How do you maintain your balance skills? The Serious (Slow) Warts are not exactly in the prime of their youth so many of our pre-outing discussions on Wednesday nights concentrate on attempting to defy the ravages of time, knees, ankles, various muscles, with the latest one being our balance. So, on a very misty and damp (almost) dark night at Dennis Knoll, seven Warts were variously standing on one leg and then the other and then repeating with eyes closed. There was some wobbling and rapid returning of legs into position. When Moz suggested the advanced balance exercise of standing on one leg, eyes closed and simultaneously brushing teeth, there was talk of extreme sports, which was probably out of the Warts’ remit.
Having successfully diverted ourselves from the task in hand of, running, we set off ambling up the track towards Stanage Edge. This normally civilised, prepared track was now a precursor for our adventure to come. It was wet, flooded and part washed away and prompted our futile attempts at keeping our feet dry. It was just not possible, though, at least, neoprene socks were good for keeping feet moderately warm. By the time we’d reached the track below the Edge, darkness was on us and there some adjustment of head torch settings to minimise the glare from the reflective mist (oh for torches which could penetrate thick mist).
At Crow Chin we climbed up to the Edge for our visit to the shed at the end of the conduit. This became another training session in balance. We were in the dark and mist apart from small spots of torch light, we were guessing what was at the bottom of small and big pools of peaty water, we were balancing on tops of tussocks and the occasional slippery rocks. We did manage, though there were a couple of fallers and one semi-immersion. All this kept us on our (slippy) toes. On our way we, encountered many possible types of water plants but whether we appreciated the variety, is questionable, we were more inclined to curse it rather than ad (-mire, aagh) them. As an extra bit of excitement, Roger briefly collided with a grouse suddenly flapping out of the reed beds In a long time (understatement), we followed an intermittent stream/bog before branching off to the “haunted” house where we could admire the words of wisdom painted on the walls.
To reach the next Dark Peak feature to be collected (the pony shed/bus shelter), we needed another but slightly less rigorous session of balance training. Whereas there was a preponderance of rushes, the next section was mainly sloppy peat with some good grassy running (Oh joy!) in between. The “pony shed” provided a bit of relative warmth and shelter to enjoy a dash of Chris’s whiskey (thanks), we needed it!
After about two hours of mud balancing and hopping, our thoughts were turning to the warm pub, Despite this however, it seemed we’d not had enough excitement so took a left-hand turn to the main edge track for a non-direct route back to the cars (see Chris’s track below).
The mist persisted on the return to the Norfolk Arms (apparently the YBI was undergoing refurbishment) and even the car headlamps could not get through the mist so in Slow Warts tradition, we returned to the pub at a leisurely speed. It was full with other runners, not Dark Peakers, if we were prepared for a possible dousing from a water leak in the light socket, we could use the table below, Nobody else dared! We had been well watered for the previous two three hours so a drop more wouldn’t matter (the electric might be a problem, however).
First of all, a big round of thanks to the navigators and planners of the route, Andy, Tom, Roger and thanks to all for completing the route. Bravo!
Graham
