CP6 (almost) - CP9 (almost) and Back! First Blood to the Gallops!

The team split in half on this occasion.  Becky and Vicky decided to stay local mainly due to injury worries and Sue and Sandra headed for the Trail. We parked at Upper Beeding after looking for a car park off abridleway in the village which proved to impassable!  Bearing in mind that we knew we would be out walking for at least 12 hours without support crew we had brought along quite a few snacks. This resulted in plastic bags being tied to rucksacks!

In order to join the South Downs Way we made our way up a pretty steep hill. Luckily we will not have to tackle this on the walk itself! We proceeded with shopping bags towards Devil's Dyke and CP7. The route is straightforward after the initial climb but the hills keep on coming. There are however, several rude place names which kept spirits up!  Bushy Bottom, Fulking and Steyning Bowl are our particular favourites! Sue soon threatened to break out her "soft pear" and in true Carry On style we were forced into an emergency comfort stop through laughing too much! We felt fairly jealous of the hangliders at CP7. Was this where the classic Only Fools and Horses episode was filmed?

Looking back towards CP7

After a well-deserved 15 minute break we ploughed on to CP8 . Ice-creams are available from Saddlescombe Farm although not sure they will still be open when we reach this point in July.  New Timber Hill (or Spanish Hill as we have now dubbed it) awaits after this.  It is a bit of a sh***er to say the least.  Several photo stops required here.

New Timber Hill

Off to tackle the A23 next.  After walking for miles without many signs of civilisation this came as a bit of a shock. But Pyecombe lay in wait along with the Pyecombites! (horses in the field!). The trail continues up hill through the golf course and then the lovely sight of the windmills at Jack and Jills - CP8! Where were the Gurkha massages? Looking forward to this come July 14th!

We re-traced our steps and carried on a little way before stopping for lunch (15 mins only!). Lots of sheep and lambs very interested in us and the lunch but a few whispers of rosemary and mint sauce saw them off.  As we set off again we were hailed by two cyclists who we had seen earlier who shouted "nee hah" in a cowboy like manner and "come on girls" which were just the words of encouragement we needed.

OOPS!

CP8 to CP9 is a long slog in terms of distance but there are no challenging hills here.We, however, managed to go spectacularly off-piste near the notorious Gallops.  Why didn't we follow warrant officer Coop's advice to check the map? Who knows! To cut a very long story short we ended up scrabbling through the brambles in Ashcombe Bottom before finally picking up the trail again.  We had seen wild orchids and deer but to say we were at a low ebb when we got near to CP9 would be an understatement! Tired and scratched to ribbons we decided to cut our losses and follow a footpath back up to Black Cap (the scene of our muppetry!).  We realised that we would not get back to the car until 11pm unless we really picked up our pace.  The path was not as clear cut as we had hoped and we ended up crossing the Gallops before seeing the dire warning signs!!

After walking for nearly 4 hours without a rest we stopped for a much needed refreshment break.  Feet powdered, socks changed, bellies full and bladders emptied we set off a with a new found vigour and marched back to the car.

Evening at Jack and Jills CP8

Apart from a herd of cows and a very randy bull we hardly encountered a soul apart from a few mad buggers who were running!?!  We were rewarded with a stunning evening and a renewed sense of what we are undertaking.The mental challenge of the event was really brought home to us by the afternoon's mishap. We had coped and although we were tired our spirits were high. Until the final cock up....the wrong route back to the car but hey we got there in the end! 13 hours and 60km after we left it.  We had ascended 1300 metres (higher than Ben Nevis) and we still managed another 10 miles next morning!!

Sunset near CP7