2012 in Brief

Its hard to believe that  a year has passed between me updating this blog. Changing jobs and all the mental energy involved seems to have deflected me away from what I hoped would be a detailed catalogue of our hikes.

A brief summary of 2012 seems like a good way to get back on track.

January, and The first thing on our agenda was a return to Longsleddale and  another attempt at Kentmere Pike. This time we arrived on a fantastic cold winter morning and completed the circuit quite quickly. The wind was constant and cold, and a highlight was a horizontal snow shower that came up over the eastern flank of Kentmere pike and flew across us on the summit. The first time I’d ever seen rising snow.

                                Kentmere Summit at the second attempt

                               Perfect Lakeland Morning

                                Cold!

Judging by the camera, February was quiet on the walking front. All I have is this random photo, if anybody can tell me where we are that’d be great.

Into March and our trip to Scotland. We stayed in a remote cottage overlooking the Mull of Kintyre. We walked every day out the back of the cottage up some fairly low lying fells which looked over at Giga and Arran. The weather never really changed all week- just a low lying grey cloud that occasionally burst. Nothing dramatic, no blue skies and barely any wind. The Mull of Kintyre ignored the atmospheric tedium though and created fantastic silvery shapes across to Giga and seemed to look different every day. Seals rested lazily on the rocks and Buzzards drifted above as we sauntered along the coastal road.

We attempted Ben Cruachan, my first munro on one of the days, an early start and a quick, hard climb got us to the damn that feeds the famous power station. We skirted the reservoir and started to climb the next section into a cloudy, snowy abyss. We soon realised that we didn’t have the skills to complete this fell and meandered back with heavy hearts. I think summer may be the time to be tackling munroes.

                               The summit that out stared us

                                Looking out over Loch Awe

                                Typical Scottish walking scene

On our return from Scotland, our newest family member was born- Jack. Hopefully he will join us on the fells one day:

                                Jack Leon Dempsey

April saw the visit North of Sister & family and a great hike up Buckden pike in the un seasonably cold weather:

Onward, towards the anticipated summer we spent a night in the lakes and tackled Grisedale pike on a great circular walk that brought us back alongside the Coledale beck into Braithwaite.

                                            Walking back along Coledale 

June’s highlight was an awesome bike ride along Mastilles Lane. An epic world famous track for mountain bikers, it took me around the side of Kilnsley Crag and onto Hawswick Cote before an unbelievable full speed grassy descent that lasted about 10 minutes. Pure adrenaline and a great reward for the excruciating ascent earlier in the day.

                                The first of about thirty rests

July seems quiet by the photos, which start up again in August and a phenomenal 20 mile all day point to point hike in the Dales. This was the second time I’ve done this hike and it must be the greatest the Dales offers. Starting at Settle it’s a steep climb up into the Limestone and over to Malham tarn, circling the edge of this you are slung up the valley to Fountains Fell. Up and over this and you are presented by the “back” of Pen-y-Ghent. Hop over its shoulder and down into Horton to catch a train back to Settle.

                                Summit of fountains Fell

                                         Bull in field at Malham tarn

August also saw us up in the Langdales, enjoying some awesome warm thundery weather. A hard climb up pushing through the sticky atmosphere, but the top was a magical world with rolling thunder vibrating around us and clouds swirling past. The kind of day where views suddenly appear through the break in cloud, a temporary glimpse at something you had no idea was there.

September saw me return from the Spanish golf Trip to a quiet, hungover wander up Little Whernside. Skirting the familiar track along Scar House Reservoir and trudging up to the boggy summit of Little Whernside is always a good hike. Like a mini version of doing a big Lakeland fell.

                                A Windswept Lifestyle Journalist

Later in September, and we tackled great Gable with Ali’s family, amazing hike diminished only  a little by some unforeseen scree surfing off the summit. The last day of the year for shorts. It was a terrible choice and I paid for it:

October should have seen a first overseas hike as we spent a week in Crete. We had planned to walk the awesome Samaria Gorge but were thwarted by heavy rains and the gorge being closed. Here’s what we could have had (from a mountain pass we drove over):

The wet summer and autumn seem to have limited our hiking after September. The ground is saturated and both our boots are now leaking. So it was with great excitement that we approached Whernside on one of the few frozen days this winter. It was great to go back to one of my favourite hikes, and where I first fell in love with the hills. Whernisde rarely fails you:

Not all walks are great, our final walk of the year looks like being an awful, boggy trudge over Blubberhosues Moor. We never really got going and our soaked feet  seemed reluctant from the start. it speaks volumes that I have no pictures of this walk!

Who knows where we’ll hike in 2013. All I ask is a few more frozen winter days in January and February. The kind where the cold air shocks your lungs, and the wind blows through your skin. 

Happy new Year

Longsleddale 11.12.11

Driving across the A65 through those eerie hours that proceed sunrise, the dark outlines of the landscape was becoming more pronounced as Sunday revealed itself. After our last hike in the pouring rain we were ready for a well deserved clear day in Eastern Lakeland. Only for some reason it was raining again.

The rain seemed to get heavier and heavier as we travelled west. We arrived in the stunning valley of Longlseddale at around 9.30 am to the sight of the river Sprint in full force. It was strangely warm and still, there was an insulating roof of cloud on the valley at around 400 metres and I found it easy to forget what lay ahead.

We’d planned a hike that would take us on a loop, the outward part over three Wainrights (Shipman Knotts, Kentmere Pike & Harter Fell), the inward part returning us to Sadgill along the river Sprint. It seemed like the perfect winter hike.

As we set off up the steep track linking Sadgill to Kentmere the rain began to fall quite heavily. Our minds began to cast back three days to a saturated walk from Grassington. Nobody mentioned it, but we were both wondering why we were here, why had we set an alarm for 5.45 and driven two hours to a soaking wet fellside? The rain continued to fall, and we continued to trudge. One step at a time. And the enthusiasm slowly built as we gained height and turned northwards onto the stunning climb up Shipman Knotts.

One of Lakelands trademark fast flowing streams

The ascent of Shipman Knotts is steep and craggy, it is a traditional Lakeland clamber and reminded me happily of  a summer ascent of Haystacks. As we continued to gain ground we quickly lost visibility as the cloud that had insulated the valley bottom became a cold, swirling mist. Keeping the wall on our right we continued north towards the summit, there were increasingly deep snow drifts to traverse and the rain was turning to sleet.

Gaining altitude allowed the cold easterly wind to throw the sleet into our faces. Continuing north towards the summit of Kentmere Pike our progress became agonisingly slow as we trekked through snow that was up to our knees. I was becoming concerned by the speed of our progress, knowing we had a lot of ground to cover before dark.

We took out the map and stared at it silently as the fell roared with the violence of uninterrupted wind. The continuation up Kentmere Pike was totally snow covered. When I pointed out it would be another climb onto Harter Fell we both realised that there wasn’t time to complete the loop.

The hardest decisions in life always seem to be the most obviously right ones. We were desperate to experience Kentmere Pike & Harter fell, but the afternoons are terrifyingly short in the fells and the weather was as oppressive as I’ve felt. So with heavy hearts, at an altitude of 690 metres, we turned back towards Sadgill. As we descended we looked wistfully at our earlier footprints in the drifts , we were full of endeavour trudging up that hillside, and the pangs of regret started to weigh heavy as altitude reduced.

Ali in the two stages of descent

Safely returned to the valley of Longsleddale we stood looking back up at the fells we’d just descended. Maybe we could have completed the hike. Maybe not. One things for sure - we’ll be back Longsleddale before long.

Grassington Circular 08.12.11

As the kettle boiled and I stared out at the street lit morning, Radio 5 live’s tinny breakfast show blurted out that there were severe weather warnings across central and southern Scotland. Up to 100mph winds and heavy rain – motorists were advised not to drive.

Like the excited child who unwraps the wrong Christmas present, I had to accept that today I wasn’t getting the Lake district. The brilliantly detailed lake district weather site  http://www.lakedistrictweatherline.co.uk/ advised that on the summits and ridges there would be 100mph winds. And just to underline what this meant, readers were advised that there was a “severe risk of being blown over”.

So we headed into the dales. We planned a low level circular from Grassington which took in Conistone Dib – an impressive limestone gully, and (accidentally) the Green Wood nature Reserve.

The walk climbs slowly along the section of the Dales Way linking Grassington and Kettlewell. This was full of exciting limestone outcrops and grassy paths – the type that in summer would be those bouncy, hollow sounding paths that force you into a cheerful, arm swinging rhythm. Today they were saturated and finding any rhythm was difficult. Ali & I quietly trudged and picked out our own paths through the standing water. Both with our heads down to avoid the rain on our faces. Just the sound of the drops on our hoods to accompany our thoughts.

As is always the case, we were hungry well before we felt we should be, so chose to stop and have a tea break under the protection of a 150 year old Lime Kiln which used to produce Lime for the surrounding fields. See below

We stood here and drew breath for twenty minutes or so – It was around nine am now and my thoughts drifted smugly to the image of the office I wasn’t in, the conversations I wasn’t having and the tension headache I didn’t seem to have. It was absolutely belting down. I didn’t hear a sheep make a noise all day long.

We continued along the Dales way until we reached a path which would eventually take us down to Conistone village. This fork left turned us into the wind, and for the next mile we barely looked up from our boots as rain lashed at our tilted hoods. The footpaths had become streams, and regardless of the look on my face below, our spirits were flying high as we discovered the stunning gully taking us down to Conistone (sadly my camera battery died here – for completeness visit www.geograph.org.uk/photo/564605).

It was a short climb out of Conistone village before we were back into the gales, this time the wind was coming across us and the noise it made was fantastic. It was roaring like jet engines as it swirled and blustered above. We were on the southern edge of a severe depression which would, later that day  record wind speeds of 165mph on Cainrgorm.

There were 2 miles of great dales walking back to Grasisngton. Walks in the dales are always more exciting then you expect, the limestone throws up interest at every turn. These low level walks, which can be overlooked in the hunt for altitude are some of the best hikes I’ve ever had. You feel like you could walk for days in the dales and never tire, they feel safe too, which was what we needed on a day like this.

The rain began to ease as we entered Green Wood nature reserve, an interesting deciduous woodland which states that it contains the remain of a medieval village. This wasn’t evident, maybe on a summers day we’d have searched for it. But by now my thoughts were drifting towards a dry pub and a well earned midday, midweek pint.

We returned to a sleepy Grassington by noon. We bought some beers and provisions, before returning home via the Hopper Lane pub. A stolen day in the hills together capped off by a late afternoon film, peering knowingly out at the wind and rain.