Three Peaks of Courage – Creative Walden

Lily conquers Ben Nevis raising money for Writers Room

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We woke with the alarm at 6am to give Lily time to manage getting dressed into appropriate clothes for the climb. Something that’s a daily struggle for her and particularly hard if she has to deal with layers and bags. Her SPD causes extreme touch sensitivity so the feel of uncomfortable clothes and the weight of heavy bags was the first challenge of the day, especially as we were both feeling a bit under the weather with colds.

We arrived at the mountain path at 8am and set off in good spirits. We’d picked the only dry day of the 3 days that we were in Fort William and were hoping the rain would hold off. Luckily for us, as both rain and sun are difficult for Lily, it was dry but cloudy.

We had a full days walk ahead so we had to carry all our food and 4 litres of water for the day, as well as spare clothes for Lily and extra for the freezing (-1), windy and possibly wet conditions at the summit. Our bags were heavy and we had a long way to go.

We made great progress on the first part of the path. The incline was fairly gentle and the views fantastic. By 9.30am we’d covered a good amount of ground but then the path got steeper and less defined. Parts were a bit of a scramble but we kept going at a steady pace. We were getting hungry by 11am so we stopped for a break and to refuel overlooking a mountain lake.

When we’d finished we pushed on along the path, picking our way across a beautiful waterfall and admiring the views as we got higher and higher. The terrain was really getting steep now and Lily decided she would use the walking pole. Unfortunately it had dropped off my backpack at some point along the way and this triggered an anxiety attack for Lily. She became very distressed and in order to manage the situation there was nothing for it but to doubled back the way we had come and see if we could find it. We backtracked all the way to the spot overlooking the lake but with no luck. Lily took some time to get through the emotional overwhelm, with well meaning walkers trying to help, but all Lily needed was some space and time to reset. She came out the other side even stronger. With a bit of comforting and some humour she turned the anxiety around. We set off hand in hand back upwards again.

We were a couple of hours later now than planned but determined still to make it. We climbed steadily towards the top of the mountain with Lily taking the lead and me taking plenty of breaks, as I was starting to feel worse with my cold.

The next part of the climb was zig zagging upwards over rocky ground. The zig zags felt like they would never end. We started to ask people, who were now on their way back down, how far we had still to go. Everyone was encouraging and, along with the amazing support we had from our friends messages on our phones, we found the perseverance to keep going. The views were now incredible and we were level with the clouds. We stopped for photos and then agreed we would attempt the final push to the summit.

Finally we made it to our finish line, but by that time the wind had increased significantly. The top of the mountain was in the clouds and didn’t have the same visibility as slightly lower down. It felt a bit scary with sheer drops and high winds so we didn’t hang around for too long. A brief stop to celebrate our achievement, and send messages to let our friends know we had made it, and then we set off on our way back down.

Spirits high with what we’d achieved we made good time as we started our descent. Hungry again, we made a stop for a well earned rest and bite to eat about half way down. We then pushed on to make sure we would get back down before dark.

Unfortunately I started to feel more and more ill (my cold turned out to be tonsillitis) and Lily took great care of me. Helping me along, carrying extra weight to make things easier for me and looking after me as I felt faint and sick along the last part of the descent. I was going very slowly but Lily’s patience, encouragement and support got me safely to the end.

We finally made it back around 8pm. We were exhausted, legs trembling and feeling quite poorly, but very proud that we had now climbed the last of the three tallest mountains in the UK. Ben Nevis was the highest and most challenging of them all.