I really thought I’d done this, but it appears not!
So, I, on behalf of the rest of the group, am submitting our crossing report;
“In order to raise funds for a young man that’s a college friend of my daughter, I agreed to undertaking the crossing. Team Matthew consisted of Matthew’s mum, Julie, sister Eleanor, Susan, Sam myself and my daughter Erin.
We met up at the Osmotherley car park at an unearthly hour on Saturday 6 July, loading up on coffee and carbs , heading onto the route at 5am.
Rising up onto the tops gave us some glorious misty morning views and the weather was looking perfect.
Our support team, met us for a welcome breakfast stop, a few hours later, with hot bacon rolls and tea. All was well and everyone was in good spirits still, even after a few little hills under our belts.
Walking up towards the lion inn was pleasant, lovely moorland views in the superb weather. We didn’t see another soul until a few miles short of the lion inn, and then out of nowhere there were lots of fellow walkers enjoying the lovely weather.
Susan was our narrator, and armed with her Lyke wake book, gently narrated the route, preparing us for what was to follow.
A brief refreshment break at the pub, then we pushed on to a meal stop, provided by our fantastic support team. The support team was made up of Matthew, and his grandparents. Matthew has made the most delightful crispy cake, so the diet was shelved in lieu of carbs for energy (that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it).
The next section we found the most entertaining! The peat bogs, due to the lovely weather, were like trampolines! There was the odd part that was still quite boggy, one part with a poor motionless sheep floating in it, a reminder of how different it could have been, if we hadn’t have had such hot weather for a few weeks.
We even came across lots of frogs and a couple of snakes.. something I wasn’t prepared for, and didn’t hang around to figure out what type it was!
As we pushed on towards our next refreshment stop, well into the journey, we could see Fylingdales in the distance. We started to think about the finish, and what time we would be getting there. It occurred to us that it would be under the cover of darkness, but still not deterred.
After more crispy cake and sandwiches, and a refill of our water bottles, we headed off as the sun started to descend over the horizon.
We got to the monument where you can see the finish, at last light, which meant the last 7 or so miles was going to be in complete darkness! Fatigue and determination was setting in now, just keep moving, one foot in front of the other, keeping the reason we were doing this in the first place, at the forefront of our minds. **
We pulled together as a team to get us through the last part, Sam helping the old ladies over various becks and stiles, and a gulley that completely took us by surprise (guidebook not great in the dark!)
Our eyes kept playing tricks with us, I was convinced I saw a circle of camper vans on the moors, with a camp fire in the middle of it… who knows? I might have!
Dolomite, at this point of the journey was not the most ideal surface to be walking on… there were many swear words uttered. I fell into a bog up to my knee in the dark, so had one soggy leg for the last 2 miles – nice!!
When we reached the main road, at the last mile mark, our support team surprised us with an appearance with the words of encouragement that were needed, to enable us to get to the finish.
The last mile was full of elation and congratulations to ourselves, finally believing we could do this!
We arrived at the finish at 00:57 on 7/7/19. A great day, for a fantastic cause. 19 hours and 57 minutes!
** we are raising funds for Matthew – to purchase an ottobock limb. Matthew is in remission after having a leg amputated at age 17 due to Ewing’s sarcoma. This limb will enable him to lead as normal a life as possible.
One day of pain and blisters pales into insignificance in comparison to what Matthew has endured in the last couple of years. I am proud to have been part of team Matthew.
Would we do it again?
“Definitely.”
Kind regards
Jean Marrin