit photos, taking out the tshirt sent to me one week earlier by the Hepatitis c trust, we recorded our first peak. We sat down amid litter & ate our other obligatory Jnr's chicken pittas. One down two to go !
We drove directly to what was to be our base for the weekends challenge, the Derwent youth hotel, arriving around early evening 6-7 pm, we paid on arrival 20 quid a night, it's a big old house that was no doubt very grand at one time of day, sadly it has now succumbed to the ravages of time & tide, the strong whiff of damp as you enter the building tells the story, that & the matresses are the biggest faults I found but I wasn't looking for faults, I love the atmosphere of the hostels, free & easy, they are full of interesting people. We were in an 8 bed dorm with two others one off on a rock climbing course in a getaway bid from the Oylimpics the other just exploring the surrounding area & what a beautiful area it is, the Lake district has to be the most picturesque in the UK. Peter & I ate food he had prepared for us in our room, then we climbed into our bunk-beds ready to be up at 7 am & off for 7.30
Scafell Pike
We started out early Saturday morning, driving from Derwent to Wasdale arriving around 10.30, at the car park of Wasdale campsite located at the foot of Scafell Pike. The mountain was enveloped in cloud that day so we made our way onto the site to find Anthony & his team from Compass, I spotted a guy I recognized from their coast to coast bike ride video outside a tent & headed over, bingo, the Compass team were in the process of gathering to head out, our timing had been perfect. Introductions were made & we took a group photo, before we knew it we were off.
As we filtered onto the footpath I hung back & began a conversation with Andy, the rain began to fall very early on I stayed at the back pacing myself, I soon realized this was going to be a difficult ascent yet the various chats I had with others who dropped back as we climbed helped pass the time & kept our spirits up. Without realizing it a drama was unfolding that would catch me totally unawares, you see as we were spread so far up & down the route communication with my own team members had been long broken, I just fixed onto Andy's bright yellow back pack cover & Anthony's yellow jacket. Some had to turn back but gave it a really good go, the weather prevented people from waiting as it was turning colder & colder & wetter & wetter as we climbed. I made sure I kept myself as tail end charlie & could account for all that had turned back, I told them to get a message to my son Peter who was at the van in the campsite car park & tell him that they had made it back, so he could radio up to me & I could tell Anthony.
Suddenly we hit the mountain tops, a steep rocky area made of shale & boulders under foot, the path becoming less obvious, a very inhospitable environment, it becomes so steep that you have to start using your hands to negotiate your way forward, which make you even colder if you aren't wearing gloves, ( always carry gloves ). By now we were down to two, myself & Alex a young guy from the Compass team, we were having a great time laughing & joking until suddenly a nightmare unfolded, suddenly the outline of two other peaks appeared on either side of the one we were stood on, oh no !
There were 5 others in a group ahead of us, I shouted up, do you know the way... No, came the reply but we were all committed to the route we were on, to turn back was unthinkable, it would be hell, yet it looked like hell ahead & it could be the wrong peak. all of a sudden I thought I may have to call this one off & concentrate on just getting the two of us off the mountain, we formed into one group & pushed on, we were now rock climbing heading up a gully, fear helps to focus the mind & as we reached the top I called out loudly " Anthony !!!" I'm hear came the reply, I hadn't seen Anthony for a while now & I thought him long gone, not so, he was stood on the other side of a large rock. All this was taking place in lashing rain & hail, by the way. Suddenly we were a group again Anthony, Andy, James ( who had sat nav ), Alex & myself. James had been pinging signals along the narrow strip of rock & got a bearing & so we all headed off with a new found faith. bare in mind all this is taking place in fog making us literally in the unknown, there's no doubt it heightens the senses & fears. The guys in the other group followed us from here on.
We were in poor shape, wet & very cold, James was fine, he is a mountain man & knows his stuff, that aside the fact remained we couldn't see the end & we grew colder as we climbed, as one by one the false summits appeared & were reached, only for another bigger one to come into focus moral began to fall Alex was struggling but he kept going, as the last summit came into sight, we asked a couple heading down if this was it ? & yes came the reply, Alex declare he'd had enough & couldn't do it, after a few words of encouragement, he realized he could do it & so we reached the summit, we shook hands & took a very quick photo of me at the trig, to prove I'd done it, to keep the fundraising event on track, job done !
We headed off the summit down, down, the driving rain had now stopped, I knew we would now start to dry out & made sure Alex understood things were turning in our favor, by now we were drying out & our spirits began to soar, making a summit is a buzz in itself but we had battled so much more.
We floated down that mountain in the highest of spirits, I had learned so much more about life on the mountain & how to cope. We were truly blessed that day, my own group had vanished in a race to the summit, mountains can bring out the competitiveness in men I understand that but I wasn't best pleased to be honest. the two groups had remained separate, the SASS team made it up & down a different route & that's were the problem arose, the two lead groups from SASS & Compass had turned off on the proper easier ascent but failed to make sure we were behind, we headed into the notorious peaks of Mickledore the area were Julia Bradbury got lost on Scafell Pike. We had a true adventure that day, that was our reward for being slowest. You can get a good idea of Mickeldore by checking out the videos of it on youtube.
Two down, the big ONE to go ! Onwards & upwards...
Ben Nevis
We left our base at Derwent youth hostel for the last time at 2am Sunday 29th July & headed for Scotland & Fort William arriving there at 7am the morning was a carbon copy of the day before at Scafell Pike with the mountain top in thick cloud cover, the little we could see focused the mind. the start point is very similar to Jacobs ladder on Kinder Scout in that it's formed by a set of steep steps, the only difference is as you reach the point you imagine to be the equivalent distance to the ladder you get the feeling your a long long way from home. The Ben is twice the size of kinder Scout.
I settled in to my slow paced stepping technique, it's not much to look at but it get's the job done, Leroy patiently waited for me as we climbed. We enjoyed the views as they broke through the clouds from time to time, but it goes on & on & on & so we began the trial of the false summits as one by one what looks like the top comes into view, you see, as the outline of a peak appears, it's just a faint outline that comes out of the thick fog, highlighted by the seemingly clear light above it & so you assume it could possibly be the top. My advice to anyone doing Ben Nevis is to get you head down & don't buy into figuring out any possible summits until you reach it.
We made the summit of Ben Nevis 5 hours after setting out, it was covered in thick cloud with no views at all, we were cold & wet as it had once again rained most of the time, there was still snow up there & it was cold. We took the trig photos & made our way back down. There was a sense of anti climax as it had become a chore, that & the fact that by now the mountain consisted of an endless stream of people asking you how far is it ! It spoils it for me, we had the mountain to ourselves in the morning but now it was very busy. We started to race down as we had on Snowdon, leaping from rock to rock at speed is a sport in itself & get's the adrenalin flowing.
I didn't realize but the guys from SASS were waiting for us at the bottom & were filming us running down to the finish line, that was a nice touch & helped to catch a very precious moment in my life. As I've said my battle or should I say our battle, (my son Peter went through hell on earth at my side ) with hepatitis c had begun 4 years earlier, after failing treatment & hitting the lowest point a family could hit whilst being alive, we now ascended to the highest of emotional summits by not only beating the virus but carving out a new beginning by conquering the 3 highest peaks to be found anywhere within the British Isles.
Hip hip hooray, hip hip hooray, hip hip hooray !!!
The mountains have saved my life, I will climb them for the rest of my life, health permitting. Take my advice & find your own mountains, trust me, they'll help you find your way free.
Peace,
Peter Moore
Mount Snowdon
We set off for mount Snowdon in the early hours of Friday morning 27 july, the weather was cloudy with good visibility at ground level as we arrived at Pen Y Pass our start point. Our group consisted of my son Peter, Leroy, Mike, & Richard, all members of SASS Sheffield apart from Myself & my son, we are a team on our own & this was the latest in a long line of trials & tribulations only difference is we asked for this one.
As you get to the point when your starting to wonder just how far left you have, the sound of the train offers you a friendly hint as to the answer, that & a series of upright stone pillars that grow in size the nearer you get to the top.
As we approached the top of our stone staricase, the clouds began to brake offering a glimpse of a view, then another & another, all helping to bring us both to fever pitch as we turned left toward the now visible summit trig point, it never fails to amaze me just how great a buzz you get when reaching the top. We laughed & joked our way up to take the now obligatory summit photos, taking out the tshirt sent to me one week earlier by the Hepatitis c trust, we recorded our first peak. We sat down amid litter & ate our other obligatory Jnr's chicken pittas. One down two to go !
We drove directly to what was to be our base for the weekends challenge, the Derwent youth hotel, arriving around early evening 6-7 pm, we paid on arrival 20 quid a night, it's a big old house that was no doubt very grand at one time of day, sadly it has now succumbed to the ravages of time & tide, the strong whiff of damp as you enter the building tells the story, that & the matresses are the biggest faults I found but I wasn't looking for faults, I love the atmosphere of the hostels, free & easy, they are full of interesting people. We were in an 8 bed dorm with two others one off on a rock climbing course in a getaway bid from the Oylimpics the other just exploring the surrounding area & what a beautiful area it is, the Lake district has to be the most picturesque in the UK. Peter & I ate food he had prepared for us in our room, then we climbed into our bunk-beds ready to be up at 7 am & off for 7.30
Scafell Pike
We started out early Saturday morning, driving from Derwent to Wasdale arriving around 10.30, at the car park of Wasdale campsite located at the foot of Scafell Pike. The mountain was enveloped in cloud that day so we made our way onto the site to find Anthony & his team from Compass, I spotted a guy I recognized from their coast to coast bike ride video outside a tent & headed over, bingo, the Compass team were in the process of gathering to head out, our timing had been perfect. Introductions were made & we took a group photo, before we knew it we were off.
As we filtered onto the footpath I hung back & began a conversation with Andy, the rain began to fall very early on I stayed at the back pacing myself, I soon realized this was going to be a difficult ascent yet the various chats I had with others who dropped back as we climbed helped pass the time & kept our spirits up. Without realizing it a drama was unfolding that would catch me totally unawares, you see as we were spread so far up & down the route communication with my own team members had been long broken, I just fixed onto Andy's bright yellow back pack cover & Anthony's yellow jacket. Some had to turn back but gave it a really good go, the weather prevented people from waiting as it was turning colder & colder & wetter & wetter as we climbed. I made sure I kept myself as tail end charlie & could account for all that had turned back, I told them to get a message to my son Peter who was at the van in the campsite car park & tell him that they had made it back, so he could radio up to me & I could tell Anthony.
Suddenly we hit the mountain tops, a steep rocky area made of shale & boulders under foot, the path becoming less obvious, a very inhospitable environment, it becomes so steep that you have to start using your hands to negotiate your way forward, which make you even colder if you aren't wearing gloves, ( always carry gloves ). By now we were down to two, myself & Alex a young guy from the Compass team, we were having a great time laughing & joking until suddenly a nightmare unfolded, suddenly the outline of two other peaks appeared on either side of the one we were stood on, oh no !
There were 5 others in a group ahead of us, I shouted up, do you know the way... No, came the reply but we were all committed to the route we were on, to turn back was unthinkable, it would be hell, yet it looked like hell ahead & it could be the wrong peak. all of a sudden I thought I may have to call this one off & concentrate on just getting the two of us off the mountain, we formed into one group & pushed on, we were now rock climbing heading up a gully, fear helps to focus the mind & as we reached the top I called out loudly " Anthony !!!" I'm hear came the reply, I hadn't seen Anthony for a while now & I thought him long gone, not so, he was stood on the other side of a large rock. All this was taking place in lashing rain & hail, by the way. Suddenly we were a group again Anthony, Andy, James ( who had sat nav ), Alex & myself. James had been pinging signals along the narrow strip of rock & got a bearing & so we all headed off with a new found faith. bare in mind all this is taking place in fog making us literally in the unknown, there's no doubt it heightens the senses & fears. The guys in the other group followed us from here on.
We headed off the summit down, down, the driving rain had now stopped, I knew we would now start to dry out & made sure Alex understood things were turning in our favor, by now we were drying out & our spirits began to soar, making a summit is a buzz in itself but we had battled so much more.
We floated down that mountain in the highest of spirits, I had learned so much more about life on the mountain & how to cope. We were truly blessed that day, my own group had vanished in a race to the summit, mountains can bring out the competitiveness in men I understand that but I wasn't best pleased to be honest. the two groups had remained separate, the SASS team made it up & down a different route & that's were the problem arose, the two lead groups from SASS & Compass had turned off on the proper easier ascent but failed to make sure we were behind, we headed into the notorious peaks of Mickledore the area were Julia Bradbury got lost on Scafell Pike. We had a true adventure that day, that was our reward for being slowest. You can get a good idea of Mickeldore by checking out the videos of it on youtube.
Two down, the big ONE to go ! Onwards & upwards...
Ben Nevis
We left our base at Derwent youth hostel for the last time at 2am Sunday 29th July & headed for Scotland & Fort William arriving there at 7am the morning was a carbon copy of the day before at Scafell Pike with the mountain top in thick cloud cover, the little we could see focused the mind. the start point is very similar to Jacobs ladder on Kinder Scout in that it's formed by a set of steep steps, the only difference is as you reach the point you imagine to be the equivalent distance to the ladder you get the feeling your a long long way from home. The Ben is twice the size of kinder Scout.
I settled in to my slow paced stepping technique, it's not much to look at but it get's the job done, Leroy patiently waited for me as we climbed. We enjoyed the views as they broke through the clouds from time to time, but it goes on & on & on & so we began the trial of the false summits as one by one what looks like the top comes into view, you see, as the outline of a peak appears, it's just a faint outline that comes out of the thick fog, highlighted by the seemingly clear light above it & so you assume it could possibly be the top. My advice to anyone doing Ben Nevis is to get you head down & don't buy into figuring out any possible summits until you reach it.
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| The war memorial on Ben Nevis summit |
I didn't realize but the guys from SASS were waiting for us at the bottom & were filming us running down to the finish line, that was a nice touch & helped to catch a very precious moment in my life. As I've said my battle or should I say our battle, (my son Peter went through hell on earth at my side ) with hepatitis c had begun 4 years earlier, after failing treatment & hitting the lowest point a family could hit whilst being alive, we now ascended to the highest of emotional summits by not only beating the virus but carving out a new beginning by conquering the 3 highest peaks to be found anywhere within the British Isles.
Hip hip hooray, hip hip hooray, hip hip hooray !!!
The mountains have saved my life, I will climb them for the rest of my life, health permitting. Take my advice & find your own mountains, trust me, they'll help you find your way free.
Peace,
Peter Moore
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