Pen y Ghent - a wander up a local dragon

Well we always said if it was raining when we started a walk then we'd not bother but if it started raining while we were on a walk then it was ok as we'd have our waterproofs with us.  This day it was raining but we decided to give it a go anyway and off up the path towards Pen y Ghent we went. 

It wasn't the most pleasant walk but hey, we were out and anything is better than resorting to a TV couch afternoon.  

As with most walks the views sometimes save the day and today was no different.  The changing weather gave the most remarkable skies and as the clouds swirled around us we pushed on up the hill. 

Pen y Ghent is a lovely hill, I've been up here many many times and each time I've always loved the little bit of scrambling that you get just before the summit.  Today was no different and its always a little bit more challenging and exciting when the rocks are wet but not difficult enough for it to be dangerous. 

At the top the views were not too bad, clouds became picturesque and we stopped at the trig point for a few pictures. 

We didn't stop long at the top and were soon on our way back down the hill.  The downward section is mainly stepped but a little bit slippy when wet so care had to be taken. 

After only a couple of hours were back at the car, a little damp but exhilarated after a brilliant walk in some challenging weather.   Glad we got out and my favourite of the Yorkshire 3 peaks never fails to offer a good walk. 

White Cliffs of Dover - looking for blue birds!

Easter weekend and the prospect of a rather large and scrumptious Easter dinner means that a fair walk needs to be on the cards.  We chose the Folkstone to Dover walk and since its a linear walk we parked 1 car in Dover and then headed to Folkstone to start the walk. 

The English Channel looked marvellous in the morning light and although there had been a little rain lately the path was not too muddy (famous last words!!!) 

Any coastline is fabulous with the smell of the sea and the sounds of birds, waves and the stillness of the day.  Today was no different it was a lovely day and we were making the best of it.

We stopped of at the RAF museum which was a newish building but with some stunning sculpture and inscriptions from what looked to be the Commonwealth.  Countries represented with individual inscriptions of Air Force squadrons from their respective areas.  The main sculpture below was really poignant. 

As the day wore on the clouds began to gather threatening some weather which wouldn't bother us really as we had all our waterproofs with us and although the path was getting a little more muddy now it was still fairly clear as we plodded on along the path. 

The light was spectacular as shadows appeared in the coastline and my eyes were peeled on "fin watch" but sadly I saw no fins, not one, not ever a flicker of anything marine-like. 

Just as we thought the going was good we hit the muddiest part of the walk and I can tell you it was a squelchy moment.  Hanging onto fence posts so not to get the worst of it didn't help much and we all were resigned to just getting on with it and dealing with the consequences.  Boots could come off before we got in the car if the worst came to the worst ..... and oh boy it did ! 

Seascapes make lovely pictures and I couldn't help snapping this lovely little tree all on its own with the coast and horizon (France) behind it.  Beautiful sky! 

Approaching Dover we could see the ferries moving in and out of the Port indicating that we were almost at the end of our walk.  We walked past Samphire Hoe which was the rubble brought out of the ground when making the Channel Tunnel which is being developed along the coast edge.   Quickly the path moves downwards and our walk for today has ended.  On the bright side we have a superb Easter dinner to look forward to, yum yum x 

Derwentwater Round

Sunday morning and there is nothing better than a good walk to blow the cobwebs away from the night before which involved a few Gin's whilst watching Scotland win the Calcutta Cup. Yay !

The walk this morning we'd decided on was round Derwentwater and it was magnificent with reflections on the water and fells all around.  Some topped with snow and some just basking in the morning light.

As we made our way round there were lots of birds about.  Woodpeckers, thrush's, finches of all descriptions (apart from Bull, didn't spot a Bullfinch) and lots of gulls, a few oyster catchers and half way round the lake a Smew which allegedly is quite rare in these parts. 

The walk itself was great but after our epic walk yesterday after 7 or 8 miles I was pooped and ready for a cup of tea and a nice slice of cake which we had at the Walled Garden of Beatrix Potter and then made our way back into Keswick to collect Bob and head home.

Took a few pictures but not as many as normal but still had a great day and clocked up a fair few miles in my quest to walk 1000 miles in 2018.  I think I'm on 170 now, so still a way to go. 

3 Fells and a Bob

The first weekend where the weather wasn't horrendous with promises of dry, bright, sunny and calm days meant only 1 thing.  Bob was quickly packed after work on Friday with all the necessary things we'd need for a weekend in the lakes and off we set.

Approaching Keswick we found that the A66 was closed a few miles before Keswick and if we planned to stop at our Castlerigg spot then we'd have a heck of a detour.  We pulled off before the road closure and found ourselves on back roads, some very narrow, around the Mell Fells and after 10 mins or so found a lovely spot to park up on a bridge over a river.

What a spot this proved to be.  In the morning we had a red squirrel peeking in and it danced around for a few mins before heading off to the forest, we had a dipper in the river below and a massive fox crossed the field in front of us, keeping its beady eye on us as it crossed.  All that wildlife and we hadn't even had breakfast.

We were soon dressed and on our way to park up for our walk.  Honister was our destination for parking as today we'd planned to head for Great Gable taking in Grey Knotts, Brandreth & Green Gable.  I'd done Green and Great Gable before but Grey Knotts & Brandreth were ticks for me, yay!

The forecast was proving correct with the sun shining down on us as the cold wind bit at my face.  It wasn't long after we got going that I began to warm up and as there was very little wind at this point it was quite pleasant.  The initial part of the walk is fairly steep up the side of Grey Knotts but this kind of path is great because you gain great height in a short space of time and the distraction is all the gorgeous views opening up around you.

At the top of Grey Knotts we took the obligatory trig pics and set off towards Brandreth.

The higher we got the windier it got but it wasn't uncomfortable at all.  What else was noticeable was that the higher we got the icier it got and the ice/snow patches were becoming more frequent.  We knew that most of the high hills were in winter conditions but for some reason our winter gear was still in Bob.  No crampons and more importantly no ice axe which always came in handy when going up or down snow/ice patches.  No sliding down any patch on your bum if you've got nothing to stop you.....bah !

After posing at the summit cairn of Brandreth we could see over to Green Gable and more importantly over to Great Gable and it looked pretty wintery to me.  We said we'd make a decision on the top of Green Gable whether to continue as it wasn't sensible to get involved with any larger ice/snow fields without the proper equipment and sure enough as we stood on top of Green Gable it was aparent that we wouldn't be going any further but would find our homeward path which was visible just below us and call it a day.

So off we went down the path, which I must say was a brilliant path.  The homewards route took us right past Pillar and we could see down the Ennerdale Valley and over to Buttermere and all the gorgeous Fells round that area.

We couldn't have asked for a better day weatherise and it really is a privilege to get to do what we do and experience the world from a different prespective and glad I've always got my camera to take advantage of the most perfect conditions.

Thats me up to 194 Wainwrights meaning only 20 to go !

213 down, 1 to go - Hurrah!

Well we're almost there.  Ullscarf, Chris's 213th Wainwright was in our sights.  After leaving the car park we walked a little bit along the road until we came to the gap in the wall that would take us right and onto the path up the side of Steel Fell and up to the base of Ullscarf.  By all accounts it was to be a boggy walk but fingers crossed the ground would be a little bit frozen so we wouldn't have as much wetness as we'd read in other peoples accounts of this particular walk.

Once we were on the path through the valley the scenery was brilliant as always and the sun in the sky and lack of clouds meant that the walking, so far, was quite pleasant.

Up through the valley we eventually reached a small tarn.  Behind us was the Helvellyn range with its magnificent snowy tops with big fluffy clouds starting to move in and to the left of us was the route over towards the Langdales with white hills as far as you could see.  We'd been in this valley before, on another epic day, but our target now was to the right of us and up, what seemed to be, a non existent path.  Oh the joys !

Let me explain my joy, being off piste or having no visible path is my least favourite part of any walk.  It does weird things to my head and all I can ever think of is "We're doomed"when of course we're nothing of the sort but every time it just gets me that way.  In this case there was nothing else for it but to make our way up.

So off we went up the steep, wet, rocky, slippy, relentless and energy zapping side of the hill.  It took absolutely ages and seemed like it was 2 steps forward 3 steps back most of the way.  Chris motored on and was up at the top plateau way before me but I just dug in and kept trying to move forward and upwards and soon enough I was at the top.  Not the top of the hill, just the top of this part of the walk but at least it was easier going underfoot.

That climb up was exhausting and took me a few mins to get my breath back but off we went along a now more visible path towards the trig point which marked the summit of Ullscarf.  It was still a good 20 mins walk but not as steep and the ground was pretty decent so the walking was good.

Finally at the summit we met another man out for the day who'd come the other way who was, like us, enjoying the views.  We only had few mins to eat a bit of our sandwiches before heading down off the summit.  Although the days are getting a little bit longer we still had no idea how boggy it would be going down and getting off the hill in daylight was the plan.

The initial path down to the woods was decent enough and we soon turned right again into a wooded area.  This is where things became a little bit trickier.  The path through the woods was rocky, steep in parts and incredibly wet with very little available to get a good grip on and quite a lot to slip on so we had to concentrate and pay attention to where we put our feet.  Most of my way through the initial part of this forest was clutching to anything at the side of me, branches, trees, ferns just to keep my balance and not go head over heels.  Precarious was a good way to describe it and after going for what felt like hrs, Chris checked the map and said, Oh we're only about a 1/4 way through the forest.......another joyful moment!

Luckily the rough bit was short lived and we found ourselves on a much better path further through the trees and it didn't take long before we could see the road ahead of us and soon we were back at the car. Another Wainwright ticked for me and the penultimate one for Chris.  Rannerdale Knott is the final Wainwright for Chris as the plan is to have friends join us on the final Wainwright so Chris picked this one with the thought of it being accessible for all.  What a great day that will be !

After getting back to the car we decided to take a quick trip to The Dog & Gun in Keswick.  And so ends another great day - roll on the better weather and more wonderful trips into the hills !

Robin Hoods Bay - Splodge Splodge Splodge !

Sitting at home on Friday, checking the weather, everywhere was forecast rain and wind for the coming weekend apart from a small window of opportunity on the East Coast around Whitby so after work on Friday we packed up Bob (our lovely little camper van) and headed East.  A spot of wild camping on Friday night was just the ticket close to where the planned walk started and all would be good.

The walk we had planned was a section of the Cleveland Way from Robin Hoods Bay down to Scarborough.  We would set out to walk the whole section but cut it short if time or the weather held us back and if we made it the whole way we'd get the bus back after some seaside fish and chips of course.

We arrived finally at Robin Hoods Bay around 10pm and we didn't fancy waiting 45 mins for the moussaka I had bought for dinner to cook so we just nibbled on some crackers on cheese, popped the roof and settled down for the night.  We stayed in the Old Station Car Park, free in the winter and an ideal spot for tomorrows walk.

Saturday dawned with the sound of the wind whipping up outside and the rain gently pattering against the windows. The forecast was wrong, no dry calm weather here!  Never the less we got dressed in our waterproof coats, walking boots and ventured out.  It actually wasn't too bad once we got outside and made the decision to give it a go, weather or not.  So off we set.

Robin Hoods Bay is a lovely little village with views out to the sea and quirky little shops and cafes.  No time to stop this morning as we feared the weather would turn worse so we set off along the Cleveland Way towards Ravenscar and then perhaps onto Scarborough.  Scarborough was about 17 miles so even at this early hour we knew that would be a big ask today but we'd see how far we could get.

The Cleveland Way is a fantastic path and we'd walked several sections of it before but today it was what can only be described as a mud bath.  At first we danced precariously round the worse sections of the mud but a few miles in we couldn't avoid it any more and just plodded through.

Passing walkers coming the other way warned us of the mud up ahead and we in turn could warn them of the mud behind.

When we reached Ravenscar we decided that this was our limit for the day.  We'd gone 5 miles or so and had the choice of walking further in a decidedly unsettled day with the prospect of more mud or we could walk back along the Cinder Track which was the old railway line.  This seemed the better option so after a quick cuppa in the National Trust shop we headed back.

It was a great walk back, we saw a few of those fellow walkers we'd passed on the lower path through the mud earlier in the day and there were plenty of photo opportunities with all the lovely little bridges that we walked under.

5 miles later we were back at Bob, caked in mud but happy to have had a good brisk even if incredibly muddy walk.  Deciding not to stay another night and the prospect of a good shower had us heading for home mid afternoon.  The delight on the drive home was the sunset.  A display of magnificent reds and purples deepening by the minute till all was black.  Beautiful.

I love the Cleveland Way with the path running right on the coastline by the sea and that neck of the woods is an area I really love so of course, we'll be back and perhaps the next time we'll get that 17 miles covered all the way to Scarborough.