So Which Way Is North Then ???

This weekend's walks were a bit of a mixture. Saturday's was a "navigation" day run by the Peak District National Park service. We all met up at Glossop where we were taken out by a group of park rangers who went over map & compass work with us and how not to get lost!! It was a superb day, we all had a great time despite the howling wind at times drowning out everyone's voices. I would have liked to take a few pics but was far too busy concentrating to even think about getting the camera out !!!

Sunday's Walk

These are a few pics from Sunday's walk. After a fairly chilly start to the day, It turned out to be quite nice. I took the train into Glossop, walked up Whitfield & Moorfield across Black Moor to meet up with the Pennine Way, going all the way on up to Bleaklow Head and back home to Hadfield via Torside Clough. The section across Pennine Way up to the Snake Pass is all paved so it seemed very much like a lovely "sunday stroll". Even the section from the Snake Pass all the way up to Bleaklow Head from this side has a nice easy route to follow.

These particular photos are a bit boring, there are no great views coming across Black Moor and the sky being quite hazy meant the hilltops were fairly indistinguishable. By the time the sunshine came out properly I was already up at Bleaklow Head

This makes a pleasant change - a stretch of the Pennine Way with easy peasy walking, much better than struggling over ankle breaking tussocks and wiry heather !!!

Where the Pennine way crosses the Snake Pass

No great views here - just lots and lots of this stuff !!

Weathered Stones Not Far From Bleaklow Head

I love this stretch - heading for Torside on my way home now

Black Hill 1st Time Round

As there was hardly any snow at home after getting back from the couple of days in Snowdon, I decided to go up to Black Hill yesterday. The weather started off quite pleasant with sunshine and a slight breeze but about a mile or so from the Trig point it started to snow again and the wind was tremendous so in the end thought it best to be on the safe side and turn back round.

The snow didn't really come to much but at least I'd managed to get past Laddow Rocks before Leo ended up being blown half way across Derbyshire !! Despite having to turn back I still managed to do about 10 miles so I was quite pleased.

Pre-Expedition Training Weekend

This weekend it was a trip to Wales for a pre-expedition training weekend organised by Brian Jackson who runs/owns "Expedition Wise" and will be the Exped Leader on my challenge next month. I travelled up on Friday which didn't take too long, about 3 hours and that was mainly due to a lorry having broken down which had caused tail back for quite a distance. I'd used the AA route finder which got me all the way to the Pen-y-Pass hostel with no problems. When I booked in I was given the key to my room - which of course was a shared 4 man bunk room and luckily being the first to arrive meant I got first pick of the bunks.

Pen-y-Pass Hostel

My new home for the next few days

View out of the bedroom window

As I had quite a bit of time before everyone would meet up I stowed my stuff away and decided to go back to Betws-y-Coed and check out the sales in the outdoor specialist shops. I got side tracked on the way and I stopped off at "Swallow Falls", somewhere I'd not been since I was about 10 years old !

After a quick wander round Betws-y-Coed and managing to bag myself a bargain - a North Face down parka which hopefully will be perfect for next month (at a superb saving), it was time to head back to the hostel and meet up with all the others. I think most of us were a bit apprehensive as to what to expect but it was very easy going and relaxed. We chatted about our various challenges and what we'd been doing (or not doing) as we tucked into a realy lovely meal ! Over the weekend Claire, our trainer/leader gave a presentation on the various challenges that everyone was undertaking, talks on typical kit that would be needed, how to keep healthy etc.

Saturday we spent on a walk to the summit of Snowdon via one of the popular routes - the Pyg track. We all met up for a hearty breakfast and then suitably kitted up left the hostel at 9 am for our walk. It was a bit windy and a little bit misty and we wondered how long it would be before it poured down and if we would actually get to see anything from the summit.

The start of our walk to Snowden Summit via the Pyg track

Claire (3rd from left) our trainer/group leader from Expedition Wise

Looking up at those on their "hands and knees" clinging on to Crib Goch

(We're taking the well trodden day tripper's / children's route )

Glaslyn & Llyn Llydaw

Lunch break a bit higher up, getting quite misty now !



Our "drink stop" with, apparently, a lovely view of the lake !!!!

Pat and Myself doing the "obligatory pose" at the Summit

Martin & Evelyn at the Summit

Going back down via the Miner's track (The track was built during the 1800's to serve Britannia Copper Mines which were abandoned in 1917)

Getting a pep talk from Claire in front of the old Copper mine buildings

Web links for background information on Mount Snowdon:- http://www.hightrek.co.uk/snowdon1.html
http://www.mountainwalk.co.uk/snowdonfacts.html

Kit Inspection !!
Having given a talk on the different types of kit useful for the different challenge events, Claire (looking very thoughtful) gives her opinion on one of the group member's kit

Sunday

On Sunday morning the weather bulletin posted in the hostel reception ???." rain, mist, fog, gales, snow, blizzards" .... I kid you not!! Needless to say the planned walk up Tryfan had to be changed to a more low level walk and the weekend cut a bit short as people were worried about getting snowed in and not getting back home /back to work (they had a fair bit of travelling to do up to Newcastle and down to Oxford). The wind had been battering the hostel during the night and everything seemed to be banging and creaking keeping quite a few awake all night. At breakfast we found out that John's car window had been smashed during the night, the winds must have picked up some debris and shattered his back windows. Unfortunately, he had to stay behind and wait by the pay phone (no mobile reception) for a few hours just to see if Autoglass could get hold of glass suitable for his type of car which didn't sound too promising on a Sunday morning.

Rebecca, one of my "room mates", who is going to be doing the Great Wall of China trek in June.


Looking across to Tryfan which was our intended walk but due to the bleak weather bulletin this had to be switched to a more low level walk instead.

A bit higher up on our low level walk !!!!!!

My other "room mate" Evelyn who is on the Dalai Lama trek to the Himalayas next month

Coming back down a scree slope

Despite having to cut our weekend short because of the weather we had a great time. Everyone was very nice and we got on really well together. We all felt the weekend had been extremely worthwhile and having picked up lots of useful info feel a bit happier about coping with what we're about to take on. Hopefully a few of us will get the chance to meet up again and go on some more walks together and catch up on each other's challenges which are staggered over the next few months.

Kinder Scout Walk From Hayfield

(An article on Kinder Scout can be found at Wikipedia:- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinder_Scout )

Instead of going off for a walk on my own today, I went on a group walk organised by the Peak District Ranger's Service. Ian Milne, Asst Park Ranger and our group leader for the day met us at Bowden Bridge Car Park and gave us a brief outline of the day's itinerary and a handout on the history of what we would come across on our walk.

Our route from Bowden Bridge quarry car park, Hayfield;- Mount Famine, South Head, Brown Knoll, Swine's Back, Edale Rocks, Kinder Low, Red Brook Gorge, Kinder Downfall, Sandy Heys, White Brook. Approx 10 1/2 miles.

Plaque of Mass Trespass 1932

"Guardian News" report on the Mass Trespass can be found at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,689869,00.html

Our route takes us up and across 'Mount Famine' & 'South Head'

Looking back at the gentle slopes of Mount Famine

Ian, our walk leader (in Red) recounting a bit of local history

Checking out the memorial plate at South Head

Another Lovely View !! - Trig Point at Brown Knoll

Lunch Stop - Sitting With Ishi, Manchester Uni Student from Taiwan

Our view whilst eating lunch ...

Edale Vale - Edale village in the green area in the distance

Zooming in on Pym's Chair (central saddle shaped rock)

Kinder Low Trig Point (633 m)

Eroded stones at Kinder Low

You can just make out Mermaid's Pool down below

Another group looking down at Kinder Downfall

Just a trickle today though with no blow back so nothing much going on.

An extract taken from Ian's "Winter Wonderland" guided walk handout, on the Kinder Downfall:-

'This is, without doubt the most famous landmark in the Kinder area so much so that the phrase is often stated "All roads lead to the Downfall." The name goes back to Celtic language times initially as Cindwr Scud then Kinder Scut, a Saxon name meaning "water over the edge". The Downfall is a large cleft cut into the rock face and made up of a jumble of rocks which have over the centuries broken away from the face to lie strewn about the base of the waterfall. The river normally quite small at this stage cascades over the edge to drop about 30 m into the valley below then on to feed the Kinder reservoir. The most spectacular time to see the Kinder Downfall is when a strong SW wind is blowing directly into the cleft and forcing the waterfall back up the cleft and creating a huge fountain of spray at times up to 15 m high over a considerable area of the plateau. The spectacle can be seen on a clear day for several miles around ....'

Looking down to Kinder Reservoir

A quick stop and time for reflection.

Looking across to Mount Famine & South Head in the distance

where we had walked earlier this morning

Stepping back in history - Booth Sheepwash

Today was a superb day, I enjoyed it immensely. Ian, of course was very knowledgeable about the area and made it extremely interesting and everyone was such great company. Before the day was through I'd made up my mind to find out the dates for some more, hopefully equally interesting, walks in a week or two. Next weekend I'm off to Wales which is a pre-expedition training weekend before my Challenge next month - that seems so strange saying "next month" it's really crept up and getting scarily close now !