Their story, in their words…
Our expedition began at Pooley Bridge, near Penrith, marking the start of four nights out in the fells with everything we needed strapped to our backs. Still adjusting to the hills, our first day was slow, sluggish progress climbing out of the valley — but our spirits were high, and we were full of enthusiasm.
We wild camped that first night, and again on the second, this time on top of a mountain with a lake spread out beside us. On our second night, after a demanding 14km hike, we discovered our matches had gone damp. We huddled round the stove, trying to coax a spark from an empty lighter to light the matches, and, much to our relief, it worked. Our next night at a campsite gave us a chance to dry out before the part of the trip we’d been quietly thinking about since we planned it: Helvellyn.
Striding Edge, leading up the mountain, was every bit as demanding as its reputation suggests, though not in the way we expected. Climbing Helvellyn wasn’t just physically tiring but mentally too, with a steep drop either side and a narrow path along the ridge that had us almost rock climbing at points. Standing on the summit afterwards, having climbed up into the clouds, felt exhilarating and freeing.
What’s stayed with us most isn’t the views or even Striding Edge; it’s how we came out the other side as an even closer group of friends. You learn a lot about people when you’re relying on them to get up a ridge, or share the last of the stove gas on a cold morning.
We’re proud of what we did, and extremely grateful to the Mark Evison Foundation for giving us the opportunity to do.
