Crag Rats Challenge 2008 Report
On Friday 18th Of July 2008, a brave team of 4 left Kidlington to tackle one of the hardest walking challenges in the UK. To climb 24 peaks over 2,4000 feet in the Lake District.
The team members were:
- Mike Barnes – Experienced walker and compulsive cyclist and chief map reader
- Jason Sherwood – Specialism SAS survival, experienced walker and fitness/ nutritional expert
- Steve Ferrett – Experienced walker and the person to blame for taking this on, and the “holder of the GPS”
- Graham "George" Willoughby – Senior Support, good walker, great chap all round
They travelled up to stay in Buttermere Camping Barn on Friday night. The night was spent trying to sleep through loud rain, 60 mph winds and general stormy conditions.
At 4.30 Saturday morning,
Mike roused the group with far too chirpy calls to get going! After
some quick breakfast, last minute additions/subtraction from their
much maligned backpacks, and most welcome coffee from George, they
set off on the trail, beginning at 0600.
The first peak, as most know, was Red Pike. The pace was kept deliberately fairly slow and steady. There wasn’t much sign of the other teams competing. Only a few were on the path with us. Had they all been put off by the bad weather!
They reached Red Pike feeling extremely good, and then took in their surroundings. Very poor visibility, and rain! They knew roughly where to go, but used "Geoffrey" the GPS to keep them along the ridge path past the first peaks. The weather remained poor all morning but the hardy team made good progress. They knew that the key to the first day would be finding the best route from Haystacks to Green Gable.
Click here to see what happened next.