Keeping in touch with the elements on the summit of Pen Y Ghent in September 2012.
For me the best way to understand what my characters experience out in the wild exposed to the forces of nature is to get out there in all winds and weathers. It was never easy or pleasant, but thirty years ago I ached less afterwards and recovered quicker. Having said that the climb shown in the photograph above was a small triumph for me as it was my first foray for two and a half years. It was undertaken as an experiment two years after major surgery and debilitating radiotherapy for head and neck cancer.
I picked the only bad day in week of fine weather, the rain driven horizontal by gale force winds for the entire ascent and descent; three uncomfortable, solitary, sodden hours of priceless experience for a writer. Nothing else brings past memories in to sharp focus ready to translate to the page.
Well done, Stuart. That trek must have given you a lot of first-hand material! I once climbed Snowdon (not alone) in similar weather & it wasn’t a pleasant experience.
Thanks for looking in Sally. I too have done Snowdon but not in such bad weather. Hope you are well and the words are still flowing.
That research looks like it was above and beyond…
It was certainly more than mildly moist, Jackie.