Phil Evans

It was a later than planned start this morning following such a late night- its rare we need to wake up Ollie or Hattie in the morning, but a hot shower and the promise of a cooked breakfast helped get them going.

We set off from the National Trust car park in Wasdale Head around 11:30 under high clouds and sun, with only the very top of Scafell sprinkled with a little cloud cover. We took this a good omen and were optimistic that we would be up and back in 5 hours allowing ample time for our drive on to Snowdonia.

The track starts gently through a tree covered path alongside a beautiful waterfall before becoming more rocky and steep, with a familiar flagstone steps to climb. It then crosses a fast moving waterfall meaning we had to carefully pick our path across the water in order to keep our feet as dry as possible (and to stop us falling in!). With about a mile to go to the summit the flag stones switch to loose stones and scree, once again reminding us of clambering over rock pools at a beach. There were once again the tease of a few false summits, but our steady persistence meant we reached the summit in a little over 3 hours.

Having been treated to increasingly impressive views all the way up the summit was amazing with panoramic 360 degree views of the surrounding mountains. This was a total contrast to Ben Nevis where we could barely find the trig point, let alone see a neighbouring mountain. The obligatory summit photos were taken and we hurried back off the summit to find some shelter for lunch.

Fortified we carried on descending but the toll of yesterdays exertions became more obvious and all of the team were finding the steep descents increasingly painful.

We carried on, crossed the waterfall again and had the gate back to the car park in sight when disaster struck- Jen slipped on a rock and fell hitting her right hand on the boulders lining the path and breaking her wrist. Once the initial shock of the fall had subsided a little and pain killers had been found, a sling was fashioned from a necker (almost as if they were designed for that very purpose!). Incredibly, despite the pain, Jen got up and walked slowly back to the car park. A massive thank you to the kind w group of walkers who stopped to help and carried her bag the rest of the way down.

Jen and Phil jumped into the car and headed to the nearest Emergency Department in Whitehaven, which was 20 miles away. An uncomfortable ride ensued. Leaving Jen waiting to be seen, Phil headed back to Wasdale Head to pick up the kids from the Youngs allowing them to speed towards Snowdonia, hoping to be able to finish the 3 peaks for the team. Lets hope they have a successful and uneventful trip!

https://wonderful.org/fundraisers/794Vn

We woke following the broken sleep that comes with the anticipation of an essential early start. Having pitched the tents in the rain last night it was a relief to find the night had remained dry. We efficiently broke camp, ate our overnight oats and set off for the Ben Nevis Visitor Centre. As we drove the majestic hills hid under a blanket of cloud.. never a good sign when your about to head up the biggest!

We reached the Visitor Centre in good time and set off up the mountain path at about 09:30. I won’t lie; having been limping for the last few months and having had a steroid injection into my hip last week I wasn’t convinced I would manage even the start of this mission.

The footpath lured us into a false sense of reassurance as it crossed a field then started up a gentle incline on a gravelled path interspersed with regular stone steps. However, quickly the gravel vanished and the path became a giant stone staircase made of large, uneven flag stones, with occasional rocky crops to clamber up.

The cloud base remained low so we stopped at the halfway point at the side of a small loch to have lunch (and a little of the left over Kendal Mint Cake the Old Wolf gave us on the JOGLE) aware that a few hundred meters further up we would enter the clouds. Feeling refuelled we set off, expecting more of the same.. if only!

At the next corner the familiar flag stones changed to a path that reminded me of climbing rock pools at the beach, before changing again to shingle that slipped slightly underfoot. As we ascended it got wetter and wetter and colder and colder. The kids had been curious to discover if there was snow at the top of the mountain and we found the first patch about an hour from the top that blended into the white of the cloud and mist. Ollie made a little snowball, just because!

As we got nearer to the top the visibility got worse and worse. We navigated looking for the silhouettes of the marker cairns and from pausing to until we saw people appearing out of the white walking back down the hill. The last ascent felt like it went on and on and on. With the bitter cold wind, and disbelief that the peak would ever appear we were tempted to turn back, then finally the shell of the stone bivvy at the top came into view. We were all so cold that there was no want to stay at the top to celebrate the achievement of the climb. Instead we forced ourselves to do the horrendous thing of stripping our outer layers off to put more dry layers on underneath, ate a quick flapjack, then headed off on the path hoping to get out of the cold as quickly as possible.

Whilst the way up was a challenge for my hip, the way down was a nightmare on the knees. We plodded on, descending far quicker than we’d ascended. After about 45 minutes we were back out of the clouds and found the day was brightening. The surrounding mountains and valleys had come into view and the scenery was utterly stunning.

Just after the halfway point, having started to embrace the giant stone staircase again Ollie fell twisting his leg. He bravely got up, and managed to slowly continue with the help of my walking sticks. Our descent massively slowed, but eventually we made it back off the hill to the welcome sight of Lynne at the vehicles with a warm cuppa and cake! She had brilliantly got dinner ready too which was fantastic. It had taken 10 hours. To get up and down in the end and we really were exhausted!

We set off for Ennerdale at about 20:30, with an ETA of 01:30.. then we found the only road out of the Highlands was closed! There aren’t many roads in this part of Scotland, and the only alternate route took us on a 45 minute detour via a very windy single track lane. With the thought of pitching tents at 02:30 after a bonkers long day looming we bailed and booked into a Premier Inn in Carlisle at 00:45, whilst the Youngs continued on in their camper van to Ennerdale.

Curious about todays step count I had a little look at my phone.. it’s no wonder we all feel tired!

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Staying at Glen Coe Mountain Resort

28/5/24

We set off from Staffordshire this morning, having enjoyed the fun of a festival for the last few days. It rained and rained all the way, with moments when the road completely vanished in a haze of spray. The beautiful hills and scenery of Lancashire, Cumbria and Scotland were barely visible in the mist, cloud and rain. The weather forecast has had a yellow weather warning today and we are hoping it will blow over a little by tomorrow.

It was lovely to reminisce on the way through Scotland about all the adventures of the JOGLE last summer. Every few miles one of us would mention a memory of our journey, from pointing out a path we cycled to playing spot the ferry boat. It was a surprise just how long it took to drive back along each days journey, especially along Loch Lomond, a lovely to see the Green Welly Stop and The Real Food Cafe agin!

The Camper team arrived first and set up base in exactly the same spot as we camped in last year. We arrived to find they had started preparing a super yummy dinner for us all which was most welcome. The midges were out to greet us, so we got to wear our highly fashionable hats at long last! After dinner we headed to the bar for a quick drink and some last minute planning (essentially trying to work out if the OS maps estimate for tomorrow or the Google prediction is more accurate so we can work out how late we can sleep until!). We then headed back to the tents and van to sort our bags ready for Ben Nevis tomorrow!

https://wonderful.org/fundraisers/794Vn

A brief reflection on The Great Woggle JOGLE (according to Phil)

The Great Woggle JOGLE has been part of our life for quite a long time now. It was a monumental challenge on many levels. Finishing it was amazing but also a little sad- I can understand Forest Gump a bit better now (a dated reference to a film of the 90s which totally confused the majority of the team who were all born this century).. I could have kept on going and I’m not sure I want to stop, though being able to plug stuff in is pretty awesome…..

Early on we met Becky the Traveller at the Outdoors Expo. Becky is an outdoor adventurer and we got chatting. As an old hand she said that the easy part is the journey- by the time you’re at the start you’ve done most of the hard work. Being a polite bunch we smiled, nodded and agreed not really believing her, thinking but we’re doing this with kids. We now know she was totally right- the planning was insane and really challenging! Working out the route was tricky to say the least. Jen tried to find the flattest and shortest (requirements in that order) route and unbelievably there wasn’t one that people had done and shared on the internet.

Logistics were a major headache- most cyclists will do the journey in less than 2 weeks and most walkers in around 80 days but how do you calculate how long it would take to do a mixed route especially with a 9, 11 and 14 year old? We aimed for 4 hours of activity per day and guesstimated 20km walking and 50km cycling should be about right. Strava, our official record of the route, reports that most days we were doing less than 4 hours activity (despite some of the days lasting 6 hours!) so we got this spot on.

Learning and using social media was seriously tricky, totally challenging and something we still haven’t fully cracked (what is the difference between Facebook and Instagram and why does the same post go down so differently?!). How do you spread the word and encourage people to support and donate to total strangers who claim that they are going to do something epic? We were so heartened that people began to get behind us and began to support us, offering us accommodation and support across the country.

Trying to work out what kit we needed was a bit of a headache- we had to be able to be entirely self-sufficient should we not have anywhere to stay. This included food, cooking, sleeping, washing and bike maintenance for up to 7 team members and any team support. Ultimately I succumbed and started making lists!

By the time we were ready to leave I was totally exhausted having walked over 7 miles just loading kit in the van. However, it was massively exciting to finally be leaving and off we went. By day 2 of driving it was less exciting, but arriving in Scotland was amazing until we realised just how big Scotland is. After driving for 10 hours we were still only in Inverness and we still had 5 more hours ahead of us. By the time we got to Wick it hit me- we had an awfully long way to go to get to the finish point. Compartmentalising it helped though- by just focussing on the day ahead rather than the whole journey the overwhelming anxiety was subdued.

I was constantly amazed and proud by just how determined the team were. We started out with days far longer than we had ever managed in our training (which had not been particularly rigorous!) and the kids managed to carry on day after day despite aching all over. We slowly got into a routine of getting up (much later than planned- I had envisaged we’d be off early and have long, lazy afternoons to relax), packing up, making breakfast and lunch, then setting off and finishing in time for dinner (most of the time).

I was also very grateful for Jens navigational abilities (mine aren’t great if I’m honest). She would generally lead and navigate and I would be at the back moving at the speed of the slowest ensuring we didn’t loose any of the team. This was fine until the speeds of the two groups diverged and the lead group would disappear over the brow of the hill and we would hope that they would signal at any turns.

Cornwall was properly tough with some really challenging hills- thank goodness we had done Scotland first as otherwise I suspect we wouldn’t have made it out of Cornwall! It was quite an end but it did show us how much fitter we had become as we may have been slow but most of the hills were ridden!

Would I do something similar again? Yes, absolutely (though work might not be so forgiving next time!). However, I’m sure it won’t be long before Jen comes up with another mad project!

We made it- it was a very, very long way so we’re a little tired but excited to start!

Here’s the YouTube link

Starting the long journey up to John O’Groats. Fully loaded with snacks and supplies.
It’s feeling a little real now!

2 weeks to go…..are we ready?

NO!

There is still loads to do including finding accommodation in a few places (including Liverpool- how bizarre!), finish buying the kit, think about supplies plus we are finishing the Mini Woggle JOGLE- the 1:100 scale local walk!

Soon on this blog there will be details about each day of our journey including a huge thank you to our daily hosts (when we have them!)

We had loads of time but it disappeared somewhere……

Is there enough time to get everything done……Of course- how much time do we need to complete the planning and logistics for a major adventure with a 9, 11 and a 14 year old?!