I arrived with some sense of trepidation. I had read the blog posts on the HRP: only experienced mountain walkers should consider it. My mountain experience consisted of 5 days trekking in Bhutan but there were five horses, horsemen, a cook, a guide and we went at my pace. Here I was joining HRP hardened ex members of a territorial army regiment. They couldn’t have been more tolerant of my being much slower than they would have been without me. Against all expectations I had a marvellous time. The weather was beautiful on all the three complete days I was walking. This meant the whole huge majestic landscape of the mountains was lit up and you could see from the glaciers to the rivers in the valleys. Down below there was lush pasture, cows with bells, the odd shepherd with a flock of sheep. Up top there was a wonderful variety of granite, limestone, scree, bolders and slate like rock. The walking was hard (certainly for me) but more than made up for by the wonderful company. The trick was to engage James in as much conversation as possible to slow him down! We did once get lost and had to shuffle along a ridge and then down an almost vertical rock face to get down. I wouldn’t have made it without the help of Nick a professional roofer from Dorset and skilled mountaineer who James had met up with. He told me where to put my feet and hands. We control so much but as James said to me here is an environment where you have no doubt: the mountain is in charge. This sense of something so much bigger than you, a kind of magnificent looming potential adversity certainly engenders a unique camaraderie so you don’t mind the sleeping in dormitories, the snoring, the lack of hot water (and actually the meals in the refuges can be really good with rough wine and beer); you actually enjoy it.
Like this:
Like Loading...