Hills, Most of them Cloudy

Last Friday it was our wedding anniversary. It has been 6 years since we ran away to Las Vegas and to celebrate this event (as we are saving the return trip to Vegas for our 10 year anniversary) we went to our favourite place in Blighty for a few days.

We rented a tiny apartment in Ambleside, just outside of town up a tiny lane with stone cottages which is described in the tourist brochure as 'the delightful Peggy Hill' - this was renamed, after returning on foot from a 10 mile+ round of the Fairfield Horseshoe, 'the scabby Peggy Hill'. I didn't get a picture as just as I got my camera out a delivery van pulled up at the foot of the hill with hazards flashing and spoilt it. Here is some snow instead.

Top of Fairfield - it were a bit parky!

From Nab Scar, looking down to Ambleside

Next day, as a break from walking, we took the ferry down Windermere to Bowness to visit Blackwell, which is a beautiful house in the Arts & Crafts style - it made a real change from the usual stately homes we see in England and I bought a copy of Henry Moore's Sheep Sketch Book which is the best book in the world ever! It is surprising how little you can fit into a short winter day if you don't go places by car, it was dusk as we were on the return ferry - very romantic!

Bowness

Windermere, heading back to Ambleside

On the last day of our break we walked up Helm Crag, over Gibson Knott to Calf Crag and back down Easedale Gill. This would have been a lovely walk if it hadn't been peeing it down all day and blowing a gale. Still, it is days like this that make you appreciate the days when you get clear blue skies... like the following day when we were coming home. T'uh!

Far Easedale Gill

Sheepses in the sun

Autumn Colour

Conversations on weekend mornings in our house tend to run something along the lines of: Was there anything you wanted to do today? No, not really. Shall we go out? Yes. What shall we do? Don't mind. Where shall we go? Don't know. So we stay in. But yesterday, we made a decision! And we went out! To Hardcastle Crags, just north of Hebden Bridge, to see the trees in all their Autumn glory.

A walk in the woods

We got away without paying!

Hebden Water

Plenty of water in the streams after the rain last night

Great Langdale

Now that the year is turning, the summer over and the nights are drawing in, the temperature is dropping and for most people the camping season is over. But not us. Nope, this is the time of year to get out your tent, warm poufy sleeping bag and head for the hills.

We had planned to visit Glenridding and the North Eastern Fells, but there were horrendous traffic jams, delays and bridge repairs on the M6 north on Friday night, so Plan B was Great Langdale and the Langdale Pikes. As it has been a while since we did any 'proper' walks, we decided to keep it simple and follow a route up towards Harrison Stickle, but skirt around underneath to Stickle Tarn without going all the way up.

Sheep enjoying the view.

Pavey Ark overlooking Stickle Tarn.

From the tarn, we headed round to Castle How and down to Chapel Stile - stopping for a welcome sit down and a pint at the Wainwright Inn

before heading back along the valley to the campsite (9,5 miles). The day was a little grey and hazy, but it stayed dry and was quite a lot warmer that I was expecting, partly because there was hardly a breath of wind - something that would have been quite a relief while huffing and puffing up the steep bits!

The pointy one in the middle of the background is Harrison Stickle.

Rather dramatic moon - photographed at bedtime en route to the toilet block.

Daisies this morning at Sizergh Castle - where you can see lovely autumn colour and some very impressive scaffolding & plastic sheeting.

In which there are sheep

Yesterday's walk was over Rishworth Moor, from Green Withens Reservoir around Dog Hill (9,5 miles). Didn't see any dogs but we did see plenty of sheep, which is fine by us. The day started fine but breezy and got windier. The rain just started as we were stopping off at the Co-op to buy beer on the way home.

Sheep on the moors

Sheep in the grass

Sheep in fields

Crackly wires

'ello

Well, as summers go, it wasn't much of one; but at least we haven't had to worry about sunburn or heatstroke.

My rose managed about three flowers before the wind and rain got them.

We walked up Black Hill - during the winter a helicopter had been used to dump grass seed over the peat bogs here to try and stabilise the moorland. Most of the grass has taken and it is now rather less black at the top of Black Hill than it used to be.

A visit to Jodrell Bank - where, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the building of the Lovell Telescope they have demolished the exhibition centre and planetarium. The arboretum is still open and there is a nice cabin where you can shelter from the rain.

We went to the Lakes! In a tent! It rained! A short walk (because I've been terribly lazy lately and am very very unfit) from Aira Force

Over Gowbarrow Fell (about 4,5miles), escorted by thousands of horrible flies. This view taken from part way up the hill looking back towards Ullswater. I only stopped because the view was so pretty, not because I was knackered. Oh no.

And because it is still summer, after all, we had ice cream.

White Hill

Today we went out for a walk over the moors, from White Hill over Poole Hill and back (8,5 miles). It did start raining as we were heading back to the car, but as the weather recently has been consistent if nothing else we were prepared and had taken our waterproofs.

Towards Marsden

Foxgloves

Lookout Sheep

The moors are greener than I think I've ever seen them. Even with the clouds of impending wetness looming overhead.

Sunshine on a Rainy Day

The Glyders

Or Biting Off More Than You Can Chew.

We spent the weekend in North Wales and yesterday went for a rather long walk over the Glyders, about 13.5 miles with approximately1800m of ascent (give or take as our gps went a bit wonky in the middle) taking in three of the Welsh 3000'ers. We climbed up to start just after the quarry at Carnedd y Filiast (821m) and walked along the ridge over Mynedd Perfedd (812m), Foel goch (831m), Y Garn (947m), Glyder Fawr (999m) and Glyder Fach (we skirted around the back over Castel y Gwynt at 950m) then Y Foel Goch (805m) dropping down to Cefn y Capel (441m) to finish in Capel Curig. Ridge walks are fabulous, as once you are up there, there are always amazing views and relatively little up and down to worry about. Of course, on walks where there are 3000'ers there is always going to be some uphill (and there most certainly was!) but it was all worth it. I think. I should probably apologise to all non-British people who ever read my blog (if, in fact, there are any) because of the way that I casually change between feet, metres, miles, etc. There are fifteen 3000'ers in Wales and they are called thus because they are higher than 3000ft, but because the OS maps are printed with the heights in metres, these are the ones I tend to use here. 999m is 3279 feet.

From Y Garn, looking over Llyn Clyd & Llyn Idwal towards Tryfan

At the summit of Glyder Fach with Snowdon in the distance

Looking towards Glyder Fawr

Coming down off Cefn y Capel

Sheepses and lambses at Gelli

Glyder Fawr and Glyder Fach means 'big mound of stones' and 'little mound of stones' in English, which is very appropriate. We have had great fun while I have been putting up this post trying to work out all the Welsh pronunciations for all the places, probably getting it all terribly wrong. I can speak about 10 words in Welsh, none of them of any use in any situation, and I am determined to learn a few more useful ones, as we do go to Wales quite often and have a week's holiday booked in the Black Mountains this year.

One of the reasons that we chose to go to Wales this weekend was because of the smoking ban that has just been introduced, which is A Good Thing. But as it was, we were so long out our walk that it was too late to go to the pub by the time we got back and we ended up with tinned chilli and easy cook rice at the campsite with bottles of beer, which went down very well.

I am a little bit achey in the legs today, but not as bad as I feared I would be and all in all and despite some route uncertainty at the beginning and severe knackeredness at the end (!) a good day was had by all.

Pike of Blisco

All last week I had a hankering to go to the Lakes this weekend. Walking when there is snow on the tops and crisp cold air is brilliant - you just can't beat it. So we packed up and went camping. I didn't really get to walk in the snow, although there were tiny patches here and there in shady spots and some ice in some of the gullies, it was far too warm and sunny for any of it to last. But this was fine too! We had a potter over Pike of Blisco (705m) and round to Whorneyside Force (6 miles).

Lunch spot - with Bowfell in the distance

From the foot bridge looking over Oxendale

Whorneyside Force

Sheepses

Hills at Night

Thankfully we have been very lucky with the weather over the weekend, as we went camping at Buttermere in the Lake District. Friday night saw clear skies and a great opportunity for star gazing...

Orion over treetops

Our thermometer thingie said that the temperature had got down to -4.5°C overnight. Thankfully, we are kitted out with down bags and insulated mats (and thermal pjs) so were quite snug. Saturday morning dawned crisp (quite literally!) and clear...

The day's walk (10.5 miles with 1100m ascent) was from Buttermere, up High Snockrigg (no giggling at the back there) to Robinson, Hindscarth and Dale Head (753m), across to the Honister Slate Mine (for all your slate needs...which were surprisingly few) around below Fleetwith Pike and down to Warnscale Bottom, returning to the campsite along the lake side and back in time for tea (plus beer and peanuts).

Looking over Rannerdale Knotts & Crummock Water, with Grasmoor looming up on the right