15 Trigs

So my other half was running a 55 mile challenge - 15 Dark Peak trig points in under 15 hours. I went out to take pictures and give moral support to him and his three companions, all from Glossopdale Harriers.  They successfully completed the run in 14hrs 40mins. Well done guys.

My role was a little less taxing, and a good opportunity to test my knee again. I met the guys at the top of Win Hill, walking up at a steady pace up Parkin Clough. I'd estimated it would take about an hour with 300m of elevation gain and was pretty spot on. I had a reasonably heavy bag, carrying lots of water as it was a really humid day even though it was only about 8.15am when I set out.  I'd taken my poles and was pleased of them on the steep, rocky and tree root path. The ascent was ok and I felt fine. The descent was tiring, knees really feeling the strain, but no pain or specific aches, just the steep ground taking its toll on my body.

the Glossopdale guys leaving Win Hill trig, heading on towards their next trig, High neb

Next up was High Neb trig point. I past the guys running along the road up towards Bamford Edge and I knew I'd have just about enough time to get to the top before they did. Parking at the Plantation I headed up the track, taking the first path left and up to the crag. The final bit was through waist high and deeper bracken, for me only a short way. The guys bashed through heaps of the stuff! I could see them heading through their patch of heather then bracken as I was going up and was conscious of them beating me to the top so I speed up and did a bit of a job shuffle for a bit of the way up. Photos taken and the guys speed off along the edge. I turned downhill and was now racing to get to the next rendezvous spot, the Sportsman pub near Redmires.

I decided that my legs wanted to run a little, and it was a good chance to be out in the hills and enjoy moving at a pace slightly faster than walking, so I jogged back to the car along the path. It felt good, and no grumbles from the knee. Nice. I drove towards Sheffield then navigation with the OS map on tiny roads. I should know those roads from when I lived in Sheffield, but their familiarity has long since gone. I'd been at the pub for only about 10 minutes when the guys jogged across the playing field and joined me. They rested for 20 mins or so then a quick posed photo and on their way.



My final meeting spot was at Back Tor, so I drove to the Strines in and calculated that at the pace they were running I had about an hours leeway. I enjoyed a pub lunch and was joined by 2 peacocks! Most unusual. Very beautiful.



Parking at the bottom of the track up to Back Tor I set out with spare water in case the guys were desperate - it was tremendously humid and hot and I knew they were coming along a fairly long heather bashing section with no shade. I got to the trig point in plenty of time and settle in to take a few photos of the area - enjoying the view to Kinder and Bleaklow from a different viewpoint. There was a pesky sheep and lamb that would not leave me alone....

I'm sure they get fed by loads of walkers but they weren't having any of my rations!

I waited patiently and the guys ahead-of-time arrival time past. They'd been a good 30mins up on schedule at the pub and there was a possibility that after their rest they'd be able to keep that pace up. While glancing around I saw 3 butterflies having a bit of a tussle with each other...
 
I started to become mildly concerned when their scheduled time came and went, and then in the distance, along the paved path, I saw the four familiar runners heading my way.

the guys heading up to Back Tor trig point

A brief stop for them, pictures at the trig, and off they went - returning the way they'd come and now heading towards Margery Hill and on the final stretch to Glossop.

I packed up my stuff, camera in bag and jogged back down the path. A brief stop at the cross-roads - a couple had seen the guys and heard them talking so they curiously asked me about their run. Think they thought I was mad for jogging too, but in reality my pace was pretty slow, not only because of protecting my knee but also the camera and spare lens were getting a good rattling in the rucksack!

I probably jogged two thirds of the way back to the car. A really small niggle in my knee could be felt but nothing like the excruciating pain on previous runs or walks. Back home I spent a good while stretching my legs and counting down the final few hours of the guys run, glancing at the map a few times and trying to calculate where they'd be.  All good though, after a wait of an hour or so in the pub they arrived back, all in pretty reasonable shape to be honest, far better than I'd expected.