Sometimes I should listen to a weather report! I hadn’t realised that Storm Malik was raging it’s way across the country today, it was whipping up winds that were vicious and brutal. In some parts of the country trees have fallen and caused terrible damage. But, if I had listened to the weather report then I wouldn’t have had an exciting adventure.
Laura and I went up to Gaddings Dam in Todmorden. Laura is a team member and usually we are working alongside each other putting needles in arms, today we went on a swim/walk adventure…a swalk! As we parked up the wind shook the car and tried to steal our coats and hats. We wrapped up tightly and braced ourselves for the climb. We decided to take the steep path, which is challenging on a decent day, and so with gritted teeth we set off. Even near the bottom of the hill the wind was difficult, but as we got higher it was quite treacherous.
Every few steps we had to stop and brace ourselves against the gusts so that we weren’t blown over. At times I had to get down on my hands and knees as staying upright whilst standing on a steep slope with a wild wind was virtually impossible. It was both frightening and thrilling at the same time.
Thankfully, we made it in one piece to the top. The last part involved climbing a dozen or so stone steps to the top of the dam. It must have taken each of us about five minutes to get up them. We had to cling on to the side of the steps and then grab onto the post at the top so that we weren’t whisked away over the moors and never seen again.
With the wind behind us and not racing across us we could walk along the top of the dam to the beach area. There was no respite there and it was difficult to tell whether the water that speared us in tiny little bullets was from drizzle or water whipped up from the wild waves that churned in the dam.
The sun did make an appearance but the wind raged on. We had to hold our bags down with huge stones and secure our clothes as we got ready to swim. It was a challenge!
Swim isn’t the right word to use as swimming would have been extremely difficult. We dipped. I did a few strokes but the waves crashed about me.
The photos don’t portray the brutality of the wind.
It was exhilarating. It was cold. It was extreme dipping. It was bloomin’ fabulous. We laughed out loud as we battled the waves and felt the piecing cold of the water. We weren’t in for long but it was enough to give us a buzz that lasted all day.
With winds hitting at least thirty miles per hour we got dressed. Fingers and toes were frozen, clothes blew about madly, it was so difficult. As we fumbled into clothes we had to make sure nothing was whipped away as we put on the layers and warmed up.
A hot drink warmed our core and then we were ready to walk down. There was no way we could attempt the way we had ascended so we took the longer path. It wasn’t easy to walk on frozen feet and remain upright but the path was gentle and took us downwards slowly. As we dipped down we were sheltered from the pummelling of the wind and the respite was very welcome.
What an absolutely amazing start to the day. My body aches now from the steep climb, the punching force of the wind and coldness of the water. I may ache but I loved every minute of it….well maybe not some of hairy moments on the way up. It was wild swimming in the extreme.
need2bleed 