Braving the Elements: A Rainy Day Recce at Box Hill
Date: June 2024
Start: 11:00
Finish: 14:00
Duration: 3 hrs
Distance: 11.00km
Elevation Gain: 350m
Route Type: Point to Point
Weather: Rainy, windy and sunny
Companions: Solo hike
Scouting for the Fogolar Furlan walk in July; a somewhat Scottish day, I would say, where every 10-15 minutes the sun gives way to heavy rain, and I keep taking off and putting on my raincoat.
The best part, however, is that I hardly meet anyone during the first half of the route, and in the second half only a few 'quality crazies,' the kind of people who don't let anything stop them; no families with strollers, no amateurs who parked in front of the pub and are doing the 2 km loop in flip-flops. Towards the end, I meet a Filipina who is doing hill repeats to prepare for a trail marathon in Switzerland. We talk about Altra, zero drop, the Olympus she's wearing, and Inov-8. I ask her where she lives in London, and she tells me she came to train from Dover; only 'quality crazies.'