Mar 26

Trip Report – Climbing Kilimanjaro: Part 2

Posted on March 26, 2019 by Rachel

In February 2019, I took the trip to Tanzania to attempt to trek up Kilimanjaro. One of the largest freestanding volcanoes in the world (as it says on the sign) and definitely the highest mountain in the continent of Africa, at 5895m, the trip would take me higher than my Everest Base Camp trek.

This the second part of the story, all about summit day and getting down the mountain. Part 1 is about the first week of the trip. Part 3 will add some practical advice and considerations.

Kilimanjaro mountain, covered in snow, peaks over the jungle — Kilimanjaro

A full photoset can be found on Flickr

Sat 16 Feb

Barafu to summit and back to Barafu
Distance: 7:01m
Walking Time: 10:32
Elevation Gain: 1251m
Max Elevation: 5865m (official height is 5895m)

Looking down from summit, over a glacier — The view down

Slowly, slowly we got into line and headed out through camp. It was all uphill and we were completely reliant on the guides to keep us on the right track through the campsite. You caught glimpses of other groups, of other tents, but in general you had no idea where you are. Paths wound different ways between the various clusters of tents and I can imagine it would be easy to get confused – in fact, we apparently did later, a halt was called and the guides gathered to discuss, eventually deciding on the right way.

We’d been put into various groups, based on predicted speed, with each group an assigned guide. If we had gotten separated, we would at least have the group. For most of the climb, this was not needed, we managed to stick together. The groups meant that for most of the time you stayed in the same order, with your vision filled only with the backpack or heels of the person in front. You just plod on, following in their footsteps, a long conga line heading up the hill.

The plan was to stop about every 2 hours, although the times varied as we tended to stop at specific areas. Short stops, just time for a quick drink, a bite to eat, even if few of us had much appetite at this time of night, at this altitude. We’d all been issued with a snack collection, gels and bars, some cake, some sweets. I brought most of mine back down – but if you have your favourites, take them along.

As we started out, about 1am, the clouds were gathering and it soon started to snow. Just lightly, with a light wind, but it did not stay like that for long. More and more snow came down, the wind got harder. Often all you could see in the torchlight was reflected snowflakes, staying close to the person in front was important. Trudge, trudge, trudge, up the zigzags of the path. The wind appeared to be coming from the East, directly into your face for one zig, then into your back for the next zag.

I remember looking at my watch no long after 4am. The first glimmers of dawn were still at least 90mins away. The now was coming down hard and sticking, my hands were freezing and my breathing was heavy. This was the lowest point, but I kept focusing on just one step and the next– I knew if I could make it to dawn, then my chances were good.

In my memories, it was dark and then it was light. I know I looked up as the sky was slowly lighting up, but did not take much in of surroundings. I just started feeling more confident that this was doable. We started to hear voices. People were above us and had made the crater rim, or had walked around from the other routes up. But it was still snowing. At this point, as the sun was rising, our UK guide spoke up and let us know we may not get everything we wanted. The snow was sticking and the paths were getting slippy. He was concerned that if it didn’t stop, then we would have difficulty getting back down, he needed to raise the risk and let us know that he may end up turning us back. Risk management here, let us know, let us take in the reality. We heard and we agreed to abide by the instructions. And all eyes kept looking out for breaks in the clouds, hoping it would stop snowing.

Me at Stella Point, in front of sign showing altitude of 5756m — Stella Point

And as we kept going, the clouds started to part. Blue sky was seen, small patches at first, then larger ones. The sun was shining on the snow – everyone got their sunglasses out. (although I forgot to apply suncream, so red faces later). The snow stopped and we made our way to the crater rim and the first summit sign at Stella Point. There were still plenty of clouds, drifting around

Time for photos at last, I’d taken none on the way up – we’d done the steeper uphill parts, all that was left was ¾ mile around the crater edge, a gentle stroll at lower levels. It was now we started to separate out. Energy running low, breathing hard, there was nothing to do but plod further and keep looking ahead. I ended up on my own for the last part, with just a guide behind me, who eventually took my pack for the last bit. gain memory plays tricks, it can’t have been that slow! But it was – my watch shows it took 75 mins to go that distance, an interrupted walk of steps and rests. The group spread out, as they rested, as they took photos, as they plodded on.

View of from summit, looking down the path with people still making their way up — Looking down from summit, the final stretch

As you approach the last bit, you watch the successful trekkers get their photos, in groups, on their own and then head on down. Talking to the others, there was a lot of similarity in feelings. Relief, pride, satisfaction and tears. We’d done it. And so had the rest of the group, we’d done it together.

Me in front of sign at Uhuru point, summit of Kilmanjaro, heght 5895. Snow on ground and blue skies — Cold at the summit

No group photos for us, but we took turns to grab photos for those who were there. I was in the first batch to get there, and watched the rest make their way up the final stretch. Our photos done, it was too cold to wait around, so about half of us headed back down to Stella point, ready to head downhill. A little more time on the way down to take more photos, but there was an urgency to leave, to get back to a little more air, a little more warmth.

My chest and throat were starting to feel really tight and I started coughing a lot, with wheezing on every breath. When I got to Stella Point, the main thought in my mind was to head down quickly, and this was agreed with the head local guide, who sent me on down ahead of the others instead of waiting around for longer. Which means I missed the drama behind me.

A couple of the team were feeling nauseous, and there was some vomiting. Worse, and far more dangerous, was one of them started to get disorientated, staggering on their feet and not talking sense. They’d been fine on the summit, they’d taken my photos, but by the time they’d started the walk down, altitude sickness had them in its grip.

The medical kit was split across the guides, but not all the boxes had all the drugs. Yells and waves from above and my guide and I sat and waited – one of the team came running down and got some additional drugs…before running back up and administering them. They checked me out, but my symptoms were stable and we were doing the right thing, so we carried on down as fast as possible – which wasn’t that fast. It took us just under 3 hours to get back to camp, with my downhill speed. You take a slightly different route back down; with the sun on the slope, a lot of the snow had gone and the ground has softened. It was sand and scree so there was a lot of controlled sliding on the way back, the quickest way to get down.

You keep going, on and on. At this point you’ve been going for 10 hours or so; the sight of tents ahead raises the spirits. Yes, you’ll soon be able to rest and have tea! Those hopes are soon dashed though, the tents you glimpsed were Kosovo Camp, not Barufa and there’s far more path to take.

Eventually, gratefully, I was there. My breathing was still wheezy, I had no voice, but nothing was getting worse. Time for liquids and a rest, time to lie in sleeping bag in the sun and wait for the rest – who proceeded to trickle down in 3 groups.

Our illest member was already there. They’d been “carried” down, supported and moved down by guides and then more help from porters who’d made their way up following a call. Drugs had been administered at the top and more were provided now. Thankfully, everything was working in the right way. 1200m lower and all symptoms were receding. A few hours later and there was no trace of them, except a small headache.

Not so mine, I was still wheezy and coughing. Drugs were provided for a number of options, the general agreement was it was altitude induced bronchitis, the lungs had been triggered by the cold and reacted. That definitely appeared to be the case, I had my voice back the following morning and over the next week it slowly went away.

The day was not yet finished though, we still had to make our way down to the next camp, this time Mweke Camp. This is a further 1500m of descent, heading directly out of the park instead of back around the mountain. The 3 of us who were not fully fit headed out first, along with another team member, this time with porters to carry our bags.

Barafu to Mweke Camp
Distance: 4:24m
Walking Time: 4:00
Elevation Loss: 1500m downhill (approx.)

We all had the memory of the pre-trip report saying this walk was pretty straight forward and fairly level. We all think that the speaker was referring to the final bits of the track we’d do the next day, as this was by far the worst section of the mountain. Most of it was rocky, slippy, lots of steps down and extremely eroded, especially from Millenium Camp downwards. Extremely hard to negotiate and no one had fun. It took our group 4 hours; we were overtaken by another bunch of the team at one point – and our member who’d been the illest was feeling well enough to join them, whilst we carried on at my slow, not breathing very well pace. If I went too fast and got out of breath I ended up coughing, so we went at a pace that kept the breathing easy.

At some point, about 30mins out I think, it started to rain. And rain even harder. The rocks got slippier and visibility was getting worse as it got darker. Finally we made it to the camp, heading down the path another 10minutes to find our space. Mweke was very similar to the first campsite, in that we had little space and the tents were all very, very close. The majority of us were now here, but one group of 5 were still on the track. By radio, we established they were only about 30mins away, but that was in normal conditions, not in the dark and rain. Porters were sent back up to help – with extra torches, and they were soon making their way to the tents. There’d been a few slips and slides, but everyone was in one piece.

A quick meal and time for bed. It had been a LONG day, awake at 2330 and it was now about 2030. 11 miles covered, 14.5 hours walking, 1200m up, 2700m downhill. That’s a LOT of effort in the team. We had one final effort the following day, but our time on the mountain was nearly over

Sun 17 Feb

Mweke Camp to Mweke Gate
Distance: 5:32m
Walking Time: 3:03
Elevation Loss: 1400m downhill (approx.)

Time to finish this and get to the hotel. The last stretch was fairly straightforward, some rocky sections but much of it had been worked on. The guides had a cunning plan – the lead local guide and the UK guide would run ahead and sort out the signing out – in the same way the first day was busy, this would be also. So they headed out, jogging, and the rest of us plodded after them. e were back in the jungle now, trees all around us, but occasionally there was a break and we could see the mountain, now snow covered, shining in the sun.

The group definitely spread out now, I think it was about 45mins between the first and the last, but there was no rushing to be had. Legs were tired, brains were tired and it was better to take it slowly then risk a fall. This time my downhill appeared to be OK and I kept up with the first group, so settled down to wait with a beer.

Once all there, the bags and kit all loaded, it was time for the farewell ceremony. Some groups had obviously done this at the previous camp, this company does it at the gate. The team all gathered, the local crew sang the goodbye song and the tips were handed out by category. And it was done. We’d finished our walking. All that was left was to head home.

First port of call was the hotel. Excellent service here, we all got a room for the afternoon, to shower, to rest, to sort out the bags. Then food, a little shopping for some in town and we were finally, finally done. We piled back into the van and headed to the airport for our evening flight back to the UK via Amsterdam.

Me, drinking a beer at the end of the trek, looking rather tired — A well-deserved beer

Mar 26

Trip Report – Climbing Kilmanjaro: Part 1

Posted on March 26, 2019 by Rachel

This the first part of the story, about the first week of the trip. Part 2 will cover summit day and Part 3 will add some practical advice and considerations.

A full photoset can be found on Flickr

I’d booked with Jagged Globe last summer, once some of the job stuff had settled out and had been training for the climb for a few months. As ever not quite enough, but more than I had my Nepal trip.

JG do a pre-trip meeting, so I’d travelled up to their offices in Sheffield a couple of weeks before the trip. All but 3 of the group also made the trip; we sat through some talks about the trip, about altitude sickness and about kit, before doing a couple of walks, one in Sheffield, one out in the Peaks. An excellent idea, allowing the team to meet before the trip and get to know each other in a low stress environment.

Sat 9 Feb

An early start to the day, with a 0630 flight from Heathrow. I’d gone out the night before, to avoid having an early taxi – and I’d taken the opportunity to get an upgrade to the flight, as a treat for myself. Not all the group were at Heathrow – many were starting from their local airports and we met up in Amsterdam, where we also met Jamie, our guide, for the first time.

I say we met up – bad weather in Amsterdam meant that there were flight delays and one of the groups did not arrive in time. They got to Amsterdam too late and had to stay 24 hours. There was some discussion whether or not they would join us, but they ended up taking a slightly shorter day one trip and met us at a second camp. They’d have one less day to acclimatise, but luckily it did not matter.

A reasonable flight to Kilimanjaro Airport, with KLM. Getting through immigration took a long time though. Not all the team had got visas in advance – nor had they got cash to pay for them so there was quite a wait to get things sorted. I was first through and started to gather all the bags, but total wait from start to finish was about 2 hours. I’d definitely advise you to get a visa in advance if you can, otherwise have the right amount of cash (dollars) available.

Kit bags piled on luggage trollies — Collecting the bags

A hour’s journey by road to the hotel, some food and drink and we were finally in bed for about 1am – once I’d sorted out the mosquito net!!

(all my time, distances and elevations were through my Garmin. Time and distance usually relatively accurate, elevation less so)

Sun 10 Feb

Lemosho Gate to Big Tree Camp
Distance: 2.85m
Walking Time: 2:03
Elevation Gain: 402m
Max elevation: 2785m

A planned early start, with breakfast for 0730. The intent was to leave for 9, but we were about 40mins late once all the admin had been done. The road trip this time was about 3 hours, as we drove to the other side of the mountain for the sign in point at Londorosi Gate (2250m). Once there, lots of waiting. We had to sign in, then wait for the porters to organise themselves, split the gear and get weighed in.

A queue of locals, waiting to get their loads weighed — Local crew weighing loads

For a group of 14 trekkers, we had 1 UK guide, 6 local guides and 46 porters. Yes, a LOT. Unlike Nepal, there is no infrastructure of tea houses and everything has to be carried with the team. So that’s tents for everyone; gear; mess, cook and toilet tents; cooking equipment; food (although we did have a re-supply of this); and all the safety gear. There is a weight limit which is enforced and checked as you go up the mountain, hence the need for so many people.

Due to the late start, we were one of the last teams to leave the check-in area – back into the van for drive to the actual start, at Lemosho Gates (2100m) , another 30 mins. Here, the porters’ loads had to be weighed again before being let onto the mountain.

We slowly followed them, a 2 hour or so trek through rainforest. The last uphill led us out onto Mti Mkubwa, or Big Tree Camp (2650m), where the team had not yet got themselves sorted, with the final tents being put up in the dark. It was a very cramped camp, in amongst trees, with tents overlapping at times. You could tell that not everything was working well, as the vegetarians had not been catered for either, but first day complications soon got sorted out and the rest of the camp sets ups and cooking went well. A meal of cucumber soup and spaghetti bolognaise set the tone for the meals – soup, starch/sauce, followed by fruit usually.

As usual on trips like this, not the best of nights, especially as my airbed developed a leak that we could not fix in the trip, but enough sleep was eventually obtained.

Clearing in the trees. Local crew packing up the tents and gear. — Packing up

Mon 11 Feb

Big Tree Camp to Shira 1
Distance: 5.1m
Walking Time: 4:28
Elevation Gain: 814m
Max Elevation: 3534m (camp sign said 3610m)

Trekkers walking on path through trees — Heading uphill through the forest

Today was a little longer, starting off in montaine forest and heading up through scrub to “moorland” as the sign at the next camp said. We’d still not seen the mountain (it was behind clouds on our first day) but by the end of the day had still only had tiny glimpses.

We started to hit some proper uphill in this stretch, and the introduction of “pole pole” ie slowly slowly. Although it wasn’t as slow as some liked, the group starting to break up into smaller groups. With the number of guides available, this was not a problem. In general, we managed to stick together over the days, but some days were harder than others. For some it was the uphills. For me, the downhills were when I got split off, especially with lack of depth perception and the need to check steps down for distance.

We had our first documentable incident today, a near miss. Not far out of camp we caught our first glimpse of local wildlife, a bunch of monkeys. As we stopped to watch, another, either accidentally or on purpose, decided we were under there tree and suddenly a large chunk of branch came crashing down. luckily it missed us all, but could have done quite a bit of damage if we’d been under it.

Out of the forest, into more scrubland, the growth getting shorter and shorter. We got to the campsite at Shira 1 (3610m) at around 2, in time for tea and lunch, before resting for the rest of the afternoon, mainly indoors. It had started raining around noon and carried on for most of the rest of the day. A pattern was set for the weather, clear in the morning, clouding over in the afternoon, which carried on for the next few days.

Scrub and small trees, looking oput down the plains, with more mountains in the distance — Heading up to Shira Plain

Today our remaining 3 team members had arrived. They’d been driven up a different way to a trail head which meant they had less than an hour to walk. They had still had their adventures though – the Land Rover they were in finally bit the dust, and they ended up hitching a lift on top of a lorry for the last stretch!

Another pattern emerged as well, the early nights. The routine tended to be dinner around 1930, then in the tent for abut 2030, read for a bit and then sleep. Although then the sleeping pattern tended to be sleep through to 1 and then doze for rest of the night. Not the best, but it was generally OK.

Tues 12 Feb

Shira 1 to Shira 2
Distance: 6.44m
Walking Time: 4:24
Elevation Gain: 473m
Max Elevation: 3890m

Tents and ground, covered in Frst. Sleeping bags over chairs drying in sun — Frost

Awake at 0645 and suddenly, the mountain was actually there. The skies were clear (we had a frost) and the peak now loomed in the distance. We could now see what we were facing. It was still in the distance, we had a plain to cross before we got to the real foot of the hill, but it was definitely there.

Everything gets packed up before breakfast – the porters want to start taking things down, so day pack and carried luggage needs to be ready to go. Breakfast throughout the trip always started with “porridge” – not sure it was oats, but definitely some kind of grain and probably water. Then eggs, or fruit, or pancakes. Always tea, lots of tea, usually taken with honey.

A wider view of the campsite, with hills in the background — The campsite

Today we started to see a few health issues. Definitely headaches, and some stomach issues. One thing that is drummed into everyone was always, always use sterilising hand gel before hands go anywhere near the mouth. We had no serious issues with stomach illness, but it was more about the change of diet and routine than an infection. We were also provided with sterilised water throughout the trip – although I was carrying tablets, I did not need to use my own, as they made up large batches for every stop. The water is collected from the mountain – sometimes from miles away in some camps, so we often came across porter groups coming and going from collecting water.

The team with Kibo in the background — A rare group photo

Today was another “easy” day, 4.5 hours walking but less climbing as most of it was across the plains. We were heading to Shira 2 camp, with a posted altitude of 3850m, only 200m or so higher than previous camp. But it’s a key 200m increase, as the vegetation gets a lot, lot less.

Unlike Nepal, it was not as easy to climb high and sleep low on this trip, due to the nature of the terrain; we did make a detour to climb Cathedral peak, at 3872m – so not actually that much higher, but it was a “peak”. We were in mists and clouds at this point, so the views were not that good. This involved some scrambling and a little walk along a ridge line

The ridge line up to Cathedral Peak, view obscured with mist and clouds.

Wed 13 Feb

Shira 2 to Baranco, via Lava Tower
Distance: 6.3m
Walking Time: 6:15
Elevation Gain: 738m
Max Elevation: 4634m

Woke up today to one of the best views; the tent looked out over the plain, with Meru peaking out of the clouds in the sun, and behind me, Kibo covered in ice. After breakfast, there was a little bit of reorganising needed. Jamie decided to take a look at the bags and see what we had – and move quite a bit out of the backpacks into the luggage bags. Some because they weren’t needed, others because they thought they could not fit in the bags (if you take a down jacket out of its stuff bags, it’s a lot easier to squeeze in!)

There was definitely a little bit of guilt brought out at this moment in some of the team, as things were put into the bags carried by the porters. Having 46 people carrying stuff for you is a lot to take in (in Nepal, we had only 4, as no camping kit needed). From what we had seen, the guiding company we were using locally (Keyes Hotel) do pay well for the job and Jagged Globe do provide kit. There’s a promotion route for porters. Not sure of the usual path, but each level had a specific tip requirement – the carriers, the serving team, the kitchen team, the different guide levels. I hope the toilet man was paid well! Groups all had portable toilets, put up at each stop in its own little tent. The toilet man carried this and managed it, emptying it our regularly into the camp drop toilets (which were NOT a nice environment). Our guy was excellent – and mainly invisible – keeping the facilities faultlessly clean and tidy.

Today we definitely had an up and down ahead of us. We would leave the Shira Plain and head up to Lava Tower (4600m) before heading back down to Baranco Camp (at 3900). So again, little altitude gained in our overall walk, but at least the chance to get some acclimatisation in. And now we were moving less towards the mountain and more around the main cone, moving anti-clockwise around to the path to the summit.

Lava tower Camp sign, detailing distances to next camps, with Kibo slopes behind — Lava Tower Camp.

The paths were slowly getting busier as various routes combined, so groups were passing up and we were passing some groups, depending on pace and on stopping routines. Today was a packed lunch day, which we took on the way up to Lava Tower. When we got to the Tower, we saw that quite a few groups had had lunch there, with mess and toilet tents all brought up to that location. We saw this on a few days, with lunch breaks all catered, but our team either had shorter day or carried lunch with them.

Going down the 700m to the next camp took quite a while. There were some quite steep bits, along with a lot of gravel and it was quite busy. The group did split up into smaller groups, although not too far, with about 5mins between the front and back. Baranco is a very large camp site and as usual, we appeared to be quite a way from the sign in point!

Dry and dusty path leading across a brown slope — Mountain slopes

The usual evening routine, this time with a chat about the challenge of the next day – the Baranco wall, which appears to get quite a lot of bad publicity and cause some concern

Thurs 14 Feb

Baranco to Karanga
Distance: 3.34m
Walking Time: 3:49
Elevation Gain: 380m
Max Elevation: 4205m

View over campsite, with the Baranco wall cliff at the back of the Camp. Mountain peak behind — Baranco wall, with Kibo behind

Looking at the numbers it does not look like it should take as long as it did. Just over 5k not that much elevation gain across the walk to Karanga Camp – at 3995m not really that much higher. We’re again travelling around the mountain, not up it.

Bit we did have the Baranco wall to cope with. How the team approaches this seems to depend on where you are spending the evening – not everyone stops at Karanga camp, instead carrying on an extra 4k (or 4hrs or so) to Barafu Camp (at 4673m). Those teams started the climb early. Others were like us, less to do that day and so could start later.

Cliff face, with a queue of people walking up the path — The snake of people up the Baranco wall

If you have the time, I’d definitely recommend taking as long as possible to do the trek. Although the profile is not brilliant and causes issues because you don’t do a lot of high/low days, the longer you can spend on the mountain is better.

We started as late as possible…we sat and watched the trekkers tackling the wall, a snake of people. There were 2 main bottle necks we could see that cause lots of jams, it appears there was a lot of slow progress and waiting around for this part of the day. Once the lower choke point had cleared, we headed across camp to the climb, which means we had a steady walk up with no waiting in queues.

Looking down the path of the Baranco wall, with a poter carrying a load up the path — Carrying loads

The Baranco wall definitely has the most challenging terrain, a path that makes its way up a cliff space. But there’s no real climbing and only a couple of difficult scrambling points that you need to concentrate on. And the guides are excellent at making sure there are no issues at all. We all made it up with little difficulty, taking just under 2 hours for just over a mile of distance. The rest of the day was a steady down, a steady up and down and then one last steep scramble up to the camp.

In general, I was coping with the altitude, but the days climbing had caused by back to get tight and that niggled me through the rest of the trip.

Fri 15 Feb

Karanga to Barafu
Distance: 2.31m
Walking Time: 2:42
Elevation Gain: 610m
Max Elevation: 4640m

A look at the hill up from Karanga Camp as the groups start heading up — Heading out from Karanga Camp

This was an extremely short day, under 3 hours, as we made our way to the highest camp of the trip. We started out at nine and made camp before noon. Today was all about resting and sleeping, for tonight we were heading to the summit. Over lunch, and again over dinner, we discussed the organisation for the final climb, the kit needed and the timings. The plan was to have dinner around 1830 and then “breakfast” for 2330, with the intent to start the climb before 0100 on Friday morning.

Some of the team sitting in chairs in the final campsite — Setting up in Barafu – notice the orange loo tent

Barafu camp definitely felt the largest, the tents are spread out over a large area. There’s a higher camp (Kosovo) but most people appear to stop here. All you could do today was pack your things and then rest. There was a lot of repacking!!

Looking up the path out of Barafu camp, with trekkers slowly heading downhill — People slowly trickling down from their summits

I managed to get some sleep in both sessions, which felt good. A wake up call at 11:30, breakfast at midnight and then we were ready to go.

End of part 1 – Part 2, summit day, next

Mar 15

2018 Review

Posted on March 15, 2019 by Rachel

I’ve not blogged for nearly a year..how many noticed? Very few I say, but this is still for me rather than others. I did eventually fix both my sites, no idea why things worked this time instead of when I have previously tried things…but work it did.

So what did I do in 2018? Change and challenges is the best overview I think.

We’ll start with the stats!

The stats

Swarm checkins: 944 (+101)
Countries visited: 5 (-) (Germany, Spain, Bhutan, Nepal, Austria (just for lunch))
Michelin Meals: 2 (-4)
Miles run: 62 (- 28)
Races completed: 2 (-)
Miles walked: 570 (+391)
Cathedrals visited: 2 (+1) (Bamberg, Vienna)
Movies seen at cinema: 6 (-)
Theatre visits: 0 (-2)

There appeared to be a lack of cultural activities. With training for a long distance walk and then much of my time took up travelling to work abroad, there was less time to get out and do things around town. Something to do more of in 2019.

January

The first event of note was my first Escape Room, with my German colleagues. I ended up on the winning team, even if we finished it with only a couple of minutes to spare.

The only other highlight was a weekend camping out with Adventure Queens. This is a Facebook group, with the aim of connecting and encouraging women who want to get out and do things. From doing their first night in a tent to walking around the world, it is a very supportive group, ready to offer support, encouragement, ideas and congratulations to all who post.

Tents in a field, surrounded by trees — Camping out in Guildford

February

The month started off with one of my regular runs – The Winter Run. This is my 4^th time taking part. With my overall lack of running miles, wasn’t expecting much, but I did have a great run/walk race. About a mile in I complemented a fellow runner on her leggings and ended up going round the course with her and getting her to the finish (she’d been about to give up)

I went to The Story conference in the middle of the month – see the previous blog posts for my write up of that day.

This year’s challenge was another attempt at a 100km ultra walk. After pulling out last year before the event, due to injury, I decided to have another go, so I seriously started my training this month. These walks were usually on my own, but I did get out for a few miles with Wine Club. As the years go by, we have turned to more than just drinking wine 😊

Four women grinning in the woods — Walking in Surrey woods

March

This month I made the biggest change. I stopped working for a company and started my own with a former colleague. In the same area (digital and marketing strategy), but smaller and more targeted. This took me a long time to make the step (it’s quite scary) but looking back, it was a good thing to do. Year 1 has been great, we’ll see how we go in year 2.

Th first Michelin meal of the year was at Celeste at the Lanesborough. An amazing room and fantastic meal

White plate, with cabbage, stuffed with mince. — Stuffed cabbage at Celeste

More walking this month, with an outing onto the South Downs. From Arundel, myself and 2 other women from Adventrue Queens headed west to the Gumbar Bothy for a nights camping, before carrying on to Chichester.

Stone barn, with wooden benches in front of it — Gumbar Bothy

The main reason for this was to try out my new rucksack and tent – which I’d bought in preparation for my “holiday” at the end of the month. It was holiday only in being away from home – I spent a week walking around the Isle of Wight. In the end, only 2 days camping due to the rain and mud, but a successful perambulation of the island. A total of 73 miles covered across the week.

The Needles, from hill above. Whote chalk pillars in the sea — The Needles

The cliffs on the South of the Isle of Wight Green hills, red stone cliffs. cloud over the sea — sea cliffs

April

At the end of my week of walking, it was time to start the new “job”. So instead of going into the office every day, I started to work from home. Initially difficult, I have slowly worked out how to do this, even without a study to work from (the ironing board acts as my desk).

Walk training carried on, along with volunteering at 2 races. A small one to start with, my running club’s race and then the London Marathon again. Fewer photos this time, but I quite like my Mo Farah picture

Mo Farah, in orange top and blue shorts, running the London marathon in April 2018 — Mo Farah

May

Lots of walking done this month. Final weeks of training before the main event in the last weekend – walking 100km from London to Brighton. This was done with Action Challenge, who had great organisation across the event

Me standing in front of a big Finisheer sign, holding my medal — A happy finisher

I’d decided to split this across the 2 days, with camping overnight. Just over 36 miles on day 1 and 29 on day 2. Waking up and getting day done was not too bad, it was however far worse on the day after, very hard to walk and feet in agony! But I did it, in a final walking time of 30 hours, with an elapsed time of about 36 hours.

When training for this, you only really go up to about 30 miles max – or at least the plan I followed did. The rest of it is all mental struggle, to just keep pushing onwards. (although the ability to NOT get blisters is an essential skill)

June

I managed to remember to get tickets for Trooping the Colour this year. Not the main event, but the one of the 2 rehearsals. An excellent event, definitely something you should go to

A carriage pulle dby two grey horses, making its way across Horse Guards parade in front of a line of red jacketed soldiers — Trooping the Colour

Solidiers on horseback, in a balck jacket with gold frogging — Artillery and guns and horses

Another Wine Club event…this time we headed to Manchester for an attempt at Go Ape. We generally managed it, except for one obstacle which caused a fair bit of trouble. A very silly afternoon – and at least the rain waited until we had finished.

Four women wearing climbing harneses in the woods — ready to go at Go Ape

One final mini outing was to Kew – I don’t use my membership nearly enough, but I enjoy it when I can

July

A little busier this month. My ‘regular’ trip to the British Grand Prix for a day in hospitality was made slightly even more sporty by staying to watch England in the football World Cup on telly. I did a second GP this month, with a trip to the German event. As I was in Germany for that week, I drove to Hockenheim and camped.

Parade of cars along Silverstone circuit — Cars at Silverstone

An old school friend was visiting London, so we met up and then joined in with the anti-Trump march for a few hours. The Trump baby balloon that could be found in Westminster Square was something special!

A Baby Trump balloon, orange and snarling — Baby trump

But a sad end to the month as my remaining granddad died. He’d had a fall and had been in hospital; he’d recovered from that but it was too much for his body.

My sister and I, with Granddad, in the 19702. — Sarah and me with Granddad in the 1970s

August

A fun day at the Running Club sports day. Some serious races and some fun ones, especially the fancy dress.

3 runners dressed in fancy dress standing on running track — Fancy Dress race

Plus my first geekcon, a trip to Nine Worlds. For some reason, I took no photos here, even of the excellent cos play that was evident

September.

I spent a lot of this month on Germany, so had a weekend trip out to Bamberg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamberg which is a World Heritage site. Fascinating medieval town.

A gate in Bamberg. Tower standing guard at the end of a bridge — Bamberg Gates

And another weekend sent me back to Garmisch and Zugspitze. This time I took the cable car up and then walked all the way down. A total of 15.6 miles, all downhill, a few scrambles but basically walking. A good day, but my legs suffered the next one!

View from summit of Zugspitze. Blue skies and peaks of mountains sticking through clouds — Looking down

Zugsmoitze mountain, a stony path heading down into the valley — More down

I took the opportunity of having a day with no meetings to fly back from Germany the long way round, via Vienna. I booked flights with a long lay over and nipped into the city to see the cathedral and to have lunch

Vienna cathedral Whote and brown tiled floor, long columns — Vienna Cathedral

October

This was a month of seconds. My second Michelin meal of the year was at Bibendum Another superb room and great meal. And the following weekend I ran my second race, the Royal Parks half, on a day that started wet but eventually dried out.

A sweetbread on a white place, with black and white dolups of puree and sauce — Sweeatbreads

The next weekend was spent at Yestival, a festival dedicated to adventures and challenges. Lots of ideas shared about adventures as well as lots of practical advice about planning, fund raising and executing them

A sign saying "say yes more", white lights against the darkness

At the end of the month, Charlotte, my cousin, had finally decided to get married. A vey different experience, as it was a Greek Orthodox service and party, but it was good fun

Bride and groom in front of priest. Behind alter are gold icons of saints — A marriage day

November

A month of holidays – which I’ll write up separately. But first a visit to Bhutan (via a day in Nepal) with the parents. And then a week in Tenerife on my own, with time spent walking the mountains

A red and white monastery on the side of a mountain in Bhutan — Tigers Nest Monestary

Mountains and blue skies — Volcanic mountains

December

I finished the year in the same way I finished last year, with a few days away walking. This time I went to the Peak District for a couple of days walking up hills, along with a day on a navigation course. Dome good learnings, even if the weather was wet and windy.