The Road goes ever on and on; Down from the door where it began;
Now far ahead the Road has gone; And I must follow, if I can;
Pursuing it with eager feet; Until it joins some larger way;
Where many paths and errands met; And whither then? I cannot say.

[JRR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings]

Thursday 16 August 2012

A Quarter of a Century

It's been over a quarter of a century since my sister last walked up a hill to a trig point. But, here she is today at the trig on The Roaches. A mile and a half of walking with 500' of ascent may not seem like much to many people, but for my sister it has involved more effort than I would put into a full day of backpacking. Hats off to her!

Today (which finished up at 4 miles long) wasn't her first endeavour of this short trip. Yesterday she insisted on us going out in the monsoonal weather that greeted our arrival in the Staffordshire Moorlands. It was me that called for an abandonment after a couple of hours of continuous drenching.

I fear that tomorrow's weather will again be like yesterday's - but at least we stayed dry today and, as a result, all of our clothes will be dry when we set out in the morning, even if they don't remain that way for long.

Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

4 comments:

  1. Congrats to your sister.

    That looks like your hat she has borrowed?

    My walking friend Pete who accompanied me on over 30 Munros and is now 78 recently said to me that he would no longer set out on a walk if it was raining to start with.

    That set me thinking about whole days walked in the rain on backpacking trips, and also Munroing. I came to the conclusion that for such walking, to be justified for me, the overall size of the venture, its attractiveness, and my desire for its completion should be sufficient to incorporate a certain amount of inclement weather, which may actually add to the sense of achievement when one has battled through and mastered adverse conditions, but I tend to agree with Pete as far as local, modest walks are concerned.

    Perhaps this is an age thing, and I should bow to the tenacity of you junior-hards.

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  2. Youser!

    I'd have come over to the Roaches had I known you were out that way, it's not from JJ Towers at all.

    Enjoy today!

    JJ

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  3. Well done, it's good to see you out and about again!
    And congrats to your sister...

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