I was guiding a group of 6, part of a large team of several groups from MV Kelly doing a National Three Peaks Challenge, organised by Activus Outdoors. The only downside was that we set of too late to see sunrise from the summit of the mountain – this is an awesome sight and something you should aim to see at least once in a lifetime. So we started off, going at good pace but for two of the guys with us it wasn’t fast enough – they were on an agenda to get under their previous time and had been on the mountain several times before, so after staying with us for a short while and after consulting with me they decided to head off up the mountain on their own. As it was the rest of the group were on the summit in a very respectable two hours and down again in another hour and three-quarters before heading down south for their last peak of the challenge, Snowdon.
Rejuvenated by my short nap I headed over to the Bower House Inn to collect my next clients Gemma and her daughter Lauryn. This was not only a birthday weekend for Lauryn who’s 12th birthday was on the following day but it was also time for some important mother daughter time. There’s not many 12 year olds who ask to walk up England’s highest mountain for their birthday but what a great way to celebrate! Lauryn was a great walker and ascended the mountain easily with just a few stops along the way for snacks, photos and later on, lunch. It was quite chilly as we neared the summit as it was a windy day but we all had sufficient clothing with us and just layered up as we got higher. We had planned to take a different route back down via Lingmell but during one of our stops Gemma had unfortunately dropped one of her favourite tops. As it turned out it was fairly near the start of our walk and some kind person had picked it up and placed it on a rock. We were relieved to find it on our return even though many other walkers had passed by!
Kate