We know where we are. Do you?
Here's Saturday's pic (sorry it's a bit late):
View SW from basecamp.
Archive for the 'Great Escapes' Category
Match postponed. Home Win.
This was to be the weekend when I introduced Ella to the delights of wildcamping. We'd been looking forward to spending a couple of relaxing nights somewhere high and remote in the Far Eastern Fells, but the weather's banjaxed that idea:
It's taken several years to get her reasonably comfortable with the prospect of crapping in a hole dug in the middle of nowhere, but the added complication of having to dig away three feet of snow beforehand and then do the biz during a blizzard would probably be too much.
We'd intended to use the Vango Banshee 300 as it still needs to reviewed after being used in anger on the fells, but I think we would have needed the F10 Spindrift in the conditions that have been predicted. The Spindrift in full hoolie garb is twice the weight of the Banshee, add to that the extra insulation and winter metalwork demanded by the conditions and it's clear that the pack-weights would have been too much for her.
Then there's the irony factor - this very afternoon I received another item of kit to test/review... a softshell jacket that's "a perfect lightweight barrier for those cool, breezy, summer trails". That would have been perfect exactly a year ago when the temperatures were over 20 Celsius higher in the Lake District, but this weekend's episode of global... erm... warming demands down jackets rather than WINDSTOPPER® softies.
There's one more window of opportunity about two weeks hence. Fingers crossed!
Glorious cacophony
It wasn't my idea, Chris suggested that it would be a good thing for me to get for her for Christmas.
It turned out to be a great night - Bellowhead are much better live than their recordings suggest.
Here, judge for yourselves:
A weekend based in Keswick – Jan 2013 – Part 3
Yet again I was up before sunrise and yet again Ella was reluctant to relinquish her duvet. After a quick breakfast we checked the MWIS forecast which confirmed that conditions would be pretty much the same as they were on Saturday. We decided that our half-day walk should be up something a tad tamer because my butt was playing up again so we chose Binsey for a simple up-and-down stroll.
After we'd filled the flasks we packed the gear in the car, said our goodbyes at the hostel and headed off for the short drive around the Back o'Skidda. We parked up in a small lay-by near Binsey Cottage, from there the track was straight up and obvious, no crampons required. If there had been a good covering of snow it would have been an excellent sledging hill with no problems going from top to bottom in one go.
Binsey's an odd fell, set apart from the others. It lacks altitude and technical appeal but it affords great views:
Snowclouds breaking over Skiddaw
On the way up we spotted from a distance what we thought was an injured sheep lying in the grass:
Sheep?
We should have gone to Specsavers 😎 ... on closer inspection it turned out to be a boulder with a peculiar covering of moss and lichen:
Notsheep
As usual, Ella couldn't resist playing with the ice:
Frozen
A few hundred yards further on we were nearing the obvious summit where the wind was tearing up from behind us and whistling over the top:
Ella makes for the top
Surveying the scene
Snug in the shelter
We got comfy in the shelter, it was time for cuppas and snacks. The view from the top is well-worth the minimal effort of getting there, it's a great place for appreciating the layout of the Northern Fells. I managed to take a few pics when the wind wasn't flinging ice at the lens:
The Uldale Fells
Pano from Binsey
The stroll back down to the car took around twenty minutes and soon we were back in Keswick - Ella wanted some retail therapy. While shopping we ran into the two folk that we'd met up on Satura Crag the day before... what were the chances of that happening?
I was determined to keep my hands off my wallet but couldn't resist using my YHA-membership discount in the Cotswold shop when I saw the snow-scooters. Yeah, I might well be fifty but there's nowt in the rules that says that I have to act like it! We'll try to remember to take the thing up Binsey in the snow next year.
The drive home was fairly easy with hardly any bad roads until we got within 100 yards of home. Four hours of simple driving and then an hour to get the car on the drive. While we'd been away our village had been more-or-less snowed-in and iced-up.
Here's the tale of the tape:
Saturday: 3.04 miles of walking, 1341ft of up/down, 1 new Wainwright for Ella, none for me;
Sunday: 1.48 miles of walking, 592ft of up/down, 1 new Wainwright for each of us;
Wainwright totals so far: Ella 14/214, me 209/214
A weekend based in Keswick – Jan 2013 – Part 2
Saturday morning and I was up way before sunrise. Predictably, Ella was reluctant to relinquish her duvet until I reminded her that she might miss breakfast. As we sat in the restaurant munching our fry-ups we watched the skies lighten and the light snow falling. A quick check of the MWIS forecast confirmed that we'd get high winds and some snow on the tops, with temperatures dipping to -5C and a significant wind-chill factor. The plan was to bag The Nab, a peat-hag-infested fell best attempted when the ground's either fully-frozen, or dessicated due to drought.
After we'd filled the flasks we packed the gear in the car and headed off for Hartsop. The drive was a doddle (apart from the diversions set up in Keswick) as the roads were fairly snow-free without much frost. We parked up in the small car-park at the far end of Hartsop and stuffed some cash into the honesty-box - none of yer National Trust Fund Cash-Extractor shenanigans in this neck of the woods. We kitted-up and headed for the path that rises across the breast of Brock Crags. While we'd stopped above the intake-wall to allow Ella to faff with hats and gloves I nabbed a few pics:
Ella in Blue Mode
Hartsop Dodd et al
We soon reached the open fellside and made for the gap in the wall where we had a tea-break and donned crampons - the snow wasn't deep but the grassy track was full of frozen run-off which made spikes a sensible option. A bit further on we got the first of our many sightings of deer, and Ella took a shine to some trees:
Deer
Looking towards Hayeswater
Tree in icy ground
Before long we'd reached another gap in another wall, this time at the col between Brock Crags and Satura Crag. By then the wind was picking up and the temperature had dropped to -7C. Time for a cuppa and some more pics:
Hayeswater from the col
Ella, in Yellow Mode, heading for the gateposts on Satura Crag
When we got to Satura Crag we got our first look at the route to The Nab. It wasn't far but didn't look very appealing:
The route to The Nab
We took stock of the situation... three miles there and back, three ups and three downs, temperature down to -8C, winds 25mph gusting 35mph throwing around plenty of ice, lowering cloud, conditions deteriorating. I knew that I wasn't fit enough after a year of having to take it easy, so I decided that carrying on wasn't worth the risk. We took a few pics while waiting to see if conditions improved:
Ella in Technicolor
Muggins looking down Bannerdale
Field-testing the beard
While waiting we met a couple of folk coming down from Rest Dodd way. Pleasantries were exchanged before they headed off, they said that they were bound for Angle Tarn. Conditions didn't improve so we decided that we too would have a look at the view over to the tarn. We stood for a while watching the wind whip up Whirling Dervishes of spindrift which raced each other across the fellsides:
Angle Tarn
From there we took the track towards Brock Crags. The two folk that we'd chatted to were already on the skyline as we started off, it seems that they'd either gone the wrong way or had changed their plan.
Brock Crags (true summit on the right)
Angle Tarn again
At the true top of Brock Crags the views were surprisingly good:
Looking back to Buck Crag, Satura Crag and Rest Dodd
Looking forwards to the Brock Crags cairn
On the way to the Brock Crags cairn Ella couldn't resist the lure of the frozen tarns:
Island Girl
Water Margin
Slab
At the cairn we sheltered from spindrift while having a cuppa and a snack. The view from there was impressive, the Eastern Fells looking particularly moody under snow-laden cloud:
Panorama from Brock Crags cairn
From the cairn we made a bee-line for the grassy track that we'd started up a few hours before. On the way Ella snagged a crampon while crossing a collapsed section of a wall, turning an ankle which made walking painful for a while. All the fuss attracted the attention of a herd of deer which we managed to get quite close to before they took flight:
More deer
We found the track without difficulty and trudged back to the car without further incident. It hadn't been a long walk but we'd enjoyed it. Ella was happy to have bagged another Wainwright, taking her total to 13, and was chuffed with her first walk in crampons. We didn't find enough snow for self-arrest practice but that's a good excuse for another weekend away.
Soon we were back at the hostel. After we'd got cleaned up and after checking that Ella's ankle was OK we headed into town for our evening meal. Our chosen pub was The Bank Tavern where the food and service were excellent:
Ella's steak pie, my game casserole
Back at the hostel we prepped for Sunday and then chilled out before another relatively early night.
To be continued...
