Three emboldened Swogites set off from the car park and fought their way through snow, ice and howling freezing wind up the west flank of the infamous Mam Tor, with sheer guts and determination they made it to the summit cold but undaunted in four minutes. After a very very brief photo shoot they surveyed their path heading east as it disappeared towards the "massif" of Lose hill in the murky distance. On they trudged into a squall of sleet and mist, no one else seemed stupid enough to be on the ridge. Hollins Cross was reached without a word passing our lips, and no wonder, they were frozen! The towering peak of Lose Hill loomed before them and attacked at almost running speed to try to put some warmth back into the icy bodies, up and over they went without stopping and set off on down the notoriously difficult and treacherous south col, the flesh pots of Hope calling in the distance. It was shortly after this point that the rain started.
This rain was like nothing experienced for years,
torrential, monsoon, rain, which managed to penetrate every possible
nook and cranny on the body.
It laughed at Goretex as it
forced its way in, then it got worst, the rain stopped and the intrepid
trio were bombarded by a storm of needle like hailstone, there was no
escape, exposed on the mountain side and all they could do was endure
this terrible torture. Relief came as they finally made the lower
slopes, they eyed each other silently, what was going on in their minds,
grateful that the mountain Gods had let them live. Who's daft idea was
this, one asked, I hurriedly moved off!!
It wasn't over yet though, what else could the
weather throw at them, mud, glutinous claggy six inches deep mud
everywhere, there was no escape. Our over trousers were covered from top
to bottom. On reaching Hope, a virtual complete change of clothing had
to be made, thankfully everyone had had the sense to bring spares,
experience always shows and after a quick coffee and bite to eat we all
set off for Castleton along more deep muddy tracks. The village was
deserted, I wonder why. We had an uneventful last couple of klms and
were relieved to be back at the car park. On reflection we should have
stayed in bed but what the hell, we are roughy toughy swoggies.
