High Rigg on a Very Icy Day

Thu 18 January 2024

During the last cold snap I met up with my friend Simon to do some hills.  We set off hoping to do ‘The Dodds’ near Helvellyn but with the option to downgrade if we didn’t feel up to the very icy conditions.  Unfortunately, when I saw the icy and steep starts to the likes of The Sticks Pass up to The Dodds, I’m afraid I chickened out and so we opted for High Rigg instead – a grandstand view of all the snowier stuff around us.  Luckily, this day I made sure I took my Zenith film camera for an outing!

Foaling Around on Walla & Blaeberry

I’ve recently re-discovered Walla Crag as an after-work walk (I hadn’t been up it for years) after I went up Cat Gill which was a completely new route for me.  Of particular interest to me though were two craggy-ended hills I could see from Keswick which I suspected were a trespass but wanted to bag!  This round has become a favourite of mine – not totally because of the mountains as you’ll see towards the end of the post…

The distant ridge of Dodd Crags

Steel Edge, Wetherlam

Wed 14 July 21

On our recent trip to the Southern fells, staying at Broughton-in-Furness, we decided to have an ‘easy day’ as we’d done 7 fells the day before on the main Coniston ridge.  I said that, as we hadn’t done it more than once (and that was years ago when I was still cowardly), it was time we revisited Steel Edge on Wetherlam – providing we could get parked!  Below is a film photo I took after our first ascent…

Whinlatter Round aka ‘Caught in the Forest’!

Tue 7 April 2020
This was during lockdown but, as I’d had to travel to Keswick anyway, I did the walk on my way back. I knew all the Whinlatter Forest carparks were shut (and so the Forestry people thought that Whinlatter Forest was also shut) but I also knew there was roadside parking. There were a couple of other cars there and I bumped into one girl just coming back from the hill (although, of course, at a 6 foot social-distance!)…

Blencathra via Halls Fell & Doddick – in record time!

Sat 11 July 20
Well it was record time for me anyway… this was after work – I was feeling very fit and wanted to be back down in time for my tea at the Scales pub! I was up and back in exactly 2.5 hours…

Grasmoor via Gasgale Gill & Dovecrags Arete

Sun 22 Mar 20
This was at the start of the superb weather spell we had this year. I’ve also got a feeling it may have been the first day of lockdown or perhaps the day before. There were hundreds of people around down Buttermere though and, just to show there was no problem with walkers, everyone was already keeping a very safe distance between their family groups etc.

The Lost & The Undressed (Archival)

Having to put some archival posts out for a while as, even when I get properly back into the hills, I won’t be able to get any photos developed until the health crisis is over! 😦 Actually, re-reading it was interesting for me in re-visiting an older writing style – I actually think it’s quite bitchy in places but (hopefully) amusingly so!

Skiddaw How Gill Left Branch

Tue 29 Oct 19
One of the rare, good-weather days in October – I decided it was high time I got myself up my local big-mountain, Skiddaw, as I hadn’t done him yet this year…

Whinash Ridge, Westmorland

Wed 2 Oct 2019
This wasn’t as interesting as the ridge the other side of Westmorland’s Borrowdale valley, Whinfell Ridge, which I did with friend and fellow blogger Simon back in Spring. Simon was again my companion but we also had Richard with us as it was a nice day…

Bloody Snow?!

Sat 26 Oct 2019
I read yesterday in the news that there was snow on Cairngorm in Scotland – I was pretty surprised as that’s ridiculously early for Scotland.