"Uh oh" was my thought when I awoke this morning to the sound of rain on the roof!!! It was 6am, so I decided to turn over and hope it would pass before I had to get up.
A jolly lovely cuppa tea made by Juli, and the promise that the rain had passed brought me to life an hour and a half later! A quick shower, breakfast, picnic packing and away we went....... off to Hamsterley Forest!
Juli, Nick and I arrived to a car park, already getting full of entrants, and the Macmillan Support team. We checked in very quickly and got ready to start our 9 mile walk starting at 10(ish). We were one of the first teams to be set off, all following the leader with his green Macmillan balloon in his rucksack. A great spirit was in the air as we set off.
We followed various routes around Hamsterley Forest. Firstly along the riverside trail, then climbing up to a high forest road, then descending to Grove House. Back up the other side of the valley we climbed and climbed until we thought we may actually not be on the right route as we hadn't seen a marshall in a long time..... but soon we managed to see one in the distance.
Back down this side of the valley to the half way point of Blackling Hole waterfall (where many people stopped to have their lunches) and along Ayhope Beck. We had to be careful at various points along the walk as Hamstely is great mountain bike territory and bikes kept coming zooming past us with ecstatic people on them! Even when some of them had to get off and push their bikes up the hills they were in good spirits.
Near the end of our walk we passed a beautiful sculpture of the Green Man - or men I should say, as depending on where you look you see the Green Son, the Green Man and the Green Father - amazing! All the ups and downs, weaving between trees, stopping for snack and breaks were all worth while when I saw these beautiful faces.
We finally had only one mile to go, feet aching and knees sore, we could see the car park in site and the FINISH line! Dorothy and Ian, friends from the valley, had come to meet us for a picnic lunch. It's always good to have a support team to meet you at the end of an event!
We sat in the sun, wind, cloud, and a couple of drops of rain, having our extravagant picnic before I finally had to head home from a great weekend, lots of lovely miles and most importantly, great company!
Photos uploaded here!
Love Iona x
365milesin365days@googlemail.com
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