Always take a compass

So, after all that planning, preparation and training the niggle in the back of my mind had become reality - we were going to have to pull out of the 3 Crosses walk, because of me.

Now I wouldn't say that I'm not or can't be a team player but I don't really like any team sports (watching or doing) and the activities I prefer are those where I'm in control; cycling, walking, swimming climbing - you get the idea, and I think that's because if I "fail" then it's my fault.  I';m happy to blame or chastise myself but I don't want to have that feeling of "what if they had been quicker or fitter".

As selfish as that sounds (and I know it does!) it's just the way it is and it's the reason that it took me a few weeks longer that it should have to pluck up the courage to speak to my wife about us having to pull out of the 3 Crosses walk and that I'd not be taking part in the Ben Nevis Triathlon - I hate to think that we'd fai…

Now it's taken me some time to write this post up and if I'm honest with myself it's because this is the walk that broke me and also put pay to both the Ben Nevis Triathlon and 3 Crosses walk that Donna and I had been looking forward to and working towards - but more about that in another post.

Valentines Day 2014 - so, what had Donna and I planned then?  A nice walk on the beach, a meal out or a film?  No!  a 25 mile walk in the Hampshire countryside with our dog - it's training you see!!

The route I'd planned (using ViewRanger as per usual) started and ended in Stockbridge, Hampshire, and took in the villages of Broughton, Middle Wallop, Goodworth Clatford, Upper Clatford, Wherwell, Chilbolton and Leckford before returning to Stockbridge - 25 miles in all, using sections of both the Test Way and Clarendon Way.

Walk stats
Distance - 24.87 miles
Time - 8hrs 39mins 35s
Avg Speed - 2.87mph
Height Gain - 1714ft
OS map used - OS Explorer 131 - Romsey, Andover and the Test Vall…

Somehow it's taken me nearly 3 months to write this walk up so, for those who were with me on the walk, please excuse any bits that I've missed and put them down to poor memory, nothing else!

In preparation for a more arduous walk in the summer (a Triathlon of sorts on Ben Nevis to be precise) and as a "intro" to the mountains for Gareth, who'd be part of the Ben Nevis team and who had no real mountain walking experience, I'd planned a trip to Pen-y-Fan and a slight variation on a mountain I've walked up numerous times.

The plan was to head up to Wales fairly early and start walking before 9am ideally - mainly so that we'd encounter fewer people on the hill and also to make the most of the snow that would hopefully still be on the mountain after a few days of rain and warmer weather.

As mentioned earlier I'd planned a slightly different route for this walk as all of my previous walks on Pen-y-Fan have started from the car park at the edge of the T…