Climbing Snowdon - a walk in all seasons!

Following on from our earlier walk in the month on the SDW, we had decided that we needed to undertake an overnight walk too. No matter what time we start the real thing, part of the real walk in July will be at night, and we wanted to make sure we experienced this.

Plans were made and we decided to walk the legs from Amberley (closer to CP4) through to Hassocks (close to CP8). The journey would take us over 40km in length and up almost 1000m (the same height as Snowdon!)...and would mean walking throughout the night without any support crew - we needed to take clothes for all weather (def needed as you'll see) as well as food and water! No little boys selling ice lollies at 2am in the morning on this walk!

The team on the hill away from Amberley

The sunset over Amberley

As the sun set, we set off up the first of the many hills we were to encounter on our walk that night. A pretty tough one and we know that at CP4 we'll need to refuel and replenish before tackling it. As one of the many Trailwalkers that have experienced it said 'It's one that goes on giving!'.

Amberley Mount 'It keeps on giving'

We're on our way!

A beautiful Full Moon on the shortest night

We were blessed with fabulous weather and a great full moon as we hit the heights and trekked across the top of the downs. Now, our first encounter that evening other than fellow Trailwalkers was with a couple of cyclists who passed us going east. A swift 'hello and thanks' and they passed off into the distance - although they didn't have lights which struck us as odd. 10mins later and in the distance we saw flashes and thought there must be fellow walkers ahead.


However, as we approached there were a couple of other flashes, and then the individuals concerned disappeared into a car - all FOUR of them, and dressed in questionable clothing. We had 2 schools of thought - 1 innocent (the cyclists had been picked up and were on their way home) and 1 not-so (we'd stumbled and rumbled some dogging!). Needless to say, every car park, innocent person and light source from there on invoked lighthearted banter and theories!

Onwards to the first CP of the night...close to Windlesham House on the A24. A quick, but safe, crossing of the road and we decided to settle down for our first break of the evening. Some of the additional Trailwalkers decided to have a quicker break and wandered on as we checked in with loved ones via Facebook, Twitter & text and filled up on goodies ready for the next leg...and the next challenge up to Chanctonbury Rings.

And so stage 2 began, and what a tough old start...although the route taken was slightly different to the one we'll take in July (which is longer, but shallower). Passing Chanctonbury Rings we had a lovely long amble downhill towards CP6 near Botolphs. Or it would have been lovely had it not been SO dark (we'd lost the full moon by then) that I actually made a fatal error in map reading! Now it's strange how things change in the dark, but having written instructions as well as a map didn't help much!

So what went wrong? A miss of a junction of paths, and enjoying the walk/company, meant an extra 2.5 km plus a head-scratching 10 minutes in the middle of a field used by the Steyning Flying Club (at 1.30 in the morning!)...thankfully (and thanks to Clara) we managed to find the right path and headed onward towards CP6, where we had our second break and a sock change. We were 20km and just over 4 hours in (about 2am) and were half-way. However, by now, the wind had started to increase and the rain was threatening.

Off to tackle our stage 3 (stage 7 of the real walk) and yet another climb from a valley floor to the top of the Downs...no wonder we were climbing Snowdon! We climbed up Beeding Hill and were thankful for the steady downhill to relax afterwards...although this was short-lived as the track climbed steeply and then dropped sharply a couple of times. Now around 4am the wind was blowing hard and the rain started to fall (well, fall is a little bit of a lie...more like streak horizontally) so we sought a little shelter to change into wet weather gear and prepare ourselves for the final climb up to CP7.

Wandering up towards a pub in the middle of the downs at 430am in the morning is a strange experience. The lights were on but evidently nobody was home. Oh how we longed to wander into it's warmth, switch on the kettle and cook up some bacon sarnies! At this point, we again lost our way a little. Although this was a bit of a disappointment, in the end it turned out for the best. We trekked a little to the north of where we needed to be and wandered down from that 'Devil's Place' through a wood (which kept out most of the wind and rain) towards Poynings. If we'd have carried on with our plan to CP8 we'd have gone over West Hill and Cow Down...which wouldn't have been the most pleasant of experiences in the weather that was now upon us.

Entering Poynings

Devil's Dyke from below

Sheltering in Poynings

However hard the walk might have been, the flat walk along to Hassocks was still a little challenge. Particularly as it hadn't been planned so, at 6 in the morning we were now wandering around somewhere we didn't know very well!

Thankfully there weren't too many complicated moves and only one occasion called for help from an up-early local (which was a god-send as we'd hit the road into Hassocks without knowing it and were about to set off in the wrong direction!). One little experience though...as we wandered along the bridleway running next to the A23, something fell from a tree and landed next to my head on a branch. Lo and behold, a little chick had fallen from it's nest and was struggling to get off a leaf that it had embedded it's claw. So with a little manhandling, we managed to free it...and then all we had to do was to leave it on a branch...easier said than done...that little critter hung on for dear life and needed a lot of encouragement to let go!

And so it was that, at a little after 7 in the morning, the gang rolled into Hassocks tired, wet but elated that we'd walked through the night (and worked through the day too). 25 hours awake and very few wrong decisions/turns made - the feet and legs might have felt weary, but we were happy that we had negotiated the night section. OK, 40km down - that's almost half-way and, judging by the profiles, we'd tackled 3 of the 4 major inclines...yay!

So...this may be the last blog before the big day! We'll keep you up to date with anything else that is happening with us, but hope to see everyone on the 26th July fit and healthy! We hope you've enjoyed what's been written in our blogs and we'll be sure to write up our experiences on the day!

First time on the route - a (brief) account

June 1st saw the whole team meet up early in the QECP car park to tackle the South Downs Way to just past CP1 on the route...a walk of around 20km.

Having trained for the first few months around the hills and moors of the New Forest and eastern trails of the South Downs Way, today was our first opportunity to get together on the real route. A gorgeous start to the day heading off up the path from the car park with a few other hardy souls on foot and on bikes. A fairly gentle, but long, climb out of the Park led to a fairly steep climb down (one for later in reverse)!

Lumps and bumps led us on towards CP1 just before Harting Down and Beacon Hill - plenty of hardened cyclists were out trying their damndest to negotiate the flint and chalk of the uphills (we found out there was a cycling event on our return). We made it with no problems to CP1 and then onwards to the top of Harting for our half-way picnic and rest.

The view was absolutely beautiful from the top and we had lovely sunshine on which to feast (as well as our pork pies, peanut butter sarnies, pizza and bananas!). We were also entertained by the remote controlled gliders being flown from the ridge (I use the term entertained loosely I hasten to add!!).

We had to leave to return to QECP after about 20 mins as we had afternoon appointments to make. So with a full belly and the sun on our backs, we headed back downhill towards CP1 and home.

We can't leave this blog without the mention of our encounter with a serial entrepreneur. Readers of other Trailwalker blogs and any trekkers of the SDW out there will know of him. An Alan Sugar in the making? I am sure of that. Half-way between CP1 and the start, you'll find a little shack across from a house at a cross-road in the paths. Every weekend day from about 11am, you'll find a young lad selling ice lollies from the pack at a very reasonable price! I can only imagine come Trailwalker day, he (and his supplier parents) will be praying for a beautiful day and hundreds of participants looking for a sneaky early treat. He's saving up for Star Wars lego pieces we believe, so why not stop and help this young lad realise his dream!?

Back to QECP in good time...a relaxed 20km in 4 hours...and an enjoyable first experience. The next blog will be our second outing on the SDW - and our first overnight experience!