Rex Boyd : The Lake District at Christmas Time
Luckily for me and my training efforts, we took our family holiday to our favourite UK destination - Lake Ullswater near Penrith. My wife and kids have been very excited about me joining in on the 3 Peak Challenge and have been really supportive. My two daughters even give me a run for my money in trying to keep up with them on the fells. 
Maggie who is 8 years old and Tabitha who is 6 years old are both hoping to join me on the descent of Mount Snowdon on the final leg of the challenge. These photos were taken on our route around the peaks of Martindale near Lake Ullswater. In the distance you can see the snow-dusted peaks around Helvellyn which is the second highest peak in the Lake District after Scafell Pike. You can’t see it in the photos but just beyond Helvellyn and a bit to the south is Scafell Pike itself.
After first hearing about the 3 Peaks Challenge back in October I went to Scafell Pike to have a go at climbing it since I’ve never been there before. Going up I felt really good and was right on schedule for how long it should take me. 
Coming down however is when I realised that I needed to do some more training if I am going to complete all three peaks. As you can see in the photo Scafell Pike is very rocky and steep. It doesn’t look so steep in this photo but trust me, it is. The rocky terrain twists your knees and ankles which after and hour or more of delicate descent became quite painful. To add to the difficulty it was getting dark and started to rain. It then became very dark and very rainy. This could have been construed as quite a miserable situation but in fact I was actually very satisfied that I had the appropriate gear and that given a few more months training the big challenge is completely within my grasp. I can’t wait.The View of Wast Water coming down from Scafell Pike in the dark.
