Quieter day today.....

although the weather is not as bad as was forecast - which was for gusts of 110 mph and lots of snow. The latter fact is a disappointment - there seems to be very little snow on the Glenshiel hills at all -  and I doubt its falling as snow on the tops as it does not seem cold enough.

The Glenshiel hills? That is because Claire and I are in Scotland for a few days. We left after work on Boxing Day and drove to Tyndrum - where we'd got a good deal at the lodge. Despite the last part of the journey being through driving rain we made pretty good time and had a meal; a couple of beers and a good sleep.

Waking to a cold(er) and frosty morning we now reaped the benefit of leaving the night before. We elected to climb Meall a' Bhuiridh, the northernmost of the Black Mount hills. It also has the benefit (or not) of being the hill used by the Glencoe Ski centre. This means that it is defaced by ski paraphenalia,  but does have a start at over 300m. For unfit types like us, on the first day of our holiday, it was a good choice - it also enabled us to get down early as we had a two hour drive to Glenshiel.

The first part of the ascent is not the greatest as it does follow the ski tow lines pretty much. After about 300m of height gain the path goes right towards pt 749m from which a ridge leads up to the summit. Probably because there were no skiers (and hardly any snow), it actually felt quite quiet.

The view from the top was impressive - the Ben was clear and most of the hills of Lochaber were also. The Easians looked especially good.

Descent was via the same way - with the clouds coming down over the summits and promising snow (which never came); or at least it was until we got down to the half-way point - at which we point we eschewed the path and followed the bike track down. This must be the most difficult; dangerous and badly-designed bike track I have ever seen....it wants to be a high-end downhill course but is SO badly designed it's untrue....

some photo's here:  https://picasaweb.google.com/102361192587557786751/MeallABhuidridh

No snow at all.

or at least it seemed that way from the top of Beacon Edge this morning. I ran up (jogged slowly would probably be a better description!!) up to Beacon Edge and then picked my way carefully upto the Beacon itself. My excuse for not running all the way up was the extreme slippiness, which happens to be true btw!

It was misty over the Lakes - although none of the promised gales were around; but from what glimpses I could see it would appear that all the snow has gone. Not surprising given how warm it has been here  - but oh so disappointing.

With luck Claire and I will get some snow in Scotland (and at least we are likely to be spared the great trudges through calf-deep snow we had last year)...but I am not holding my breath.

Happy christmas all and enjoy the rest of the festive season.

Finally a new post...

sorry it has been so long; a hard first term at the new school and some not very good weather haven't helped...

Claire and I did go over the Mum and Peter's and go for a walk on Simonside - which involved me having no energy and Claire electing to take half of Northumberland back in her boots!!

Yesterday - was just too tired despite some lovely weather in Penrith - although it was bad on Helvellyn I gather. Today I summoned up a little energy and tried a new (for me) mode of transport.

So; today - the first weekend of the hols for me as school broke on Fri - weird to think I won't be there until late Jan as I start my second school placement on the 4th... As can be seen from the picture below I

The skis.

decided to go for a quick hour or two on the ski's. Looking at the internet it was clear that the Lake Ski club at Raise was going to be open so I drove off to Glenridding.

Not especially fancying the last part of the road up to the mines; I parked at the Travellers Rest (hence the small ski's) and walked up.

 As can be seen from the two pictures below - will post the rest later - it was a glorious day and the snow started just above the Mines and Youth Hostel. HORDES (seemingly at least) of people were plodding up the Sticks Path track (which takes one to the ski-tow) so I elected to go a different way and go towards Whiteside (the path that Claire and I had come down as it happened).
Now, to be fair, those whose idea of fun it is to spend obscene amounts of money to go to France, Italy etc to ski would probably not have thought their were loads of people - I don't and have no real desire to do so - and I'm a grumpy old sod anyway so I went on my own.

I didn't go especially far - this was the first time I had worn the ski-boots outside and there were issues with them and the sock system and tightening I was playing with. I was also still feeling profoundly un-energetic so I skinned up for about 1/2km on some pretty hard ice/snow. Going up was okay as there was a little bank of snow I could follow - it was actually quite fun. I chose to walk down as I am not sure how well I would have been able to control the short ski's on that ice - may yet return with the big ones.



Cross Fell looked amazing on the drive home - will make that an objective if the snow holds - although a thaw below 600m is forecast for Thurs - which is less good.

Roll on Scotland - 8 days and counting.

https://picasaweb.google.com/102361192587557786751/SkiingRecce - are the pictures

Snow is finally here

driving back from lancaster today there was snow all on the Howgills - still not enough for real fun and games but still better than nothing....it is OH so windy though..

Bowscale Fell with Claire...

It was a very strange day - stupidly warm in the valley; Claire and I walked up Mousethwaite Combe in shirt sleeves - yet spent lunch on top of Bowscale Fell in windproofs and multiple fleeces.

The original idea was Blencathra - perfect for a shortish day; dropping Claire's car at the garage to be fixed and then needing to do lots of school work in the evening. However; arriving (depressingly out of breath) at the top of the Combe we looked to a cloud-wreathed Blencathra. We also arrived to some lunatic farmer type gunning his quad bike and doing a Lewis Hamilton impression - without his skill level. After almost running down so poor innocent dog wandering around he gunned up off Souther Fell at high speed.

To avoid him we dropped down to the little troll bridge which crosses the River Glenderamackin; and from there started the very steep pull up the shoulder of Bannerdale Crags. This was another odd day of weather - a stop for tea and cake halfway up necessitated pulling on lots of clothes - yet these were immediately shed once we started uphill. I have run down this way on several occasions yet have never gone to the top - so touching the cairn was a new hill for me. We then ambled across the plateau and squelched up onto the summit of Bowscale Fell. A cold lunch was taken before we descended the same way. At the junction of the paths we headed across the plateau to the col between Bannerdale Crags and Blencathra. A descent of the valley of the River Glenderamackin followed - on the Sharp Edge side for a change.
Our final obstacle of the day was almost being run over by a flying mountain biker at the head of Mousethwaite Combe....which was like an oven -  crazy for mid november...when will it snow?

Pictures below.

https://picasaweb.google.com/102361192587557786751/BoswcaleFellFromMousethwaiteCombe#

censorship from blogger...

I presume is the reason that the picture has vanished...it was a group of protesters outside St. Pauls in London with a nice sign saying "sorry for any inconvenience whilst global network improvements take place" - or something of that ilk!! It was  rather humorous but there we go......


Am VERY pleased it is friday...and the forecast for Sunday is decent.

A pretty good summary actually...

Quite funny really....wonder if the powers that be see the funny side...