“How did the Weather Affect the Group?”
The overall weather was fairly cold and wet, so the mood wasn’t very positive at times especially when it was extra cold. For example in the morning the mood was very negative because everyone was just leaving their tents back into the cold air, and having to get ready for the day was hard to do. This caused us to move more slowly and with less enjoyment, making the walk harder at these times. A way to prevent this in the morning would be to get up fast and move quickly, and start making hot food and drink. This then sets up the start of the day positively, and makes the beginning more bearable.
When there were small outbreaks of sunshine and no wind, the mood was very good. People in the group took layers off, and relaxed, calming everything down, and essentially made the walking easier and faster. When there were times of sunshine, everyone seemed happier and more lively, which to me greatly helped the walking speed.
The snow was a great disadvantage to our walking pace, and made the walking a lot harder. When walking on flat grounds, for example fields, extra effort had to be put in to lift each foot, so it was double the effort to make our way through the snow. Also when in muddy places, the snow helped the mud and dirt stick to my walking boots and by the end of the field, my boot was covered in an armour of mud. This made the boot heavier and more effort to lift.
The rain, of which we did not have much, caused a few problems. For example it took us a while to find a crossing for a stream because it was over flowing. The rain also made our clothes and backpacks wet, causing discomfort and even made the items heavier.
In the future I would plan not to walk in cold snowy conditions because it makes the mood worse and slows the pace of walking down, either by difficulty of stepping, or struggling with the cold.