Mountains for the Mind

KASE LEWIS 3-PEAK CHALLENGE BAREFOOT WALKER

Mental health – out in the open

Ihave always felt like a bit of an outsider. In school I was desperately trying to fit into the boxes and labels that were floating around but never really knowing my place. It created a lot of anxiety, feeling apart from others and even disconnected from myself.

This continued until in my mid 30s, when everything broke down. Depression and anxiety were rife within me, and I found myself in some very dark places. My health, work and relationships all suffered. I’d stopped any sort of hobbies and my social life was non-existent.

Hitting rock bottom, I saw my GP who put me on medication and enrolled me into group therapy. The GP told me the medication wouldn’t make me happy but rather numb the feelings. Numbing feelings was what I wanted at that time.

Months later I walked on the grass in the garden barefoot. Feeling the reconnection with nature was a light-bulb moment. I realised the answer for me wasn’t numbing feelings. I didn’t want to live a flatlined life, I wanted to regain the feeling of being connected. I stopped the medication and started walking barefoot more and then running barefoot. I ran everywhere barefoot, anywhere I could feel different textures and different terrains; the beach, fields, the road, the hills… I started to wonder – what environment would give me all different types of terrain and really give me the experience I was seeking?

The mountains! As John Muir is famously quoted as saying: ‘The mountains are calling, and I must go’. This is exactly how I felt.

My first experience of the mountains was during a school camp. I was blown away by the vividness of the smooth blue of the sky contrasted against the rolling greens and rugged grays of the Welsh mountain ranges. I remember the feeling of awe seeing them for the first time.

Years ago, I had qualified as a Mountain Leader and knew I had the skills to navigate the mountains, but I was unsure how people would respond when I told them of this crazy idea I had to do the Three Peaks Challenge as naturally as possible. In January 2020 I started living barefoot and let it slip to people what my plans were. It was met with mixed emotions. Concerned friends thought I had finally lost it, but in truth I had found my answer.

My initial date was May... then lockdown hit. “That’s fine,” I thought, “I will drop the date back to July, and still do them all completely barefoot, back to back”. I stuck to my goal of July when I thought lockdown would be over. I was training hard and completed a fitness test with shoes on, because I wanted to see how my cardio was. What a mistake. I ended that session with a broken foot which was only made worse by doing Skiddaw the next day barefoot.

A couple of physio appointments and lots of ice later I rearranged the date again, to 8 weeks later and what I

thought would be the last possible weather window to complete the challenge before having to put it back again but this time to 2021.

On Saturday 26 September I started the ascent up Ben Nevis at 4pm with a close friend. Passing streams of people coming down the mountain, I was filled with the excitement of seeing the sunset from the summit when a message came through from an old school friend who is completing 100 country high points. It was a picture of the summit from a few hours before… There had been a heavy dusting of snow from 1100m. At this moment I was glad I started running in January. 7pm and the sunset was amazing. Back down the zig-zagged rocky path and we were on the way to Scafell Pike.

There were dark times on those two mountains, where my feet felt like raw skin after a blister has been taken off. Other times I couldn’t feel my feet at all. Dark times of wanting to stop, wanting to turn back, wanting to give up. Dark times like those in my past, but I knew they wouldn’t last. This was what walking barefoot had taught me. These times are hard, hard to see the way out or any kind of finish line. Sometimes the only thing to do is to put one foot in front of the other, adapt and keep going.

Sunday 27th September at 7pm and I was sat on top of Snowdon, smiling like a boy seeing the mountains for the first time. Surrounded by the mountains and my friends, watching the golden sunset and blessed with the warmth of hope for the future.

I thought those 27 hours taught me a lot about resilience, a lot about gratitude, about the importance of being adaptable, and the importance of self-belief. I realise now it was the whole journey that gave me the lessons. Walking barefoot and setting this goal helped me reconnect with myself when I was completely lost and at my lowest.

This was an experience that only the outdoors and nature could give. It saved my life.