Too Stubborn To Stop Whilst I was out and about wandering around the Washburn valley last week I fell to wondering about people who come walking, two sorts of people annoy me, there are the litter droppers, these people come out to the most beautiful areas our country has to offer, then leave their crisp packets, coke bottles and sweet wrappers to blow around the hills and Dales. I'm never shocked about the amount of litter you come across even in fairly remote places, but it does make me angry. The other sort that winds me up are the day trippers or unprepared walkers, especially those muppets that have to be rescued by the hard working folk of the various Fell Rescue teams. Nearly every time I get halfway up one of the Three Peaks I come across a plonker in jeans, trainers and t-shirt, no map, no rainwear, no compass, no common sense. The weather in Yorkshire is often described (especially on this hills) as changeable, bright, sunny, safe days can shift to cold, wet, foggy and dangerous conditions in a matter of minutes, and you must be prepared for this. Why do hikers wear boots and not trainers ? Ankle and foot protection, comfort and grip. Why don't hikers wear jeans ? Because they double their weight when they get wet and then they don't dry out. Even sensible hikers sometimes get into trouble, this can happen to anyone. Every hiker probably has a minor slip two or three times on every walk, you catch a rock that is greasier than you expected and your feet shoot out from beneath you. Sometimes you stay upright on your hiking pole, sometimes you end up on your knees or backside with no worse injury than dented pride. Sometimes though, just a little slip or loose footing can turn an ankle and cause more serious injury. You can't rule out injuries, they happen, but it really makes me mad when people have to be rescued for being lost, or just because they are exhausted. Now again, both these things can happen even to experienced hill walkers, but they happen far more frequently to the perosn who things "I fancy going up there" when they look up at Ingleborough on a cloudy day. Hours later the fog has closed in, it's cold and wet, the cagoule they thought would keep them warm is plastered to their skin in the rain, teetch are chattering and they realise that with their vision cut to twenty feet in the gloom they have no idea where they are. If you are going out in the hills, you must have a map, and you must be able to read it, you should also have a compass and be able to use that as well. I've done Ingleborough on days when vision has been about ten feet and for all the good that your map is doing you may as well have left it at home, at these times it's good to be able navigate by your compass. Fitness is also vital, and I believe that a goodly amount of pig headed stubborness will help you out as well. Hills and mountains are steep and strength sapping, peaks that you can see in the bright sunshine from the car park are much further to reach by foor than you might think, particularly when the weather starts to turn. Before Steve and myself did the 3 Peaks last summer we trained hard and made sure we had done some hikes of similar length and climbing height before we set off. I'm so glad that we did, the day turned out to be one of the worst days I have ever hiked in, constant heavy rain all day driven into your face by strong winds made for deeply unpleasant walking conditions. We had trained though, and knew each other's fitness levels and determination, even then we had a serious discussion about doing Whernside, but decided we were Ok to carry on. Mountain Rescue reported one of their busiest emergency days on that day. This where mental attitude comes in, are you strong enough to walk yourself out of trouble ? I'm mostly a solo walker, I love the solitide on the hills, but it does mean that you must be confident in your own abilities. I'm confident in my own walking ability, that also means that I know my own limits, it's when you have no idea of your limits that you get into trouble. When the weather turned badly on me on Mallerstang last year I had to walk out of possible trouble, vision was poor, the weather was appalling and I managed to painfully twist my knee on a descent, it would have been easier just to sit down in a sheep fold and await help, and people do, they get close to their limits and cold, wet and in pain they give up. Mental toughness will often get you through though, if you refuse to be beaten, refuse to allow the driving sleet or painful ankle to get to you, you'll eventually just plod back down and get to the pub. "What was it like then ?" they ask. "Oh, not bad you know, a little windy up top, but better than watching TV."