Notes from a TGO Widower…

by Ron Griffiths

This contribution comes from my patient chauffeur

The wet and the wild

Home to the child

Who seeks the next step

On a trail with a ‘sac,

Not looking back

Pictures to take

Some will be kept

Posted online

The others just filed

It’s a venerable road

Or so we are told

This rut in the grass

Where the water runs past

Choosing your footing

Constantly looking

For a safe place to step so you won’t get too wet

It’s no place for the bold

Day’s end in a tent

Battered and bent

Wet gloves and socks

Tired of rocks

In the path and the stream

Not part of a team

On your own in this game

A moth to a flame

All your energies spent

Hello fellow fool

Following rules

From A to B

It’s not just me

Home on their back

Impossible sack

Just for the craic

For a day or two

Fun can be cruel

Plod and stumble

A long day as you fumble

For malt-loaf scraps

In the side of your pack

“Fine Dining” indeed

When you’re feeling in need

Of a calorie boost

Still miles from your roost

And the bed where you’ll tumble

Alone – there’s no crowd

As you whimper out loud

With the pain in your heel

And you know you can feel

That the flesh is on fire

But still you’re inspired

To do just one more mile

‘Til you sit on a stile

Knackered – but proud

One boot at a time

Yet another climb

There’s a view at the top

Or if cloudy – there’s not!

Prints here from others

All wanting their mothers

As the blisters have burst

And the socks have been cursed

For rubbing through skin

In so little time

One day to go

You’re getting slow

It’s downhill from here

You can almost taste the beer

As you sleep on the road

Still walking with your load

That newly learned gait

That keeps the weight

Off the blisters that burst

2 days ago!

Why do you do it?

Put yourselves through it?

You’ll take days to mend

There’s no prize to defend

You’re safe, at the end

Making new friends

Sharing your tales

Of the hills and the vales

You’ll see them next year (Oh shit!)

Training starts (in earnest) for TGO Challenge 2014

Leaving the Little Barn at Rivington all seemed well – but I was quickly reminded of the realities of walking with a full backpacking load when I encountered the first squeeze gate. Luckily there was a very climbable wooden fence at the side…

Ascending the paths through the Chinese Gardens towards Rivington Pike, with the plan to cross the moor to the TV masts and summit on Winter Hill, I realised the cloud was down low, and the wind – which had been ‘cheeky’ down at the barn had turned into a full tearing gale. I hid in the lee of the monument for a few minutes to gather my thoughts, fish out map and compass and work out my bearing on the mast, and as I crossed over the stile separating ‘civilisation’ from ‘wilderness’, I just knew all was right in the world. This was true training for the ‘unmentionable mountains’, with a full weight pack, navigating through a 20m visibility cloud bank in a howling gale across a bog! The predicted good day shown by yesterday’s weather forecast seemed to be totally absent as I drew my hood tight around my face and periodically stopped to wipe my glasses so I could see where I was putting my feet. Ah, happy days!

On a better note, I realised all the gym work and pavement and path tramping over the winter was certainly paying off, as I carried my pack easily all morning, climbing from Rivington barn via the Pike to the top of Winter Hill, down to the main road at Belmont and back up to the top of the hill. Here I had a bite to eat, escaping from the blasting wind in the partial shelter of one of the big fences that surround the aerials, and then stopped for a few more minutes to chat with a kindred soul who was walking her dogs.

What to do next? Answer: drop down to the bottom at Belmont again and once again climb up to the top. This is training after all. I set out in the grey clag just after mid-day, hit the bottom and turned straight round – going well. As I returned up the steep slope the cloud suddenly cleared, and at last I could see the reservoirs below. There were even a few hints that the sun might actually come out….

From the top I struck out across the moor once more. I could see the tower at Rivington Pike this time, and crossed country, yomping across the tussocks and avoiding the worst of the bogs. About half of the way across my legs gave out on me. I found a slightly higher mound (possibly a ruin – there were a few stones around) where I could sit down without fear of being sucked into the ooze, and had something to eat. While I was there I noticed some other walkers on the customary route twixt mast and tower, so decided to swallow my pride and follow them, as I was finding crossing open ground so hard. This brought me to the mud motorway – but at least I was not having to lift my legs miles on each step to break my way across the tussocky grass.

My legs were happy, my back was happy – until the last punishing descent to the barn at Rivington when my knees started to scream at me. Not bad for my first ‘Heavy Pack’ walk of the year. A cup of tea and ginger flapjack restored the equilibrium and I was happy again setting off on the walk out to Horwich and my pick-up. What a great day!

What made me even happier was plotting my route on Memory Map and realising that I had just about modelled one of my toughest days from this Year’s TGOC. Today I climbed 758 metres and descended 780 metres, so climbed and dropped the same height as that day, although in Scotland  the distance on the ground for the climb and descent is less as the ground is steeper, with a ridge walk between. There is often low cloud/navigation to contend with on the top too - like today. Now – I need to extend the distance by about five miles to model my longest days in Scotland, keeping the climbing. Guess a longer walk-in and walk-out than today should fix that.