What a week we’ve had! Our original plan was to complete a daily blog of our adventures to keep everyone up to date but the lack of phone signal here is making it impossible. Instead, we will post content weekly as it’s much more manageable.
So far, every day has been completely different but the one thing that has been consistent is that there has been no escape from the excruciating heat! Day 1 was very long and definitely opened our eyes as to just how tough this challenge is going to be! The air was very muggy and close and visibility wasn’t the best. However, there was something very refreshing about walking through the low, wet cloud as we reached some of the higher summits.
On our second day, we had the company our good friend Ward. We took advantage of the fact that we had access to a car to plan today’s route, as the camper van can sometimes be too big for winding country roads. The first route of the day was a circular path so we were able to drive the car to our starting point and recharge our batteries there before we headed off to our next obstacles! The other routes of Day 2 were pretty much up and down but the variety made the challenge seem more manageable. We were really impressed with Ward and are thankful that she joined us.
The next day consisted of a very linear route. We got up at the crack of dawn to drop the camper van off at the finish line and mentally prepared ourselves for a grueling day of endless hours of walking up and down mountains! With no breeze at all and 9 hours of non-stop walking, there were times when we wanted to give up. Joey of course was with us every step of the way and gave us our fighting strength to continue. We felt a huge sense of accomplishment at the end of this day and breathed a sigh of relief that we’d ticked off one of the most difficult challenges so early in the trip.
Our next stop was Wasdale Head. This is literally in the middle of nowhere and phone signal became impossible here. Believe it or not, the only signal we could get was at the very top of each mountain! We used our well-earned rest time to catch up with family and friends to let them know we were safe and updated our social media pages. Then of course spent lots of time taking in the most breathtaking scenery of cloudless blue skies, crystal clear lakes and endless greenery. In an ideal world, every day would be as clear as this but not as hot!
We were lucky enough to pass lots of streams on our trek and took full advantage of splashing in each and every one to cool off (and to get a much needed wash of course!). We are quickly realising that sun hats, sunglasses and bug spray are total lifesavers. We are covered from head to toe in bites from pesky insects!
Shortly after our return to the van, a roaring thunderstorm began and continued throughout the night. We were convinced that the next day would be a complete write off but to our surprise, the weather was absolutely glorious when we woke up at 6am. We breathed a huge sigh of relief as this was the day we had planned to climb Scafell Pike (the highest peak in England!).
We will write about that day in our next blog. Thank you for reading and for your continued support.