Day 4: written by Loraine Dalton

Thank you God, for answering our prayers the weather is cloudy but warm.

Pack the sleeping bag up say good bye to the cave, Off we go. To be truthful the only way I survive this is, not to think, not to look around because if I do I will know I am high up and if I fall I may die but worse become paralysed, so I don’t look I walk I look to see where my next foot should go. I talk to God, I repeat again and again God loves me. We set off about seven at around 10 even I can look up the surroundings have change, we are in  Lesotho  it is beautiful I can breath, not because I have no air but because its just hills and the sun is shining the hills are green there is even a river that has ice covering it because of the recent cold snap.

I really am  enjoying this I want to enjoy this, I truly can say I am over whelmed by not being scared, I realized this is why I thought I wanted to do it in the first place, The only noise is nature the water running the soft breeze beauty, as I know God intended.

I know I have to do two more peaks, I don’t want to let anyone down, but I just want to go home, or stay here no more up hills or down, just peace like God intended. I know I said I would climb 5 peak in 5 days so on I went, I did not want to rush it was the first time I could look around, but they had already left me so I had to catch up.

Actually Colin came back and I was  chatting to him  and I told him I do Cleft and leave Cockade out, I was so tired and scared I just wanted it to be over. He said this is Cockade and your half way up it. So I took a big breath and walked and walked  and summated. The girls was all excited and looking every where, at the other mountains, I just wanted to go down., I was just tired, I never was exhilarated by the summating horrified was probably a better description, Lea tried to put her arms around me because she was so happy, I just want to be left alone I was horrified at being so high I pushed her away then I felt awful because she was just being nice. The down was just like a steep hill, so it was not hard. We walked and walked There was suggestion that I could just go to the cave, and not do Cleft I was quiet happy to do that, but when I reached the girls they said “come on you can do it, that’s why we came”. My thoughts were I came because I am an idiot who had menopause and wanted to be something I am not, but as I told you I am a team player and no one else was quitting so up we went. Yes it was far not technical just up, up up.

Again all the girls was so happy I look over the edge and it was a sheer drop of a 1000 meters I called it death gully and just sat and waited for them to tell me it was time to go down.

I watched the girls being happy, I even looked out it was truly breath taking, the naked eye could not see anything but God’s world. the world were man had not built and messed up the sun was shinning we had achieved 21 peaks between us, not to shabby even if four of us were not fit as we should have been WE DID IT Down we went.

I was tired I had done what was asked of me, where was the cave?

If Cleft and Cockade were lets say 2500 meter I had walked up them both and had done my bit. (we had been walking 10 hour)s No one said I had to climb another f_- —-ing mountain, but that’s what happened we had to climb again. I wanted to scream. It was total torture for me if I go up I have to come down.

We only had to go probably another 200 meters and we could have summated another mountain did the guide suggest this no. The cave was so high in the morning the clouds were beneath us and so were the planes. I actually made the girls laugh because I said its like being in a plane with a big window.

A rare moment , a wave of calm came over me, the beauty of seeing a sunrise, God letting me know its going to be alright is a feeling that will stay with me for the rest of my life.