High Force & Kielder Water & Forest Park

Good Friday took us up to Northumberland via High Force in Yorkshire for an Easter weekend of walking, biking and boating (out to see the seals).

First stop on Friday was High Force waterfall and what a spectacular sight that was.  I'd never seen it before and it practically took my breath away when we turned the corner and there it was at the end of the river.  Spectacular.

After this is it was back to the car to head further North to Alnwick where we were booked into a lovely B & B and then on Saturday we headed a little west over to Kielder Water & Forest park with the bikes.  The route round the park, taking in the Castle and other scenes was approx 27 miles so that would do us nicely.

The lady in the gift shop said when we arrived that it was quite hilly in places and she wasnt wrong.  The park certainly did hold a few surprises of the hilly kind but we coped quite well with them.

The first part of the path on the anti clockwise route took us round the East coast of the resevoir and followed an attractive path littered with trees and other curious things.  One of these was the Janus chairs where Chris went for a quick nap.....zzzzzzzzzzzzz.  In reality they werent the most comfy of chairs at all.

Another curio we found was this big wooden head in the forest, quirky but very cool.

Further round we were lucky enough to spot an Osprey and what we think is a Sparrowhawk and the Osprey had just caught a fish.  I wish I'd been closer and gotten a better pic but this is the best we can do an we watched it for ages climbing on the thermals higher and higher.

Further round the landscape opened up a bit as we headed towards the castle.

And after a quick bite to eat in the Castle cafe we were off on our travels again round the park.  It was hard work but such good fun.

A great day out and a beautiful park and we were lucky enough to spot an Osprey, Sparrowhawk and a Buzzard earlier in the day that we didn't get a pic of. 

Bogged down on High Seat and High Tove

Saturday mornings are always fun when they involve an early morning start (6.30am) and a stop at Tebay services for a coffee.  Heading for the lakes the weather forecast was iffy but had the potential to be not a bad day.  Winds might hamper us but there was hope for some sunshine in between the showers.

Car parked next to a lovely little bridge with some watery falls and we headed up the well paved path towards the first summit.  It wasnt a high hill today but high enough to get the lungs working overtime on the steepish path upwards.  We followed the path of the water for a while so we had plenty chances to stop, get a breather and take a snap or 2 of the water flowing down the side of the hill.

There was a lot of steep zig zagging which brought us out on a flattish plateau area.  We could see High Seat in the distance and it was a fairly flat walk over towards the final path upwards to the trig point.

The views were good today.  Some cloud was hanging low and obscuring the tops of the surrounding peaks but the light changed every few seconds and brought out some nice images.  Would they translate into my camera, well time will tell !

After coming off the summit of High Seat we headed downwards to the plateau area before rising back up again to High Tove.  This was the worst part of the walk.  Bogginess and wet mud underfoot, terrific!  It was relentless and reminded us of a time on Kinder that we spent hrs trying to find a way through the mud.  This was like a mini Kinder and a lot of back and forward was going on to find a way through the mire.

We thought perhaps Tove was an ancient name for Bog as it was all around and not the most pleasant of walking.   Even after visiting the summit and heading on the path downwards we came upon a gate which was surrounded by watery stuff.  We named it Watergate !  Boom Boom ! 

 The path downwards was a dream.  A mixture of nice stepping stones and old stones which seemed to form the path of an old coaching road perhaps!   Soon enough we were down at the Tarn where we would turn right and head back along the river to the car park.

 Loads of mountain bikers out but luckily they didnt come our way.  Just a man and a tripod taking a picture of a bridge that wasnt really that picturesque.  Strange !  A bit further on we passed a house which had an array of garden birds flying about, this little cheeky chappie perched long enough for me to snap but was really too far away for me to capture him properly.

Nice walk back and after 4 hrs our walk was done.  A shortish one today, still 10km but not as high today but a great leg stretcher and the weather was kind.  Not much wind to speak off, sunshine off and on, no rain and a little bit chilly............so alls good ! 

Clough Head

After a fantastic breakfast in a brilliant little B & B we headed off towards the start of the path that would take us up Clough Head.  Again the weather was exceptionally bright and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.  That's mainly because again for the second day running all the cloud was down in the valley.

 The path upwards wasnt steep but it was filled with snow and ice and was fun in places to wade through.  The higher we got the more the views opened up and we spotted some hand gliders setting up on a flattish bit of ground below looking and testing for the perfect wind.

 The last path to the first of the false summits (there were a few!!!) was so packed with snow we had to get our ice axes out to give us another point of contact.  It was hard slippy snow and one slip could have been an ankle turner!

Finally after 2 or 3 false summits the trig point came into view.  We met a runner on the top who was doing a recce of the fells for some race later in the year.  He'd just popped up Clough Head and was on his way to Helvellyn.  He wasnt even out of breath. Grrrrrr!

 The views from the summit were amazing. Right over to the Northern Pennines and we spotted Mell Fell and Little Mell Fell which we'd been up a few weeks before.

Time to go down and the path was exceptionally good.  No shale, scree, just a well defined path, steep in places and packed with snow and ice in places but good all the same.  It wasn't long before we were back at the path that would take us back to the car and the start point of our walk.

On the way back round to the car we spotted this wee cloud, abandoned by its bigger inversion big brother and just left there all on its own at the side of Blencathra.

The end of the walk and the sky still bluer than blue !

This is what I Dodd today......inversion city!

After a long week at work up and down the motorway from Gatwick/Heathrow and Manchester it was a pleasure for the alarm to wake me at 6am to pursue something less stressful - a day............no make that a weekend on the hills.

We headed north and before long (but after a 32 mile motorway detour!) found ourselves outside Keswick and heading to the base of Skiddaw which would take us up the path towards the first peak of the day.  Dodd.  The first part of the walk took us through a lovely forested area and up past the Osprey viewing sites.  None there today as they would be off on their holidays in Africa but we'll come back one day so see if we can spot the birdies.  The day was forecast sunny and clear and although at the moment it was a bit gloomy was still quite beautiful.

It was an hour or so upwards before we broke through the cloud and witnessed a blanket of thick cloud carpeting us below in every direction.  The clarity of the day was impressive and although there was a bit of snow on Dodd the real attraction was the wonderful cloud inversion that just took your breath away.  As far as the eye could see there it was.

We stayed on Dodd for quite a while snapping away and then realised we still had a few big hills to get up so moved back down off Dodd and headed for the path that would take us up Carl Side.  It was a bit of a slog going up there and the higher we went the snowier it got.  Not deep fluffy snow but icy snow that had been there for a while so you had to watch your footing.


By the time we reached the top I was exhausted.  The week was taking its toll.  We decided against going on to Siddaw but headed instead for Longside and Ullock Pike and then back down to near where the car was parked.

It was bitterly cold and as the sun was weakening as the day went on so gloves, had and scarf were essentials.  Top coats on we ventured forwards.

Longside as a peak was pretty unexciting but the little ridge after it, Ullock Pike looked a bit more tasty and looking back we could see clearly the route we had come

Finding the path down was a little bit tricky and what I though was a path turned out to be the descent from hell.  A steep shaley path which turned into an even steeper dirty rocky and scree path.  It was the most undignified descent from a hill ever.  At one point I was on my stomach, head facing up the hill, holding on to a bit of heather for dear life.  My hands and clothes were dirty and I have some spectacular bruising and scratches.  Nightmare but it was a challenge and at no time were we in danger.  Chris seemed most amused at my discomfort but thankfully we made it down and were soon on the path back towards where the car was parked.

The last delight of the day was the sunset we were offered.  Pinks, oranges and reds streaming across the sky.  Absolutely beautiful

A perfect end to a wonderful wintery walk.

Misty and murky Leighton Moss

It was a misty and murky start to Sunday and had the weather been kinder we'd be back up a big hill but it wasnt the day for trudging up the side of a mountain so we took ourselves off to Leighton Moss.  The hope that it wasnt going to be too foggy by the coast and if the rain stayed off then we might see a wee birdy or 2.

Not much in the way of special birdies but as we walked round to the furthest away hide we were lucky enough to arrive when 3 otters were frolicking around in the water right in front of us.  So special to watch them fish and play.  I did try to get a pic but they really were too far to get a clear shot.

Ducks were in abundance as were the little finches, crows, pheasant and of course robins.  An all round good day in the reedbeds and we'll be back when its a little warmer and less drissly.

Sadly no kingfishers today but hopfully we'll catch one or 2 when we go back. 

Walla Crag and Bleaberry Fell

After a disastrous January where the weather halted any plans for getting up a hill we were finally on our way, early morning, before light, to our beloved lakes.  As always with our dark starts we keep our eyes peeled on the sky as the dawn breaks to see if the weather forecasters were right.  It seemed like this morning we were going to be lucky.

Arriving at Keswick we headed through the town and out the other side and parked at the side of Derwent Water right next to the path where the start of our walk was.  A muddy start, surprise, surprise, and then it was a nice path up through a wooded area beside a few gushing waterfalls.  What a lovely start to a walk and I do like when there's a forestry bit involved.

Out of the forest and we were greeted with some spectacular views opening up behind us looking over towards Causy Pike (eeek eek eek!) one of my fav little hills.

The next part of the path was stepped and very well maintained and only a few tricky bits where the ice of the morning hadnt melted and made things very slippery but we managed well through it and found ourselves up on a wider, less steep path, that would take us up and round to the top of Walla Crag.

One of the most spectacular things we saw, apart from the beautiful sights around us was a large bird, circling on the thermals getting higher and higher almost right above us.  Too far away to get a decent pic but I managed to snap this and the jury is out on what it was but we can rule out buzzard as its just not the right shape but thinking towards Goshawk ...... we'll never know for sure but nevertheless it was stunning.

Up onto the summit it was windy and cold so we didnt hang around long.  Just long enough for Chris to have a small "map - off" with a local girl on the local hills we could see, funny moment!

So off we went down the path that would take us over to Bleaberry Fell.  Again it was a well maintained path with only a few snow patches to contend with.  The views were stunning both there and back and the light hitting different hills in patches made some wonderful patterns.

We got the best of the weather of the weekend today.  Sunshine, a little breezy in patches, cold but not unbearable and all round a jolly good walk.  Coming back down to meet the path we went up on I was pleased to find the sun, forcing its way though a hole in the cloud onto Derwent Water.  Absolutely beautiful and a fitting end to a great walk.