When running the checkpoint for the Fellsman this year, an interesting question was raised, why do we do this each year? After a lot of thinking, I’m still not sure I know the answer. I’ve always liked the Yorkshire Dales, and try to get up as often as I can, in fact, as an aside, my parents divorced when I was 6 or 7, so my brother and I went to see my dad each Saturday and this usually involved a walk, and a chat. I’m now 35 and yet I still go see my dad almost every Saturday and we go for a walk and a chat, and I hope to carry on doing this well into the future. This set me on the path of scouting and Duke of Edinburgh, taught me independence and countless other skills which I use every day, along with meeting lots of other like minded people. As part of this, we used to run the Gragarath and Great Coum (circa 1998/1999) with our venture scout unit. I then went to uni, and coincidentally met James Setters, both of us being 250 miles away from home but realising not only were we from the same area, but had similar experiences, just mine were Aire Valley venture scouts, and him Cobbydale. I’d help marshal the Cobbydale clomp a few times, and he’d been a hunter on the fantastic Country Caper event, although possibly not at the same time.
Time moved on and I’d moved back to Yorkshire where as James had stayed in South Wales, keeping in touch occasionally, until he’d mentioned running a check point one year, over night at Hells Gap. I agreed and we met up for the first time in a few years, along with Josh, a friend of his, and the friendliness and camaraderie was brilliant. It was bitterly cold that year (2015) and watching a stream of head torches navigate various lines from Middle Tongue to us was an experience, but the people, from all walks of life, having trudged through icy bogs in freezing wind, yet emerging with huge smiles on their faces, having a laugh and a joke before descending to Cray was mind blowing. We were stood down about 7 or 8 am having seen an amazing sunrise and were welcomed back at Threshfield, exhausted, cold but happy, and this is the trick I think, whilst you’re been given a cup of tea, or breakfast having had no sleep, someone jokingly says, same again next time, and before your mind can process it, you’ve said yes!
The next year, we were up at Buckden Pike (I believe James sold this to me as an ‘upgrade’) so up we trudged with the kit, into the cold and wind. Got the tents set up and it was the same, if anything the smiles were bigger as Cray was a food stop, and even the ridiculously steep route up Buckden wasn’t dampening the spirits. It was cold that year, so much so that I made a cup of tea about 1am, clipped the tally cards of 2 or 3 groups and when I went to pick up my tea no more than 10 minutes later, it was frozen solid! Again, the weather was kind, and we saw an amazing sun set (see the picture at the top of the post). I vividly remember the procession of torch light from middle tongue to Hells Gap, it’s quite a sight!
This year, Josh had decided to enter the event after saying he was cold the year before, my option would have been to pack an extra coat, but he decided walking the event was the way to do it. He’s braver than me!
This year, James had recruited his girlfriend Aimee to make the numbers up, and she went to Redshaw, leaving 2 of us to man the Buckden Check point
We were on the top of Buckden about 2pm this year, slight breeze but drier underfoot so arrived at the top with dry feet, which is always a bonus, and got set up. Had just the Yorkshire flag flying this year, but a lot of people asked where the Welsh Dragon was. The wind gradually picked up throughout the night, but this meant the skies cleared between 1 and 3 and I got to see one of the starriest skies I’ve ever seen, complete with 2 shooting stars. People were again in high spirits and so friendly, and worryingly thinking we’ve got the raw deal waiting for them to arrive, when we think the opposite, as waiting means we’re not having to complete the distance! We were planning on making Josh clip his own tally but unfortunately, he retired at Cray, which is a phenomenal effort, and put the struggle I had walking up Buckden to shame!
Highlights of the night include the clear skies, the competitors from last year arriving in Dragon hats as promised, it’s difficult to recognise and remember people when they’re decked out in hats and head torches, but they stood out with their high spirits! The last memory of note was going to fill my water bottle in the dark and disturbing about 20 frogs, fortunately, the wind was loud enough and in the right direction to mask my shrill screams manly grunts of surprise!
So, after 800+ words, what makes us do it? The spirit of the event, the people, the scenery, the friends you make along the way, the challenge but mostly the mentality of every hill walker, because it’s there and you can.
A big thank you to everyone involved, and of course, when we got back to Threshfield and handed a cup of tea, the suggestion of next year was raised, and of course, we said yes we’d be happy to come back next year!
