Mountain Missions

Some pics from November

2011-01-27T22:29:00.000Z

It's almost tradition that I spend the week of my birthday in Grasmere. I have been 2 years in a row and I am booked in again for this year. Not so many photo opportunities this year, but I did see some very early snow.

Yikes I got some cleaning up to do......

2011-01-27T22:22:00.001Z

Yeah its been a while, I slacked off towards the end of the year in terms of updating this blog. Well no more!

So the next few photos are from September 2010. I spent a week in Wasdale. It rained a lot and I almost killed my parents by telling them there was a path on a route when there wasn't one. A few stream fordings later and they were fine, I got so worried for the first time ever I considered phoning mountain rescue :P

I really scared myself too descending Yewbarrow, I was on my own and in one of those situations where if i slipped i would be a goner with no one to assist me. Well I conquered the fear and made it down, but wow what a learning experience.

Thats what scared me !

My ma and pa look happy here, this was one of the days where they hadn't forded across a swollen river :P

Another Trip Along The Corridor

2010-09-05T20:59:00.004+01:00

The route this weekend was a slight variation on something I had done a few weeks ago.

Start at Seathwaite Farm, up Sourmilk Gill, across the stream over the wall and up to Grey Knotts.Then along to Brandreth, Green Gable and down Windy Gap to Styhead Tarn. From the Tarn it was up to Scafell Pike via the corridor route and then down behind Great End back to Seathwaite.

Conditions for pictures weren't the best as it was quite hazy. That didn't stop me taking loads though!

Heading up Sourmilk Gill

Looking toward Green Gable whilst sneaking up the side of Grey Knotts

Looking toward Dale Head

Poking around near the top of Grey Knotts

Looking toward High Crag and Haystacks

Toward Dale Head again

Looking toward Green and Great Gable

Looking toward Kirk Fell and Pillar, close to Brandreth

Green Gable, Great Gable and Kirk Fell

On the way up to Green Gable looking back

Great Gable is great!

A bit of a jump along the route, Scafell Pike and Lingmell just before the beginning of the corridor route

Great Gable from the corridor route

Almost at the tourist path on Scafell Pike, looking back toward Great Gable

Too many people on the top of Scafell Pike, I snapped this as I made a hasty descent


Looking back up at Scafell Pike

Another view of Great Gable

The first half of the walk was fun, but the second half was a bit of a let down beacuse of the amount of people. I guess that's to be expected at this time of year. You can't have the mountains to yourself all the time but it's great when you do ! I bagged a couple of new Wainwrights and was out for 6 hours 30 mins, good training and also more for my mountain leader log book. Job done !

Fairfield Horseshoe 30/08/10

2010-09-03T16:39:00.002+01:00

Well I have been a bit slow in updating this blog, this time due to technical difficulties. I upgraded my PC with Windows 7 and I have had to reinstall my panorama software and photoshop so it's taken a while to get everything sorted.

So the weather was looking good and my Dad had called me and asked me to take him somewhere to get some nice photos. Now usually when I take my Dad to the Lakes we are doomed with bad weather, this time we got lucky.

The plan was to park up in Ambleside and to walk the Fairfield horsehsoe, the route is below, its a classic!

Blue skies, sunshine and only a little wind, we were in for a good day.

My Dad near the summit of Fairfield hunting for photo opportunities.

This was an experiment with black and white, its not quite the way I wanted it, the light wasn't right. I guess I will have to go back and try again at some point.

The route took us about 6 hours and 9 mins so I was pretty pleased with our pace. I'm off for a whole week in September and I'm heading for a massive hill bagging session in Wasdale so I need to fit as much training in as possible between now and then.

14/08/2010 - Return To Lingmell

2010-08-15T15:15:00.001+01:00

Well after last weeks errors, I spent a bit of time refreshing my map reading skills and wanted to get out and test myself again. The weather was looking pretty similar to last week, I was hoping for low cloud and hill fog again.

The route. Approx 15km, 6 hours and 30 mins.

Well my wish came true. I arrived at Seathwaite farm about 9am and as predicted the mountain tops were shrouded in cloud. I would get my navigation test on the tops.

I went through the farm and set off up the side of Sourmilk Gill.

Here is a rather distorted image of the waterfall, I need to work on putting composite images like this together!

The next photos are taken just above the water fall looking toward Base Brown and Raven Crag.

As I climbed higher into the cloud the visibility dropped to about 100m so here are the views from Base Brown and Green Gable......not.

From Green Gable I descended to Windy Gap and from there to Styhead Tarn. At the tarn the cloud was still low but not as bad as last week, this time I could actually see it.

After a quick lunch stop at the stretcher box, I headed for the corridor route. The cloud had begun to lift and this had revealed a near constant line of people along the route. This was a bit of a shame, on the first part of my walk I had the hills all to myself, ah well good to see people enjoying the hills, I still like it better when i get them all to myself . At least there would be some views!

About halfway along the corridor route the weather really started to improve. Big gaps in the clouds developed and the sun started to poke through. There would be no chance of repeating the navigation errors of last week.

The following pics were taken from the top of Lingmell looking back the way I came and toward Wasdale.

I reversed my route and headed back along to Styhead Tarn and from there dropped down into the valley and back to the farm.

I took this just as I got back on the corridor route.

I think this was one of the best if not most tiring days I have had in the mountains. I'm a happy chappy!

08/08/2010 - Scafell Pike and Lingmell............Navigation Fail !

2010-08-09T14:54:00.000+01:00

The weather forecast was looking good, broken cloud and sunny spells. However I have learned over the years that the mountains make there own weather and not to entirely trust the forecast.

The plan was park at Seathwaite farm and get my Dad up Lingmell and Scafell Pike via the corridor route, which he had never done before.

Well low cloud and limited visibility was to be the order of the day. Visibility was down to between 50 and 100 metres this made navigation a lot harder, however I was pretty confident, confident but untested.

Dad and I got up to the corridor route and along it no problems, however I made some basic mistakes and couldn't find the path to Lingmell. I was really disappointed. Well looking back at it now I know where I went wrong and have learned my lesson, just shows I need a lot more practice of navigation in bad weather.

Dad and I just below the summit of Scafell Pike.

Looking back toward Scafell as we descended

Great End is in there somewhere !

This is how the day eneded. As we got to the end of our walk the mist and low cloud cleared, sun and blue skies......typical :P

31/07/2010 - Hartsop

2010-08-09T11:17:00.000+01:00

This was just a little training walk to get me back in the swing of things and to pick off one Wainwright that had eluded me.

Hot and sticky in the valleys and cool and windy on the tops of the fells, this made for a sweaty combination. Jacket on ,jacket off, jacket on, jacket off, all the way round. Still a good day and I finished it faster than expected too. Sadly not a great day for pics :(

Here's my progress so far on the Wainwrights, I aim to complete some time next year, fingers crossed !

Red = Done :D

Just A Few Pics from 03/07/2010

2010-08-02T21:27:00.001+01:00

As the last post mentioned just trying to get all of my old material up on this blog and get back up to date. Enjoy the pics ;)

Restarting After The Stall

2010-08-02T21:24:00.001+01:00

Well for some reason I stalled ! I dunno how but I lost my lust for mountains. In the last 2 months I have spent little or no time anywhere near mountains. Perhaps it was overload, I have been out pretty much every weekend for the last 3 years.

I told one of my friends about my predicament and he told me that sometimes you need to step back from the things you enjoy and take a little time to really evaluate why you do them. Maybe for me mountains had simply become routine.

Well now that I have had my time to reflect I realise that I am happier in the mountains, I really have missed them and getting out there last Saturday really recharged my spiritual batteries and rekindled my enthusiasuim for all things mountainous :D

So here are a few catch up pics that I hadn't posted from 22/05/2010 , the next few posts will bring this blog back up to date !

7th of May update, I've been slacking again !

2010-05-18T15:37:00.001+01:00

Just a few snaps of some walkies on the 7th of May. I started out from Little Town up to Robinson, over dale head to High Spy and back down. Really just mopping up one missed Wainwright and get some training in :D

Old Man Of Coniston Wild Camp

2010-05-05T14:01:00.001+01:00

The Plan was simple. A big circular route taking in the Old Man of Coniston and several other Wainwrights, with a wild camp in the middle. This was to be my first wild camp since my days at Howtown outdoors centre when I was in school more than 15years ago. I had packed and repacked my bag trying to get weight and bulk down to a minimum. In the end my bag weighed about 9.8kg.....it felt heavier !

Well I thought my rucksack was big, but compared to Rick's it looked pretty normal.

On the way to the Old Man, Rick carrying what soon became known as his turtle shell.

Looking up at Wetherlam as we climbed up from the car park.

Looking back the way we came.

Lots of cool old mine workings on the way to the Top of the Old Man.

Lots of people on the Old Man and at Low Water tarn. This spot was our lunch pit stop.

Looking at Low Water from the top of the Old Man.

Dow Crag from near the top of the Old Man.

Near the top of Dow Crag looking toward Swirl How

Descending toward our campsite near some crags called The Prison.

This was to be our campsite. Rick and I hung around for a couple of hours drinking brews etc before we put up the tents as there were still quite a few walkers in the area and we didn't want to draw attention to ourselves.

The tents were a little tooo green, hardly camo :P

Our kitchen!

When your wild camping there isn't much to do. So we had a few coffees, sent up the tents, ate some food and as it began to get colder we headed for our respective sleeping bags. In bed at 21:30.

Early start! This was the view from my tent at 6am. Awesome! Still very cold, frost on the tents but we had survived the night.

Looking back towards the Old Man on route to Wetherlam

Looking toward the Langdale Pikes from Wetherlam, nice and sunny but the cold north wind was still blowing strong.

Looking back at Wetherlam on the way back to the car. It was a great little adventure and I am sure there will be more wild camps to come.

Easter Wasdale Camp Trip

2010-04-21T15:37:00.001+01:00

Well the plan had been to get tot he lakes on Thursday before the Good Friday rush and to camp in the NT campsite in Wasdale. Sadly when we arrived at the site they weren't allowing anyone who hadn't booked in. So we sought the alternative which was the campsite opposite the Wasdale Inn, this was little more than a field, and a cold water tap. This was almost music to my ears, although I do enjoy showers, roughing it meant if felt more like an adventure.

The Plan for the Easter weekend was just to get into the Hills around the Wasdale Valley and do as much as possible. The Weather wasn't great but it was still fun ! A lot of fun!

4 hours of constant rain on Friday meant that things got muddy, but it was no Glastonbury at least ;)

More snow than I was expecting.......BONUS!

Me somewhere on Great Gable

Rick on Great Gable

Descending Great Gable looking toward Styhead Tarn

Looking back up to the top of Great Gable

The plan on Good Friday was to walk down the length of Wast Water and then back across the the tops Via Whin Rigg and Illgill Head.

Scrambling across the screes on Wast Water

On the top looking toward Illgill Head, the weather had started to turn a bit nasty at this point.

Saturday's plan was to go up to Black Sail Pass and head towards Pillar.

The back of Kirk Fell with a bit of Great Gable on the far left.

On the way to Pillar looking into the Wasdale valley

The views on the way to Pillar should have been fantastic but the weather closed in. :(

The descent from Great Scoat Fell

Just my luck the weather got better the closer we got to the end of the walk. Typical !

On Sunday, the weather hadn't been as good as forecast so Rick and I decided to head home we had three really good days in the hills and some fun in the pub. It had been cold but fun. There will be more camping trips for sure :D

Fairfield Horseshoe 2010

2010-04-21T14:33:00.000+01:00

Saturday 13th of March.

Well this was really a bit of a training walk and a test to see how far my fitness has increased since 2008. The last time I did this route I was badly out of shape and had only been walking for about 3 months. The walk destroyed me, it took nearly 8 hours and it took me a week to recover. This time it was very different, it only took 5 hours 3 mins... ish. I felt fit and strong and only had a minor niggle from my left knee.

Enjoyable this time rather than torture :P

Still plenty of snow about but not enough for axe and crampons :(

EEK! i have been slacking !

2010-04-21T14:21:00.002+01:00

Well yes i have been slacking, not in terms of getting out in the hills but in terms of updating my blog.

Well over the next couple of days I'm going to clear the backlog!

Here it comes !

More Fun in the White Stuff !

2010-02-14T14:45:00.004Z

After my first successful winter scramble on Blencathra, I was hungry for more. I decided that it would have to be another classic lakes scramble, Striding Edge and Swirral Edge. The weather reports were good and both edges were in full winter condition, so I emailed Ric and off we went !

It was a grey cold start to the morning but the distant hills showed promise, so we set off from Patterdale eager to get up into the snow.

As Ric and I headed further up we began to encounter more and more snow, things were starting to look really good. We continued up to 'Hole in the Wall', where there was significantly more snow and a whole bunch of people in process of gearing up with axes, crampons, harnesses and ropes etc.

As we left hole in the wall the weather began to close in, the wind picked up, it began to snow and visibility dropped. I have never been in a real white out, this came close.

I couldn't see much from here and I began to wonder if we would actually see any of Striding Edge. I felt a bit sorry for Ric because it was the first time he had been on the ridge and he was going to miss the views.

Fortunately for us the weather began to clear up and Striding Edge began to reveal itself in all its wintry glory.

The view from the ridge to Helvellyn was amazing, it seemed like a different mountain with its winter coat on, positively alpine.

We made good progress along the ridge and in the back of my mind I was preparing for the customary backlog when we got to what some call the "bad step".

As predicted there was a queue, some people were climbing down to the side of the bad step just to get past people who were moving slower.

I started to get a little concerned that the climb down might be more difficult in winter than I had thought, as there seemed to be quite a few struggling with it. In the end Ric and I decided that we didn't want to wait any longer and just went down to the side of it. When I looked back I realised that climbing down to the side of the step was probably harder than coming down the step itself.

Me descending.

From the bottom of the "bad step it didn't look too bad, but you would be surprised how often it catches people out.

With the only tricky scrambling done it was time for the final push up the snow slope to the top of Helvellyn.

Me on the snow slope to the top.

Looking back along Striding Edge, almost at the top.

Heading toward the summit.

We tagged the summit and headed straight over to Swirral Edge. We headed down the snow slope to the edge, it was steeper than I expected and the snow was softer.

Once on the ridge it was pretty easy to navigate our way down. It was at this point that I noticed a large group of people coming up,some without crampons and axes, some in shorts !!! I found this rather disturbing and amusing at the same time. I wondered if I would be hearing about any of these people on the news.......

Looking back up from Red Tarn. If you look closely you can just make out climbers heading up the gully routes. The gullies looked like a lot of fun but a little out of my league for now anyway.

Back down in the valley, warm and sunny ! Another amazing day in the mountains!

My First Winter Climb !

2010-01-31T16:19:00.004Z

The weather was going to be perfect, a midweek thaw and then freezing northerly winds would refreeze everything in the lakes, Saturday was going to be an opportunity too good to pass up.

I have never done any winter mountaineering before I decided to jump in at the deep end a bit and head for Blencathra with my mate Ric. The plan was to go and see what the conditions were like, taking an easy route up Scales Fell, I really wanted winter scrambling but was well aware that I had 0 experience.

This is what greeted us when we arrived.

Hall's Fell ridge was simply too tempting we decided that we would head up to the top of Blencathra and have a peak at sharp edge but probably avoid it.

Patchy snow and ice to start with, nothing that really worried me and to be honest I was just blown away at how amazing the whole mountain looked.

As we got higher, the ice axe and crampons had to come out and this was where the test began, Ric and I moved on with an equal share of caution and enthusiasm. It really was superb, ice and hard snow, it felt like a real adventure.

Ric puts on his game face!

Me posing! At least I have a new Facebook profile pic :P

Moving with axe and crampons wasn't as hard or as intimidating as I thought, however in the back of my mind I really wasn't confident I could arrest a serious fall. The plan was go so and careful and don't slip!

Hall's Fell Ridge was so good I didn't want it to end!

Coming close to the top now, I kept looking back and thinking "Did I really just come up that?" It was a bit surreal because this looked like a real snowy mountain, and I'm not a real mountaineer, well not yet anyway ;)

The views from the top were stunning, not a cloud in the sky however the wind on the top was insanely cold, I had to take pictures qucikly, my hands couldn't take being out of my gloves for more than a minute or so.

The view down Hall's Fell Ridge.

Looking out toward Skiddaw.

Me and Ric on the top with Skiddaw in the background.

Ric and I decided that we had so much fun coming up the ridge that we wanted more of the same and headed over to Sharp Edge for a look. Before we even got there we decided we were going to do it. Needless to say this would be a bit more testing than our first ridge.

Ric posing as we moved down Sharp Edge .

Moving along Sharp Edge was a lot harder than Hall's Fell Ridge. There was less bail out options and a much greater risk of taking a serious fall. This was not the most graceful of scrambles, scraping and inching along on hands, knees, always aware that a slip meant game over. Thinking back now I wasn't really that scared or intimidated but I was tested and had to really concentrate on what I was doing.

A quick look back up Sharp edge.

We finally made it down and again Ric and I looked back and said "Did we really just do that ?"

We had a quick stop for lunch in the sun below Sharp Edge and then we headed off to the car. The Day exceeded all my expectations. It was probably the best day I have ever had in the hills. It also proved to me if push yourself out of your comfort zone in the mountains you can learn a lot, just go carefully and be safe.

Blencathra here I come !

2010-01-28T15:00:00.000Z

Heading out on Saturday to play in the white stuff on Blencathra ! Just getting all my gear ready, Im suprised at how much more gear you need for winter. But then again I love gear me !

Gearing Up For Winter !

2010-01-07T19:06:00.002Z

I haven't been to any real hills for over a month now and I'm going a bit crazy especially considering there is so much white stuff around.

The crampons have been ordered, the ice axe is being purchased on Saturday. I am looking into snow chains for the car. Soon I will be ready, I hope the big freeze lasts!

below are a couple of nice pics from my stay at Guyzance between Christmas and New Year. Lots of snow, lots of food, lots of wine. That now means lots of gym :(

A once in 1000 year event !

2009-11-22T22:58:00.005Z

Well they have been saying on the TV that it was a once in 1000 year event. It began to rain Wednesday afternoon just after I had finished my walk. The rain got heavier and heavier and didn't stop. I woke up on Thursday and it was still raining, it didn't stop all day. With all the water that was already about I knew we would be in for some trouble. I didn't realise how much.

Tuning in for the evening news was a revelation Kendal flooded, Ambleside cut off, Cockermouth flood, Keswick flooded. I had been to some of these places this week, it was surreal to say the least to see these places under several feet of water.

Friday we were leaving. Or at least we hoped so. Roads were closed, flooding still present in many places. We set off heading along the road that runs beside Thirlmire only to be confronted with landslides. Joy!

With my Dad's exhaust scraping over the rocks in the road, we managed to make it tothe A66 and from there we were home free! What an adventure!

Not so much and adventure for the people who have had their lives devastated by the floods my thoughts go out to them :(

These are the last 2 pics from Wednesday's walk descending from Steel Fell, I just stuck them here as there was no where else for them.

More pics from Part 3

2009-11-22T22:20:00.004Z

Looking down toward Easdale Tarn on the way to Sergeant Man.

The view from Sergeant Man.

The view after leaving High Raise Heading for Calf Crag.

Getting closer to Calf Crag about to hit some boggy ground below. I went knee deep in some parts, I ended up being generously covered in mud. Good fun!

Almost at Calf Crag, Helm Crag in the distance on the right.

The middle of a week to remember part 3

2009-11-22T15:20:00.007Z

OK Wednesday was going to be my best day, well that meant that it wasn't going to rain until the afternoon about 1ish or 2ish. So i opted for my biggest route of the week approx 5 hours and bagging 5 Wainwrights. This route I had to do solo as the parents wouldn't have been able to keep up. So they went and did their thing and I did mine.

I headed up to Easdale Tarn, past swolen rivers and crazy water falls.

From Easdale Tarn, up to Blea Rigg, where I found myself a cave between 2 boulders, I will have to remember that one for future reference !

The view from Blea Rigg toward Grasmere.

This was the view from Blea Rigg looking toward the Langdale Pikes.

The middle of a week to rememeber part 2

2009-11-22T15:02:00.006Z

At this point I'mnot going to mention what the weather was like (wet :P ). I decided to bag Tarn Crag which was just above Easdale Tarn. It only took a couple of hours and I had great fun ! Ma and Pa sat this one out in the warmth of the cottage.

I am pretty wet at this point halfway down. Again no paths just waterfalls and streams. Thank Jeebus for GoreTex :D
Two huge boulders at the end of the walk, there would have been some nice bouldering on them but they were sitting in the middle of a bog :(

The middle of a week to remember part 1

2009-11-22T14:43:00.004Z

With Walla Crag in the bag, Saturday was a washout. No walking at all,I was not happy. However Sunday looked more promising as we were staying in Grasmere I decided that as Silver Howe was on the doorstep that was the next logical hill to drag the "folks" up.

This was our cottage in Grasmere for the week and very nice it was too !

Well the promising day didn't actually materialise and it ended up with a mix of persistent rain and low cloud. We soldiered on however there were no views from the top.

This was the view looking back at Grasmere.

This gives you an idea of how wet it was on the way back, all the paths turned into waterfalls and streams, good fun if you ask me, perhaps you shouldn't as ma and pa.

This is my mam doing the best yoda impression I have seen for a while !

The start of a week to remember!

2009-11-22T14:30:00.004Z

Well I always knew it was going to be hit and miss this week with the weather. I was hoping that as usual the weather boffins were going to get it wrong and I was going to get at least 1 or 2 good days.

Sadly every day was a bit wet some more than others. In all honesty I wasn't expecting a once in 1000 year rainstorm but then again you can't really plan for those ! Perhaps going to the lakes on Friday 13th really was an omen !

I arrived in the lakes with the parentals and decided that Walla Crag would be a nice warm up.

The Parents smiling at this point, if only we knew what was coming !

Im off to the lakes!

2009-11-12T22:33:00.001Z

I'm off to the lakes tomorrow for a whole week of walking, scrambling and getting rained on. Expect a massive update when I get back!

Anyone for pea soup ?

2009-11-09T10:31:00.006Z

After being beaten back by the weather a couple of weeks ago in Patterdale I decided to return and finish off what I had started. The weather forecast said 60% if clear hill tops so I thought it would be an opportunity to bag some nice photos as well.

I headed up from the car park in Patterdale towards Beda head, well the weather looked as if it wasn't going to be good as promised. No gales or driving rain this time just low cloud mist and drizzle. Great photos weren't on the cards today.

As you can see visibility was low! Anyway a good test for the navigation skills I thought!

So getting to Beda Head was no problem, pretty clear paths there and back. My plan was to go up to Angle Tarn Pikes and poke around there for a bit of fun but in the mist I overshot by quite a bit .
Fortunately I had made a mental note that if I did overshoot I would end up at a wall near Satura crag. That's exactly what happened and once i had realised my mistake it was a case of reversing my route and heading back along the path until I eventually found the lake and the pikes.

When I did get to the bottom of the pikes I was rewarded with this brief moment of almost clear weather .

After this I stopped for some lunch and prowled around for a bit trying to get some more photos and then headed back for the car.

Water water everywhere !

2009-10-26T09:12:00.005Z

So the weather was going to be bad, but how bad ? The BBC normally "overcook" how serious the weather is going to be. On that premise I grabbed Dad and headed for the lakes .

Boy did they get the weather right! Heavy persistent rain, gale force winds flooded rivers and car parks...... you see where i am going with this.

We decided to press on, shorten the route and bag 2 Wainwrights (Angle Tarn Pikes and Brock Crags). It was a true battle against the elements and we ended up being soaked to the skin despite all the waterproof gear.

Strangely we quite enjoyed the walk but if I had known it was going to be sooooo bad I would have stayed at home ! Ah well you live and learn :D

Halfway but so much more to learn......

2009-10-18T18:04:00.005+01:00

So today's goal was simple, just bag 4 Wainwrights around Glenridding and get me to halfway. Glenridding Dodd and Sheffield Pike were first and this got me to 107 :D

This was me at the halfway point wooo! The weather was pretty wet and windy but I am getting used to it and quite like the bad weather days.

Then we (me and mountianmansenior) continued to bag Raise and Whiteside then back to the car.

And the 100th was a Great Cockup !

2009-10-11T21:49:00.004+01:00

Well today I hit 105 Wainwrights so only 2 to go to get halfway. Mountainmansenior wanted to make the 100th memorable in a comedy kinda way so we headed for a route that included Great Cockup.

The weather was a mixed bag as per usual but slightly more opportunities for photies!

I found this strange little pit with stones around it, not sure if it was ancient or modern, what was more disturbing was what I found inside.

Mountainmansenior up to no good probably.........this time no sheep involved :P

Here is the rest of the days efforts :D

Approaching Half Way ......

2009-10-11T21:40:00.003+01:00

Well this post is a bit late so lets pretend it's September 27th 09 ;)

Well the weather wasn't good but we decided to head to the lakes anyway. I needed practice at navigation and to pickup more Wainwrights if I am going to get to half way (107) before the end of the year.

Hartside, Sybarrow Dodd, Watson's Dodd Great Dodd, and Clough head took me to 99 Wainwrights.

A good training walk just no photies except 1 :(

Howgills round 2 !

2009-09-15T14:11:00.004+01:00

Well after the battering I received in the Howgills I decided that it was only fair to have another go in better weather.

The Howgills aren't the most picturesque hills in the world but it was good stamina training. It has just made me more hungry toget back to lakes and edge closer to the halfway point on my Wainwrights.

The walk on the whole was fairly uneventful apart from the few river crossing we had to do, I must admit it was funny watching Jim dance across the slippy rocks only to receive soggy boots as a reward. I wish i had recorded it.....darn !
Jim trying to dry off........Imagine coming round a corner to find that blocking your path......scary!

I have dampness in my Howgills !

2009-09-02T20:05:00.004+01:00

Well it started soggy and just got soggier ! This was my first walk with mountain man senior for almost 2 months. It was probably the worst day we have had :P But like true mountain men we continued and tried to ignore the constant rain.

This was one of the best views of the day. We spent a lot of time being hammered by wind and shrouded in low cloud. It was good to get some bad weather experience though. I quite enjoyed it really.

Its the wind blowing my poles !

It's blown Jim's wig clean off !

Clinging to the trig point on the calf for dear life :P

Dunstanburgh Castle

2009-09-02T10:40:00.002+01:00

A nice little walk up the coast resulting in a nice pic !

Birks, Arnison Crag and Place Fell

2009-08-08T19:37:00.003+01:00

Awesome views from the top of Place Fell. I am surprised I managed to keep people out of the pics, there were a lot about. Must be the school holidays or something. Just another day at the office for us Mountain Men :D
I didn't leave 100% happy though. My right knee is fully recovered from the St Sunday Pain route so what happens now some minor pain in the left knee. Will I ever be free of my dodgy knees ! GRRRRRrrr!

Birks, Arnison Crag and Place Fell

2009-08-08T19:23:00.002+01:00

Nowt really to mention on these pics just nice eye candy :D

Birks, Arnison Crag and Place Fell

2009-08-08T19:11:00.004+01:00

Well this little mission was really to pick up a couple of Wainwrights I had missed on the St Sunday pain route because of my crappy knees. Well the knees behaved themselves and seeing as it only took about an hour and half to bag em I though i might as well grab Place Fell as well seeing as it was an awesome day and I had plenty of time.

High Tove and Armboth Fell

2009-08-02T16:18:00.002+01:00

2 more soggy Wainwrights to add to the list.

It was a true bog stomp today. I made good use of my newly acquired navigation skills and felt pretty confident about being out on my own :D The only downside of today's outing was that it wasn't long enough, so I think I will be a little more adventurous next time.

The Wainwright count now stands at 91 as you can see from the map I am making good progress. I'm pretty confident of getting past halfway by the end of the year. If I can fit some megawalks in who knows what the count will be at the end of the year :D

Mam and Dad before and after !

2009-07-13T18:49:00.003+01:00

Well Mam and Dad decided to join me on my little jaunt around Langdale Pikes. I don't think they realised it would be so long and so wet. Ah well I think they enjoyed it ........just :D

On the way home.......

2009-07-13T18:34:00.001+01:00

On the way home from my Langdale adventure I quickly bagged Raven Crag near Thirlmere. Here's the pic ;)

Super mega weekend in Langdale part 2

2009-07-13T18:25:00.003+01:00

Saturday was course day with Chris Boughay of Summit Journeys (http://www.summitjourneys.co.uk/index.htm)

Not many pics of the course but it was as beautiful day, however I knew rain was on the way,I was expecting it to land on Saturday afternoon but it arrived during the night instead.

So Sunday was pretty much the same a Saturday night wet and windy, I was surprised I got any photos at all. The Langdale Pikes however are an awesome sight in any weather.

Super mega weekend in Langdale part 1

2009-07-13T18:18:00.002+01:00

So I decided to do a navigation course in the lakes and instead just making it a day trip I turned it into a long weekend. So Friday came and I pitched my tent in the NT campsite in Langdale and began my assault on any nearby Wainwrights.

I bagged Lingmoor Fell on Friday and chilled out in the sun pretty much the rest of the day, saving my energy for my course on Saturday.

Grasmere Wanderings

2009-07-05T14:06:00.003+01:00

Weather wasn't the greatest for photos but at least I didn't get rained on. Just a quick 4 hour bimble to Helm Crag and around Grasmere. I'm off on a Navigation course and some camping next week so hopefully I will get good weather for more pics .

Dad meets Blencathra

2009-06-15T18:56:00.003+01:00

So I decided rather than waste Sunday (mountainman senior was indisposed) that I would take my dad out for a scramble.
Off to the lakes to take on Blencathra via Halls Fell ridge. It was good fun, its a pretty easy route, more fun than Sharp Edge because the ridge is longer.
I don't think my Dad has tried any thing like that before and he had a great time. A good day all round :D

Sunday Bloody Sunday !

2009-06-01T20:22:00.003+01:00

What should have turned out to be an awesome walk, in awesome hills, in awesome weather was completely ruined by my right knee. Whenever I descend any steep hills at least one of my knees seems to cause me ridiculous amounts of pain.

Well I have booked my trip to the Doc's , so hopefully i can get to the bottom of it. I suspect tendons and some sort of over use injury. Well its really pissed me off as its ruined any shot at a walk in the near future or any cardio training in the gym :(

Well the walk was fun until my knee went here are some of the pics fingers crossed for next time!

About to climb up a waterfall

2009-05-26T20:40:00.002+01:00

Sunny Sunday in the lakes

2009-05-25T11:09:00.004+01:00

Sunday = fun day :D

After a bit of dubious cloud to start with the sun finally arrived. At the start there was an interesting scramble up a waterfall, it was pretty clear once Jim and I started it that few people used the route as there were lots of bushes and gorse getting in our way. A few sheep bones hinted that there might have been a few fatalities on this one. Shame i got no pics of this effort, I think mountain man senior might have ;)
Anyways after the initial scratchy scramble it was fairly straight forward hill walking in sunny but slightly windy conditions. NICE !

A few snaps...........

2009-05-14T16:34:00.002+01:00

Just some snaps from the archives :)

Adventure in Langdale

2009-05-05T13:55:00.001+01:00

Sunday 3/05/09 - Jim and I were off again. I was after some more Wainwrights and Jim wants all the Nuttalls for some bizzare reason.....he does spend more time in the hills than me, so maybe I will develop his accelerated hill bagging lust in later life.

All sorts of weather, we had just encountered a heavy snow/sleet/hail shower prior to the photo with the nice blue sky was taken.....typical mountain/British spring weather....love it !

Easter weekend monster.......well for my legs it was!

2009-05-05T13:41:00.000+01:00

Easter bank holiday weekend of this year (09) was great, weather was lush and so were the hills as you can see in the pics. My knees were a bit nackered! 2 routes over 2days, a total of 33.4km/20.7 miles and 13 Wainwrights in the bag.....sweet!

Skidaw

2009-05-05T13:34:00.000+01:00

Panoramas are cool! I love them so expect to see a lot more of them. These were taken on a walk Jim and I did in 2007 that included Skidaw and few other Wainwrights.

2007 Blencathra.....where it all started !

2009-05-05T12:02:00.002+01:00

This is where it started in 2007, I grossly underestimated my level of fitness and the severity of what I was about to undertake. I was a fool. Look at the result !

It was then I decided to hit the gym and the hills hard, and improve my fitness !

It was at this point that Jim took me under his wing and was to begin my transformation into a mountain man!