53rd UK Three Peak Challenge and trip to brownsea island, 3rd and 4th June 2023.

On Friday 2nd June, 8 members of the 53rd Network met in Manchester. At 9.30am Skip, Chris, Christianna, George I, Stephanie V, Nicholas E, Charlie Mc, Charlie Ma, Elin and Christo left in two cars for the long drive to Fort William in Scotland. When passing though Glasgow we picked up Laura. Now the 53rd Three Peak Challenge team were all together. We stopped at the Three Sisters for our first photo and all were excited ready for this adventure. At 6pm we arrived at the Milton Spean Bridge Hotel unpacked, rested had dinner. After we went for a walk to see the Commando Memorial and hike on a trail though the forest to find geocaches returning back to the hotel at 10pm. After looking at the weather and hike route we all went to bed to be ready for the early start the next day.

Saturday 3rd June. All were all up at 6.30am. We had a good Breakfast at the hotel and by 8.30am we were all at the Ben Nevis visitors center and ready to hike with our new 53rd three peak challenge T- Shirts. 6 Hikers set off for the Ben Nevis summit, Christianna, Charlie Ma, Charlie Mc, George I, Christo and Nicholas E . Stay behind was our support team Skip, Chris, Stephania, Elin and Laura. The supprort team rested so they were ready for the long drive and also done some Geocaching to stretch their legs. Skip also swapped his necker with Explorers from Germany who were also hiking in the area. For the hiking team it was a long uphill, in sunny weather. Closer to the top the hike team also walked across snow. After 4 hours they finally reached the top, Ben Nevis 1344m, and the start time of the Three Peak Challenge 12.15pm. Now the 24 hour clock was ticking. The Hike team reached the visitors center at 2.40pm. It was a quick bathroom break and by 3.00pm we were all in the two cars and back on the road with a quick stop in Glasgow to drop off Laura.

The drive to Scafell Pike was 6 hours. We had a stop in Gretna for a bath room break and something to eat. At 9pm we arrived in the Scafell Pike parking area. This summit only 4 hikers would be going, Christo, Charlie Mc, Charlie Ma and Nicholas. The rest needed a rest. After nearly three hours climbing with torches the hike team reached the summit of Scafell Pike at 0.30am. By 2.00am they were back in the car park and we were all on the road by 2.30am.

Co-drivers Christianna, Elin and George now guided our drivers Skip and Chris to Wales while all slept to recover from the last climb. At 5am we made another stop for breakfast in Chester and by 7am we were in Wales at the start of the PYG Track to Snowdon. There we were joined by Alex and Co. At 10.45pm the hike team reached the summit of Snowdon. The 53rd Three Peak Challenge final time 22Hrs and 50min. A big success for the 53rd Network. Hikers Christos Sk, Nicholas E, Charlie Mc and Charlie Ma.