Up three, down three

We were expecting a challenging day of walking, obviously 25 miles and 1600 meters of ascent is never going to be easy, but we could not even begin to prepare for the inclimate weather.

Had the Challenge taken place the day before, the three peaks would have looked like those above. Read on to see how they actually looked on the day.

Yesterday was the first day of summer, however in Yorkshire it felt closer to a late November day. It started decent enough with a little bit of cloud but warm enough temperatures. We got through the first peak in good form and even were shedding clothes down to t-shirts on the way up.

The whole Communicaid clan before we set off on our big challenge (with the first peak behind us)

Headed towards the first peak

However, by the time we got to the base of the second climb, 10.5 miles into the walk, the rain had begun and the wind was strengthening.

Headed up the second peak (note the wonderful waterfall on the left)

We reached the ridgeline and were hit with a steady 30-35 mile per hour crosswind, with gusts as high as 45 mph! The wind drove rain into us and made walking in a straight line all the more challenging.

Below are a few short clips below from our brief stint at the top of the second peak to give you a feel for the weather and wind.

On the ridge of the second peak

As miserable as it was there, we could look across the valley to the third peak and see it shrouded in a thickening layer of low hanging clouds.

Determined to make it through the day regardless, we carried on with two others from our group (some had already continued while others were still behind). We were given one last chance to abandon at the 18.5 mile mark, but intrepidly turned towards the last peak and soldiered on.

Headed towards the third and final peak, which you can't even see the top of!

The ascent of the last peak was the most treacherous of the day, with one section being an almost vertical climb of stone steps, some rather larger than others (which was especially difficult for Cora's legs, not so much for Guinness who scampered up and down them with appalling ease). The wind had not slackened and it threatened to blow you off the mountain if you were not careful. We made it to the top, assumed that the views were gorgeous through the cloud and quickly turned on our heels and headed for home.

10 hours, 25 miles and three peaks later we walked through the finish line, wetter than we had even been in our lives! In the end, about 2/3 of all of the people who started the challenge finished despite the awful conditions. It was a brilliant day out, a wonderful experience and though we are extremely sore in places today, we are certainly glad to have done it. Thanks to all Communicaid colleagues, trainers and friends and family who made it so special! Well done everyone!

Thank you again so much for all your support! We are quite happy to report that though we didn't make our target we will still be donating £450 to Heart Research UK. Now we just have to decide whether we will do this again next year!

Our donation website will be open until 1 September so if anyone is interested in still helping us reach our target (better late than never), please visit www.justgiving.com/coraandcw to make your donation. Only £50 more to go so every little bit counts, even £5!

48 hours...

... from now, we will be enjoying wonderfully well-deserved pub grub and a pint (or two) in the middle of Yorkshire.

However, in less than 36 hours we will be setting off at dawn with a group of about 20 other people to walk over 25 miles and ascend more than 1500 metres in the Yorkshire 3 Peaks Challenge

Can't believe how fast the past 71 days have gone!

Thank you to everyone who has supported us so far, both mentally and financially. It's all going to a great cause!

Wish us luck and keep your fingers crossed for sunshine! We'll report on how it goes sometime next week.

Birthday Treats

Guinness has never loved the postman as much as he did today. In fact I can guarantee that from now on, he will no longer bark at the postman but sit and wag his tail as the mail comes through the slot, waiting anxiously to investigate the next packages, just in case they might contain something good.

So what's this post all about really? Here's your first clue...


Guinness doesn't do much these days to really surprise us in the way of destruction or other such mischief, but today was different. He must have thought he won the lottery. We can imagine him coming downstairs at some point today to sneak onto the couch and instead catch a whiff of something truly wonderful.

Guinness was the lucky recipient of, as the package customs form shows above, some dog treats. The only clue as to what kind of dog treats they were, is the bit of paper from the package that he didn't eat. That and all the other bits of foil, plastic and bubble wrap that he weeded through to get to them.


Needless to say, he was definitely quite pleased with his find and good work and expresses his sincere thanks to those wonderfully kind people across the pond. He will lick you crazy the next time he sees you!

This is what apparently tasted so good.


p.s. Sharon, yes, he does actually have a passport - part of the PetScheme requirements when he came over here, including the microchip, ridiculously huge kennel, shots etc...

p.p.s If you thought we were pathetic, check this one out... http://iamcappuccino.blogspot.com/

Over the hill

Today Guinness turns six - in human years. In dog years, that means he's either 37, 42 or 45*, but in truth he doesn't act like any of those ages.

In honour of our much loved pup, we thought we'd dedicate a little blog to his life so far.

A few fun facts:

• 6 homes across 2 states and 2 countries
• Fluent in two woofs
• Holder of his own passport
• Expert swimmer
• Expert kisser
• Loves picnics, people,and sadly, poo (of any variety)
• Snuggler extraordinaire
• Loves squirrels (both animal and dog toy variety - thanks Sharon)
• Sucker for bones and anything edible (he is a lab after all)
• aka: monster-man, poopy-loo, lazy git, pupalup, big brown lump, bud, guinwee, Big G, shitface (literally and figuratively at times)
  

First night

How did I get in here?

Don't I look cute

First true exploration of the English countryside

How long is she going to make me sit like this?

If you look closely, even two years ago, you can see all the little gray whiskers

Old? Never...

Are these blue things edible?

Okay, so you may be thinking now, wow, how pathetic are they for dedicating a whole blog to their dog as if he were their kid. In all honesty, he may as well be (for now).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONSTER-MAN!

*There are conflicting theories about how to calculate a dog's age. Some say 7 years for every 1 while others say 21 years for the first two and 4 for the rest. In truth, no one really knows.

Walk in Gloucestershire

Two weeks until the big walking challenge so we thought it best to do one more training walk. Looking for the opportunity to flex our hill walking muscles, we chose a route through the Cotswolds near Gloucester, about an hour and a half by train from London. Even though some of us were feeling rather exhausted and others had dire headaches, we set off into the rolling countryside under a beautiful blue sky.

Our walk, though not terribly long mileage wise, was quite difficult at times as we encountered several very steep, though short, climbs. It was truly gorgeous countryside with many brilliant views out over the Severn River Valley, with the Black Mountains in southern Wales on the horizon.

We had lunch on an outside patio of a country pub over looking the village and countryside in the distance, complete with cricketeers was pretty much as English as it can get!

We wandered through a few quaint Cotswolds villages, including Painswick, which featured the stereotypical stone houses often seen in Thomas Kinkade prints.

It was a perfectly relaxing day, well as much as can be expected when walking 13 or so miles!


Click here and enter 'challenge' for more photos of our walk