ONE MORE CRACK

We had spent many days in the valleys and tops, visiting every nook and cranny, and even more time looking at maps of the area. This was to be a finale trip of sorts, attempting to put all our curiosity and questions to bed.

Mid-March was a dog of a time for weather and we had to delay the trip a few times before finally getting a forecast that guaranteed at least a couple of fine days back-to-back. Because of the delays, we had to cut four days off the trip so we chose to concentrate on a section of the planned route that we could play either way, depending on how the weather rolled out. Not an ideal start, but I think we would have died of old age waiting for a fine enough spell to carry out the original plan.

Pete and I were going to film this trip, so that meant the pack weighed a little more than usual with our new camera gear and spotting scope. Great stuff to have, apart from the carrying part. We packed eight days of food, four on our backs and four in a bucket to be dropped off and collected on our route later. We shared the rifle and tent and a few other bits but our loads still weren’t