Come walk with me UK's 100th post!

Wow! 100 posts, who'd have thought I would have got this far :-) Having reached this landmark I thought it might be appropriate to look back on the blog thus far and pick out a few highlights!

 Pool between Moel Hebog and Moel Yr Ogof- July 2013

Sprinkling Tarn- August 2013

Langdale Pikes- June 2013

Harter Fell- June 2013

 The Cantilever Stone- November 2012

 Frosted trees near Fernilee Reservoir- January 2013

 Cloud inversion from the Pike O'Stickle- October 2012

 Ruthy at Llyn Idwal- August 2012

 With Ros and Emily on South Head- February 2013

Parkhouse Hill- February 2013

Al on Y Garn- November 2012

 Cream Tea- January 2012

 Long-tailed Tit- January 2012

 Kinder Downfall- March 2012

 Mud- March 2012

 Bleaklow- March 2012

 On Pendle Hill- May 2012

With Ruthy on Pen-Y-Ghent- June 2012

CWWMUK highlights........Wild camping in Snowdonia in the Moel range, Tryfan, the Pike O' Stickle, Kinder in the snow, the many faces of Wasdale, Blencathra, Helvellyn, Malham Cove, 2 of the 3 Yorkshire Peaks, starting ML training, Bristly Ridge and many, many more.....

Thanks due to Ruthy, Al, Greg, Emily, Ros, the Peak District Rangers, Nathan, Rob and Helen, Rich, the good folks of the Pendle and Peak District walking festivals and all the others who have helped me to enjoy the fantastic walks we have done together, here's to the next 100 and the continuing success of Come walk with me!

Skills in the sunshine above Elterwater

27.6.13
Walking with; Nathan

Ever since I completed my initial Mountain Leader training I have been living in fear! It is one of the most ambitious and intimidating things I have undertaken in my adult life and involved a number of aspects that would lift me well clear of my hill walking comfort zone. However, my jaw is set and my mind is made up and I am determined that this is something I want to do, with that in mind, a few weeks ago I put a post on a walking forum to find people in the same situation as me with whom I might be able to practice a wider range of skills than the standard day on the hill stuff.
So it was that I found myself waiting in the free carpark just outside Elterwater for Nathan, a fellow ML trainee employed for the Summer season at Whinlatter Go Ape, and with a good working knowledge of the knobbly bits of the Lakeland that might prove ideal for some ropework and micro-navigation. We climbed out of the valley bashing our way through the bracken and exchanging tips on the local flora or fauna before finding a suitable crag to practice some rope work. In spite of my recent Indoor climbing course this was the first time since my training I'd used a rope "in situ" as it were and it took a bit of getting used to! An hour or so later and I was feeling much more confident and we coiled the rope away and, enjoying the magnificent views down to Baysbrown campsite and the Langdales continued on our way upwards. After a bit of lunch by a small, cotton grass covered tarn we moved onto some micro-navigation on the numerous lumps and bumps of Silver Howe. It was the kind of terrain and practice that's hard to replicate during a normal hill day and really useful for all that, it gave me some helpful pointers for areas that I still need to work on! We were also treated to some spectacular views out over Grasmere, Rydal Water and Loughrigg, made a welcome change after a couple of hours of nose to compass and nose to map!
We finished with another batch of rope work, hopefully ingraining some of the skills we'd been working on earlier, before descending down through yet more bracken to Elterwater. It was a very different kind of day, but immensely useful and I shall definitely be incorporating plenty more of these into the mix before I take the final, dreaded exam!

To view the full album please click on the link below;
 https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.404518436333734&type=1

A Langdale Round involving lots of Pikes and Stickles

4.10.12
Walking with; Nobody

Definition of PIKE

dialect English

: a mountain or hill having a peaked summit —used especially in place names

Origin of PIKE

Middle English, perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to Norwegian dialect pīk pointed mountain

First Known Use: 13th century

As I sat in Windermere Youth Hostel trying to drown out the din of a school group involved in noisily debating the merits of their quiz answers, I poured myself a glass of Jennings fine Cockerhoop beer and fell to reading, as one does in these situations, an ancient back edition of "TGO" or "Trail". A feature caught my eye on the differing names for mountains in the different parts of the UK and I read on intrigued by the world of Fells, Pikes and Tors. It hardened my resolve to visit Langdale the next morning and take in a round including both the Pikes of Blisco and Stickle!
   I parked at Blea Tarn and managed to time my setting off to perfectly coincide with a shower, but the views back to the Pike of Stickle were already spectacular. Striking off towards the Wrynose Pass the ground was sodden and water was running off the mountain but as I climbed the road I emerged out of cloud as I started to ascend the back of Blisco. The cloud inversion was spectacular, one of the best I've ever seen (up there with Alp D'Huez and the Queen Charlotte Track in NZ) and once I was through it the Pike of Blisco sat bathed in sunlight. The wind on the top was strong and chill so after a brief consultation with the map I left my fellow summmit baggers and descended to Red Tarn and then down, down and still further down in the shadow of Great Knott to the valley floor where my screaming knees were finally rested. I proceded into Mickleden and began the long, slow ascent up Stake Pass where I stopped for refuelling with a great view of Blisco across the valley. I continued on to Martcrag Moor, defined by Wainwright as demarcating the edge of the Central Fells and, today (and I suspect everyday), very heavy underfoot. As I tramped ever forward I was met with more rain and then a rainbow as I climbed up towards the Pike of Stickle. The rain had left the rock very greasy and a few would-be summiters were turning back but I slid and scrambled and as much by luck as judgement ended up alone on the top with views of my whole route so far and onto Windermere in the distance.

 

 Harrison Stickle awaited and then onwards downhill, with more creaking knees, to Stickle Tarn, sat in the magnificent shadow of Pavey Arc. The path down Stickle Ghyll showcased a pair of Raven and some beautiful, vibrant Rowan berries but was very slippery and I was glad to reach Langdale and the Dungeon Ghylls once more. Tempted as I was by a pint in either of the esteemed hotels I pressed on below Side Pike and back along the atmospheric shores of the tarn. Post walk refreshment had to wait until "The Britannia Inn" in Elterwater, but the wait was very well worth it!

To view the full photo album please click on the link below;
https://www.facebook.com/groups/136991043086476/#!/media/set/?set=oa.279299808855598&type=1

Elterwater and Skelwith Force

14.7.12
Walking with; Ruthy

Two weeks since my hernia op and I felt it was about time that I got back out there, albeit in a gentle, non-strenuous manner. This undemanding perambulation in Langdale hit the spot and, in spite of the occasional shower, finished with a pint in the sunshine.....
The name Elterwater is believed to have derived from the Norse for Swan Lake and although we didn't see any swans until the next day in Coniston, the birdlife was good on the walk with plenty of Swallows, Grey Wagtails and a beautiful Redstart all popping up en route. There were also some magnificent Oak and Beech trees occupying some rare, undisturbed patches of English woodland. We set off from the village and left the Coniston Road before climbing up an increasingly rough track that led through the margin of Sawrey's Wood. The woodland opened out and we followed a path that skirted a well flowered hay meadow and allowed great views of the Coniston Fells down towards Little Langdale where the rain started to fall. We pressed onto Stang End Farm enjoying the views of the Brathay Valley and being glad we weren't buried in the thick cloud coating the Peaks that were visible through the drizzle. We continued to follow the river through woodland until the sound of crashing water alerted us to the fact we'd arrived at Colwith Force where the Brathay falls about 40 feet to the valley floor over a series of narrow cataracts.
We continued on along The Cumbria Way and down to Skelwith Bridge where we watched the Wagtails for a while before venturing through the yard of Kirkstone Slate Gallery to Skelwith Force. Whilst the falls here are much smaller than Colwith, the passage the water is forced through is very narrow and the river thunders through here throwing up clouds of spray, even the wettest Summer anyone can remember has some benefits !! From the falls the path meanders along the bank of the Brathay to Elterwater with stunning views of the Langdale Pikes, surely one of the most evocative of all Lakeland views. Leaving Elterwater behind we passed a very angry cow, admired the redstart as he stayed a couple of fenceposts ahead of us all the way to the carpark and then, just as the sunshine made a welcome reappearance, crossed to the excellent Britannia Inn for a pint of their eponymous bitter! http://lakedistrictinn.com/

To view the full album for this walk please follow the link below;
https://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=oa.249340331851546&type=1