Suilvan speaks again...

Hmmm.....a hive of activity again at the house....am I going away again (it'll be about time, I've been awfully bored just sat here whilst the humans galivant around). They brought me a few things at the weekend as well; which suggests I may get another run out.

A lovely day on Place Fell...

there was some vacillating this morning...we woke to a gorgeous Autumn day and were not sure what to do. A long walk would be obvious; however we wanted to not rush and it was debatable whether I could manage a long walk anyway after the 2 weeks of horrid cold/sinusitis...so we settled on Place Fell; a lovely wee(ish) hill just above Ullswater.  We have made worse choices.

The photo on the left was taken on the ascent and shows both the kind of day it was and the lovely colours that autumn brings to Cumbria. As we climbed steadily towards Boredale Hause it actually became necessary to remove a layer of clothing - frankly it was warmer than most of the 'summer' this year. From the top of the Hause it was another steady plod up to the summit - with a few more people than usual milling around. The views were excellent; with lovely views over the High Street and the Helvellyn and Fairfield ranges.

After a little lunch on top we started the descent. Some parts of this were muddy and actually a little slippery - and will be quite entertaining in the ice as there is a lot of surface water around which won't go before next year now. As can be seen, the day was crystal clear and the descent was another joy.

Arriving on the Lakeside Path, we had the 4 miles or so to tramp back to Patterdale. As can be seen from the pictures: http://www.photoboxgallery.com/3436739 the colours of the trees were amazing. I was actually starting to flag a little on the last km of the walk along the Lake - so clearly the choice was the right one....hopefully I'll get a good week in before we head to Belfast; after that to Scotland for a couple of days over half-term.

Botswana trip..

http://www.photoboxgallery.com/3436739  is the place were some of the pictures from this amazing trip can be seen.


It was a long flight out to Johannesburg (we went via Amsterdam) and arriving into a driving rain storm did make one wonder why we had bothered - I can get driving rain storms in Cumbria no problem at all!!

After a few hours kip and a lovely breakfast at Mugg and Bean in Jo'burg airport - Claire assuring me that they wouldn't give us any food on the plane as it was only a 40 min flight - we eventually got on the plane (a saga in itself) and spent the next 30 mins trying to shovel in all the food they gave us - oh well....
                                                             

Typical scenery - on the drive to Little Mokolodi

This is typical of the scenery in Botswana, as it was the dry season, we had 1mm of rain during the whole of our 2 1/2 week stay! Gaborone is also a very interesting city, it is a new city 'created' to be the capital after Bots's became independent in 1966 - it has not got a 'centre' per se as most European cities do, it has several large shopping arcades (for want of better term) which have restraurants etc in them.

After a day and a half at Claire's parents house - resplendent with 3 dogs - nowhere near as badly behaved as I had been told - and with me being already covered in Mosquito bites! we set off for the trip to Little Mokolodi.

It is quite difficult to describe Little Mokolodi. It lies right on the bank of the Limpopo river (pictures are on the Photobox site) which also happens to be the border between Bots and S. Africa. The location is utterly idyllic and very quiet - it is owned by a school friend of Howard. The Limpopo also looked superb for swimming in - until a 7-8ft long crocodile drifted gently past - followed by some of his mates!! Maybe not then.

We had lovely dawn and evening walks at Little Mokolodi; night comes extremely fast in Botswana - even in summer it is dark by 7.30 and here it was dark by 6.30 - none of the endless evenings that we get in Britain. Darkness meant it was time to get the braii going (that is BBQ to us Brits) and Howard and Claire produced two fantastic meals for both nights we were there...we also got our wedding blessed on the shores of Limpopo which was lovely.

After two lovely days; the party split up. Howard and Fiona were returning to Gaborone whilst Claire and I headed north - to the famous Salt Pans.

Feeling a lot better...

Claire and I have just been for an expensive trip to Keswick - new running shoes for Claire, as we are both entered in a 10km road race in March (just south of Manchester); and some other kit. One of the things is a 30m 10mm rope which would be good for easy winter gullies/ridges and some of the summer classics as well..

I am starting to feel approaching normal - which is good after a pretty yukky fortnight. Hopefully we can get a good walk in tomorrow and do some stuff in Scotland over the half-term week (the week after next) - the snow has fallen up there but don't know whether or not it has settled yet..

Out of action for 2 weeks...

apart from the walk up Harter Fell in the last entry, I have done pretty much nothing for 2 weeks. I have been laid out with the worst cold I have ever had (aside from having full on flu a few years ago). It seems to be a mix of things - including sinusitis according to Claire - and there was no way I could do the race last weekend.

Frankly, even walking a few hundred metres has been hard work - however we are hopeful of getting a walk in on the Howgills this Sunday.

Harter Fell and Landrovers...

It was a lovely day on Sunday; so I was not at all impressed to wake up with a horrible sore throat and not feeling anywhere near 100% - I suspect the flight back from Botswana was the challenge (which I'll blog about in due course).

That being said, the day was too good to waste entirely so Claire and I decided to head up Harter Fell from Mardale Head. It is a lovely walk up a good path and does offer options for extensions onto High Street if I felt 'on it' later.

Morning in Autumn.

The weather can be seen from the picture above - a truly amazing day with very clear light. We were both looking forward to a lovely walk and were therefore not best pleased to see 4 motorbikes being unloaded from a trailer at the car-park; these idiots were going to try and ride them up the pass - despite a clear notice saying this is now verboten. [As an aside, two of the riders were clearly new to this and had to walk most of the way up]. By keeping a very slow (but steady) plod; I was able to get to the top of the Pass ok (and someway ahead of the bikes)  - with some stops for Claire (and I) to take photo's..

From the top of the Pass we turned up the final slopes of Harter Fell. Although about a mile on the ground the ascent is very well graded so I was able to make the top fine for an early lunch - and to admire the amazing views - complete with cloud inversion over the Eden Valley, where we live. This was obviously a good reason for some smugness, and for us both to take some more photo's, which are on the photobox site. 

Having had some christmas cake and cheese triangles we looked forward to a pleasant descent..so were VERY annoyed to find 3 landrovers parked at the top of the pass and 2 more attempting to climb up it. Aside from the minor detail of them blocking the path; who on earth let these 'people' up there in the first place? Checking on the UKHillwalking forum established that (despite the notice to the contrary) one can still apply for permits to do this kind of thing - and the damage it did to the path was considerable - however, I have written to the National Park to try and find some more information.

Once clear of the 4*4 idiots, and the diesel stench they left behind, the rest of the descent was lovely with the autumnal day unfolding in front of us.......the abiding memory of the walk was very good - shame about the idiots with their toys who decided to ruin lots of people's day.

http://www.photoboxgallery.com/3436739 is where the photo's are

Sunshine and climbing...

amazingly it seems to have forgotten to rain in Cumbria for a few days :-); which meant we have actually been able to get out.... and do things - amazing.

Although Claire was in London this weekend, we took advantage of our non-working status to grab a couple of quick climbs in between her studies.
On Friday, we headed to Snail Shell Crag, which lies above the delectable hamlet of Mosedale on the side of Carrock Fell. Recess Route was our choice; graded D+, a bizarre grade and not one I 100% agree with. The walk-up is a bit of a slog, following the side of the scree run (there is a faint path); the route is a short delight. Most routes on the crag have the reputation of being a bit bold; this one was fine; gear when it was needed (in truth the route is so easy and the friction so good I only placed a couple of pieces) and amazing friction. To my delight, Claire seemed to fine the route enjoyable as well; and seconded up well. Trusting one's feet is central to climbing these kinds of routes and is something Claire managed to do well (the friction on Carrock Fell is superb). A lovely lunch at the Mill Inn in Mungrisedale followed.


Today we also escaped for a couple of hours climbing. We went back to Church Crag in Thirlmere and re-did Confidence. Quite an apt route to do, as I found it ok to lead (it is a little bold) and Claire seconded it really well....and thoroughly enjoyed herself to boot.

Meanwhile, the countdown to exams and Botswana continues apace - as does the countdown to the race in October - which I am not exactly ready for yet!! Arjuna is going in to the bike shop tomorrow to get a compact chainset fitted - basically making the climbs easier! Time to get the mountain bike out!!