My fitness level appears to be reasonable at this time so I decided
a little local training was in order and to prevent “crying off” part way
through a route, I decided I would run a local legend called The Six Trigs
challenge. This way failing to complete the whole route would lead to the embarrassment
of failure.
I was dropped off in Hebden Bridge about lunch time having
initially deciding I was going to have a lazy day and not bother with any
training, sometimes it’s hard to find the motivation to train when there are so
many other life pressures.
The route starts in Hebden Bridge and is about 26 miles long
with 4,000 ft of ascent, although the ground in places is hard going there’s
little ascent and the views are glorious.
I set off at a gentle jog through the centre of Hebden, as
usual I had created a GPS route for my phone and packed a map just in case (The
correct map for a change). My navigational skills are very poor, a map a
compass are old fashioned, why use a horse and cart when you have a car?
Unfortunately I had forgotten to load the route on my phone
so had no alternative but to use the map and compass (horse and cart).
The ascent to Sheep Stones (GR 014278) is pleasant and I soon
located the trig. I could see High Brown Knoll (GR 009303) in the distance and
chose a straight line across rough ground. Although reasonably hard going I was
soon taking a picture and congratulating myself at how easy this map reading malarkey
is.
With the second trig in the bag I took a little time to
study the map and decided on a route to the 3rd trig, this map reading is easy
enough when you take a little time. Er…. Not really.
It really does amaze me how easy it is too make the land fit
the map and despite my best efforts I was soon lost. Out with the phone,
although I didn’t have the route or even a map on my phone it still gave me a
grid reference, so I found where I had gone wrong and with a little help from
the GPS I was soon finding my way back to the route.
At this point I felt it better to regularly check my
location with the GPS and try to use the map when possible. The combination
kept me on track for the rest of the day.
The other trig points are:-
Stanbury Moor (GR 978357)
Boulsworth Hill (GR 930357)
Hoof Stones Height (GR 913291)
Bride Stones (GR 932268)
Although much of the route is across rough ground it is
beautiful and I was blessed with great weather and even better views. The views
makes such a difference to my day and relax my soul, the calming effect least
for days.
After the first few navigational issues the rest of the day
went smoothly, which is why I use the GPS, my map reading is poor enough to
spoil the day and make it hard work. I know the purist out there won’t agree
but I run for pleasure and the Six Trigs is well worth the effort.
If you are local to Calderdale and fancy a great days
running I highly recommend it, the route took me about 7 hours but more
importantly it gave me confidence that my running is getting back to normal. It
has also shown me that I don’t need to travel to the Lake District to find good
routes, my local area is packed with them.
My next local challenge will probably be a route devised with
maps on my computer and plotted with GPS software, taking in as many trig
points as I can comfortably run in an afternoon. I may even include some support
points to make the day a little more relaxing.
It’s a runners life for me.
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