A long walk, a short walk and a night walk in the Lakes

5/6.3.14
Walking with; Graham

I have a tee shirt somewhere that bears the motto "Better a rainy day on the hill than a sunny one in the office" and it is a philosophy that I have strongly adhered to over the last few years, taking everything Mother Nature can throw at me and still smiling! However, there are the odd few occasions when it can be a bit of a struggle to feel the love, even with the alternative being the suit and tie 9-5.....
Day one got off to a niggly start when United Utilities had the temerity to charge me £7 to park on the muddied patch of waste ground at Steel End, to be frank, it's a bloody cheek. None-the-less it was a decent day and as I followed the path along Wyth Burn away from the road I eased into the walk enjoying the steady climb toward the snow capped Greenup Edge. I was using a 1:50000 scale map as I am trying out the different scales as part of my ML training and the lack of fine detail was noticeable as I followed a deep ghyll up towards Ullscarf. On the map there were only two streams shown whereas on the ground it was more than twice that.....still I made the summit of Ullscarf and crunched through the untrodden snow along the ridge line. I descended across more untouched snow fields to Standing Crag and then followed the seemingly unending fence line that whilst not appearing on my map appeared to run parallel to the marked right of way. The path junction I'd identified as a tick feature never appeared and pretty soon I was scanning the featureless, bleak, boggy marsh for a fix on where I was, eventually I decided that rise ahead of me was High Tove and that the fence line had effectively become a path in it's own right, albeit one unmarked on the larger scale map. It was unpleasant underfoot, each step sinking deep into the mire and sapping the energy and as soon as I made the trig at High Seat I decided I had had enough. I headed off the top and across more unforgiving marsh before making the knee crunching descent down Middlesteads Gill to the Thirlmere shore path from where it was a good 40min stroll back to the car and then onto the Windermere YHA, confusingly not in Windermere, but warm, friendly and serving Jenning's ale.....
"Put Wednesday behind you and move on I told myself....." Thursday was grim, proper low cloud, relentless drizzle that soaked through everything and negligible visibility. I made my way up Wansfell Pike, played around with my rope, bit of abseiling, belaying my rucksack etc, before the greyness became too oppressive and I made my way back down to Ambleside for coffee and warmth. It wasn't over yet.......I'd arranged via Facebook to meet Graham ( who goes by the web name Bearded Mountain. Man http://www.beardedmountainman.com/) for a night nav. If I wasn't an aspiring ML there'd be no way on earth you'd have dragged me out of The Golden Rule or The Mortal Man on a night like this with little to see and clothes starting to smell like a damp Retriever....but there you are, Loughrigg it was. Three hours of splashing through bogs seeking out ring contours, stream junctions and tiny tarns and sharing experiences of ML training and assessment meant the drizzle and gusty winds went almost unnoticed. Social media has been a very useful tool as I pursue my goal of becoming an ML and generous people like Graham who are willing to share their time and experience represent all of what is good about the outdoors community!

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Snowshoeing at La Rosiere

27/02/13
Walking with; Dominique and Marie

I have the battle scarred knees of a 25 year veteran of rugby fields around the world from Pennsylvania to Didsbury, knees that the medical profession have mapped out better than vasts tracts of sub-Saharan Africa, knees that cannot manage six solid days of skiing...so from time to time, an alternative is needed! I'd tried snowshoeing last year in Soldeu, Andorra but a combination of ill prepared guides, heavy snow and some highly excitable Italian fellow walkers led to our torchlight expedition being cancelled. The experience, however, gave me enough of a taste to know it was something I wanted to try again. So on day five of this year's ski trip to the Franco/Italian border I booked a guided walk with Dominique called "La Tour de La Rosiere" and was joined by Marie from Burgundy who managed to bridge the gap between my schoolboy French and Dominique's "interesting" English.
We left the centre of the ski area and were soon making our way "off piste" through deep, powdery snow and into dense Narnia like pine forest. We crossed numerous animal tracks which Domenique identified as belonging to Squirrels or Hares and overhead Ravens and Alpine Choughs circled noisily. We emerged from the forest into bright sunlight and with spectacular views of Mont Pourri stretching into the blue sky. Our trail continued across pristine snow sitting on top of the Summer pastureland and weaved past abandoned buildings following the paths of tiny streams that continued to babble beneath the frozen crust. The views became yet more stunning as we looked down on the St Alexis and St Michel chapel perched on the hilltop of Le Chatelard. Dominique regaled us with stories of the Second World War when the valley was heavily bombarded by Italian gun emplacements located at the top of what is now the "Fort" chairlift. Eventually we began the slow, warm ascent to Les Eucherts passing under a chairlift and through another tiny deserted hamlet before emerging into the village and making our way back to the resort centre for a well earned Vin Chaud! Snowshoeing has definitely made a positive impression on me and I suspect it will continue to provide a welcome and much needed respite for my knees on ski holidays yet to come!

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Skiing

So it has come to the time of year when instead of pulling on a pair of boots and stomping up a big hill, I strap a pair of planks on my feet and hurtle (in varying degrees of control) down even bigger mountains! La Rosiere this year on The France/Italy border! See you in a week.

A walk round Wessenden Moor

19.2.14
Walking with; Nobody

Saddleworth Moor and the area around will, unfortunately, be forever connected with the Moors murders. The deeds of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley have cast a dark shadow over this area and the impression lingers that these are wild places where bad things happen and bodies and dark secrets are buried. The moorland in this area does have a dark and sometimes forboding feel to it, but as a place to find solitude and feel far removed from the urban jungle of Greater Manchester it represents an excellent option.
I parked in the layby at the site of what was once "The Isle of Sky Inn", Black Hill lay shrouded in low cloud and the car park at Featherbed Moss had been almost invisible beneath the thick blanket of fog. I set off onto The Pennine Way making my way between enormous bags of Heather Brash which was being helicoptered onto the moors and spread by hand to help prevent the worst excesses of erosion. I carried on down past Wessenden Head reservoir to Wessenden Reservoir and Lodge. The Lodge used to serve "rich repasts" in Victorian times, even in Wainwright's day food was provided, but apparently the last tenant farmer moved out some years ago and the place is now being run as a small scale deer farm. It is certainly a picturesque spot to be situated.
I followed the Pennine Way up Blakely Clough before striking off onto Black Moss and locating an overgrown Grouse butt to lunch in with views of the Butterly Hills and beyond. The helicopters had started ferrying the huge bags of brash out on to Broadhead Moss and the whirring of their rotors accompanied for the remainder of the day. There were plenty of Grouse around as I tramped through the peaty bog making my way up to the tiny pool sitting atop Birk Moss. The cloud had lifted by this point and there were grand views across to the Black Hill and the transmitter mast. I cut down to Shiny Brook in the sunshine thoughts of ghosts and bad deeds far from my mind and followed the line of the stream down to the reservoir where The Pennine Way led me back towards my car. As I reached the gates at the entrance a small sign caught my eye and gave me a sombre reminder of why this area is best known, it provided a website link to a campaign set up to try and ascertain the whereabouts of the body of Keith Bennett who is presumed to still be buried out on the wild moors.

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Lyme Park and Rivington Pike- Two great local walks

12/13.2.14
Walking with; Gary

 
Whilst the traditional image of Manchester is one of grim industrialisation, one of the reasons I have made it my home is because of the superb access it offers to the great outdoors! On a good day I can be in Windermere in 90 minutes, Llanberis is not much further and I can be in Hayfield on my way up Kinder in 40mins traffic permitting. However even within Greater Manchester itself and the immediate surrounds there are a wealth of decent walking opportunities, Lyme Park has long been a favourite of mine but Rivington Pike was new to me and all the better for that.
I'd decided on a bit of navigation practice at Lyme Park having seen the forecast and decided that staying low was the smart move. There were a few dog walkers about but not many others daft enough to brave the elements, there were plenty of deer about including a couple of beautiful white stags. I headed out onto the moors and spent a couple of cold, windy hours working my way (generally) successfully from point to point before dropping down into the soggy shelter of Cluse Hay and eventually heading back towards the hall via the pool where Colin Firth/Mr Darcy ignited the fantasies of so many Jane Austen fans!
I'd some notion to head up to the Lakes on Thursday but time ran away me and when my indoor climbing buddy, Gary, suggested visiting Rivington Pike I decided to take him up on the offer. What a great decision, I can't believe I've never been before! The Rivington Terraced Gardens were built for Lord Leverhulme in Edwardian times and designed by Thomas Mawson and consist of a network of paths crisscrossing the hillside and encompassing follies, woodland and more formal oriental gardens. We followed the paths up towards the Pike weaving in and out of the follies including The Pigeon Tower before hitting the top and looking out on some fantastic views as far as Blackpool. It was pretty blowy on the top so we descended and headed over to Anglezarke Reservoir where we spent an hour wandering up to Yarrow Reservoir and taking in the impressive views. The Pike and gardens are a perfect spot for a wander and are clearly popular with the locals but provide a great opportunity to gain some height and explore the gloriously dilapidated follies of the Edwardian era.

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