Lyke Wake Walk
August 2023
Anyone who knows me, knows that I like a bit of a challenge, so when a friend at my yoga class asked around who would be up to do the Lyke Wake Walk over two days during the summer holidays… of course I put my hand up.
The Lyke Wake Walk is a 40-mile (64 km) challenge walk across the highest and widest part of the North York Moors National Park in North Yorkshire, England.
So on 2nd August, early in the morning, four adventurous women (one of them being me) set off from Osmotherley, thinking that the distance would be the main challenge. How wrong could we have been. The first day was just relentless heavy rain and wind. As if the first 20 miles and the hills were not challenging enough, soon we were soaked to the skin, walking in ‘buckets full of water’ (our boots). At times the paths seemed never ending or we could simply not see the end of the path and wondered whether the earth was flat after all and we would just drop off…. Of course we didn’t. Sheer determination, sharing of powerful snacks and pulling on each others strength got us through the 9 hours of walking and to the Lions Inn at Blakey Ridge, where we were staying that night.
Desperately trying to get all our clothes and boots dry, our rooms looked and smelled ‘interesting’. With a good dinner and wine in our bellies, our spirits were high and we recharged for the next day.
The weather forecast for the second day was much better, but we didn’t anticpated the knock-on effect the heavy rain had on the second leg of our adventure. What should have been 5 miles of boggy paths ended up 14 miles of bog, then streams instead of paths, overflowing fast rivers, where there should have been stepping stones…. There are no words to describe what we manage to conquer. Everytime we overcame a challenge we faced another. It was a gift that kept on giving.
After 12 hours, which should have been 8-9 hours, we reached the final stone of the Lyke Wake Walk. Instead of 40 miles it ended up being 46 miles.
I’m grateful that I’m so physically fit. With my breathwork I made my body more oxygen officent and CO2 tolerant, which gave me the endurance I needed for this challenge but also the mental strength This walk was physcially and mentally very demanding. Many would have thrown the towel with the weather conditions we faced. We are four awesome women.
An incredible journey…an incredible journey of personal growth.
