#theroaches

Woaaah that was one hell of a weekend. I went to the roaches with a couple of friends and some other people from the mountaineering club to climb and camp and I've been dreaming about that for weeks sooo

• Drove down on Friday night with two friends and two people I didn't know, so I got to know them on the way down and they're both great so the drive was already really fun. The light was so pretty too 😍 got there just on time to scramble to the top of the crag to watch the sunset.

• We hung out there for a while then went to look for the campsite where we found the rest of the people. It ended up being a really short evening because it got pretty cold fast and everyone was keen for an early start the next day. I was cold most of the night but actually managed to sleep regardless! This was a big win for me because I normally can't and it really stresses me out 😂

• Saturday morning some more people arrived and we went up to the crag. It was incredibly foggy and cold in the morning but the sun burned through and suddenly it was sooo nice and warm

• I spent most of the day climbing with my housemate E. She's one of my favourite people to climb with (and one of my fave people in general hey) and we did some really fun routes. And then I led! My first! Trad climb! I was so proud of myself :'D and it was actually really fun too, I felt really confident on it and E said all the gear I placed was great except for one so yay. After that I did another route with my other housemate S. He also led a route earlier in the day without placing gear in the top bit and watching him was SO SCARY but he made it so that was cool as well 🤣 the day also involved a lot of laying around on rocks enjoying the sun. Just overall really good

• unfortunately it got really cold in the evening again and I was so tired so my mood dropped a lot - I don't know why but I really can't handle being cold for any length of time :( in the end I just went to bed pretty early and got really warm in my sleeping bag fast so it was fine after a bit.

• Woke up to crazy winds a few times during the night and it was no better in the morning so I procrastinated getting up for a while. When I finally did everybody was already up, normally it's more the other way around 😂 we packed up and the others went back to the crag for more climbing while I set out for a run

• It took me a while to find a good route to run because I couldn't find the path I was searching for. In the end I just ran along the roaches ridge which made for awesome views but SO MUCH WIND. When I descended off the other end of the ridge the wind suddenly went away and it was so quiet and peaceful so that was nice for a bit. The way back was absolutely brutal though - uphill into the wind. I slowed down to a jog, then a walk, then a slow walk. Considered calling it quits so many times. Actually sat on a rock almost crying for a bit. The fact that I brought way too little water didn't really help either :/ luckily I randomly came across an ice cream truck while crossing a road so I bought some water - at that point it was an absolute lifesaver. Soon after that I reached the highest point of the ridge and started descending towards camp and finally felt better. So in the end, I made it to the 25 km I had planned! Including almost 600m of elevation gain/loss. It was definitely one of the harder runs I've done though.

• After that I was completely spent so I just spent the rest of the day lying on various rocks moving with the sun, watching people climb, talking to friends taking breaks and reading (finished Thru-hiking Will Break Your Heart which was such a good read, highly recommend for any outdoor/adventure living people which, considering the stuff I post, is probably just about all of you guys) (and eating snacks 😂). It was really peaceful and nice until it got cold again >.> but we left soon after that

• I was so tired on the car ride back that I actually fell asleep for a bit even though I normally can't ever sleep in cars. When we got home I dragged myself through the stuff I needed to do (unpack my bag, laundry, cook, eat, pack stuff for tomorrow) then finallyyyy had a hot bath - felt like the best thing in the world after all of that cold. The Epsom salts I ordered arrived while I was away too so that was even better. Then sleep.

Sam Sudden-Wheatley getting one more in before the sun sets.