I am on a double length tram that is packed to the rafters with uncomfortable and irritable commuters. With me is a huge Patagonia Black Home duffel. Although this commute is not ideal, my duffel reminds me that my next journey will be straight out of Manchester and up to Fort William. Next stop: Ben Nevis!
Tomorrow I will be doing the Three Peaks Challenge with a few friends. I contemplated writing about it, but there’s millions of column inches on the Internet dedicated to that very subject. My packing has been sub-optimal: I could not find either of my lighter sleeping bags so I am taking my Tundra arctic sleeping bag, which is frankly a monster and excessive (comfort rating of -40). At least it will get some use before Denali! I have not yet packed any food, so I imagine I will spent Friday living off hastily-purchased flapjacks and water from the rivers, unless we have enough time at a service station for a quick Burger King.
We will be doing Scafell Pike entirely in the dark, so I am looking forward to putting my rather new Petzl Myo RXP headtorch through the paces as well as getting used to my Black Diamond expedition poles. On Saturday we finish by climbing Snowdon- we should be at the summit by 10am. I’m sure we will be tired and I’ll probably be sick of flapjacks by then, but at least I’ll be a lot less squashed than I am now!
Keep climbing
GeekintheHills
Geek in the Hills 