Just got back from a fab weekend in the Lake District. Despite the 9 hour drive up there on Friday (don't you just love the M6), it was worth the wait as not only did the rain seem to ease for while, so we only had constant drizzle instead of torrential downpours, but I got to achieve a dream, conquer a fear or two and have a great time thanks to the expert guidance and general cheekiness of Will4Adventure - the company I booked with for a two day scrambling course.

The pace going up was brilliant. Nobody was made to feel uncomfortable, rest stops were short but frequent and the general feeling was of a relaxed walk with a group of friends - such a change to the Navigation course! The winds were still gusting strongly towards to Edge and it was touch and go as to whether or not we would try it but, after a short break and some top class homemade fruit cake care of Will's girlfriend, we decided to give it a go. Other groups were ahead of us and apart from making it look like Piccadilly circus, the cynic in me though, oh well, we can watch them to see if they get blown off first! Will opted to take the lower path, rather than the ridge, and I always find if an instructor takes this option, it has to be for a reason, so me and one other followed him and took the lower, safer(!) path, which was a bit challenging in it's own right. The others, adrenaline fueled (and probably sugar fueled as well after the cake and flapjack) went for the top. The winds actually seemed to die down and so about a 1/3rd of the way along I took deep breath and went for it, traversing up onto the ridge with the others. The assistant leaders were great and talked me through bits and I only dropped to my knees on two occasions when the wind picked up a bit and even ended up straddling the ridge for a while, whilst I figured out which way to move next! I was terrified but in a good way!! To our right was a sheer drop, the the left the footpath so there was always a way off - one good, the other not so good :-) At the end of the ridge, whether you've followed the footpath or not, there is some down climbing to do, which is always more difficult, and then a scramble up to the summit. I found the down climbing challenging and exhilarating but would have preferred to have had my climbing harness on, or at least a helmet. It's these moments that bring home the risks involved with scrambling and I did wonder whether it was really worth it. But with a big grin on my face we got down safely and made our way up the final scramble which wasn't anywhere near as bad as it looked and onto the summit. Standing on Hellvelyn, looking back at the Edge before it disappeared in the mist, I felt elated and pleased that I'd done it. I was also standing at my highest point so far in my walking career. Sadly, the mists closed in and the winds picked up so not much of a view and we were almost blown off of our feet a couple of times on the way down. A truly fantastic days walking with some lovely people and another personal challenge met.

Sitting in the pub later that night with the group, enjoying a fantastic salad and a pint of Speckled Hen I had another one of those self realisation moments. I enjoyed the scramble, and I'm glad I fulfilled the dream of walking along Striding Edge but would I go out of my way to plan a scrambling walk? Er.....no! When I booked on the course earlier in the year it was for a number of reasons, one of them being that I thought I wanted to be this hard-core, mountaineering Joe Simpson type hill walker - no fear, no limits etc. It's taken a few moments like this to realise that I'm not these things, and I don't want to be. I'm happy to take calculated risks when need be and I'm certainly up for adventure, but I'm not going to go out of my way to add high risk 'thrills' to my walks. The thrill for me is in enjoying nature, the views and landscape and pushing myself physically and mentally but in a relaxed and fun way. Striding Edge was fine, the scramble I did with my mum and friend in Wales - brilliant. Will I be standing on Sharp Edge - don't think so.

On the second day Will had planned another Grade 1 scramble near Coniston but I knew my head and heart weren't in it - too many other things on my mind about home life and also the realisation that I'm not a hardcore mountaineer and so I opted out. I did feel like a wuss but knew I'd made the right choice as, like most things, if your head isn't in it mistakes often happen, and that's not good when scrambling. It's certainly no reflection on the course which I would highly recommend to anyone that wants to have a go at scrambling in a safe, controlled way - Will and his team are brilliant and I can't recommend them highly enough. And affordable too - only £25 for the weekend - you can't get better than that now, can you?!

Before heading home early, I enjoyed a couple of hours walking around Sweden Bridge, High Pike and Low Pike just outside of Ambleside and made the most of the rare appearance of the sun - and boy was it hot. Then headed home for what turned into another 7 hour epic drive - ho hum.

So, thanks to Will4Adventure for the experience - you can find details on this course and all others, including the very popular and unique 'Fear Of Heights' course at http://www.will4adventure.com/

This weekend I'm off for some water based fun and my best friends 40th birthday party but hope to get in a couple of evening walks and then, in a couple of weeks time, Tomcat and I are planning an adventure to the Peak District, planning our own course and practising navigation at the top of Kinder Scout. If you've been up there and have any tips, let us know!

Hope you've all had a good weekend. All for now.

Sturdy.