Nine Standards Rigg

Wed 31 Aug 22

My friend and fellow blogger Simon were due to meet up to walk and neither of us were feeling particularly fit (unusual for August).  I’d been looking at a short route near Kirkby Stephen – Nine Standards Rigg  I asked Simon if he fancied it and he said it was on his to-do list so it was settled – that’s the peak we’d do!

I’m quite lazy nowadays about carrying my big, heavy Zenith film SLR camera, partly because I’m normally walking in the Lakes and have photographed everything there is to photograph.  It wasn’t a great day weatherwise but Nine Standards is definitely a peak to take your camera on.  I’ve scanned some of these photos in black and white as I thought the subject suited it.

Update – Urgent Footwear Recommendations

Well I went into Cotswold Outdoors in Keswick today and tried to get some Scarpa Maverick GTX as recommended by some of you and also in the article Alli furnished me with.  However, at the start, I complained to the salesman that I’m having a lot of trouble with painful toe ends and am wondering whether my feet could possibly have grown (I thought it both unlikely and impossible).  So, he measured my feet and… I’ve gone from about a 7 and a half / 8 to a size 9!  That rules out women’s shoes for me now.  Apparently your feet can get longer with age!

He only had size 12 and above in the men’s Mavericks so I had a look around the men’s section and found some synthetic Merrells (in blue-grey which is a bit weird).  Anyway, these fitted a treat so I bought them.  They also come with a 3 year guarantee which I thought pretty good.

So, I’m good to go on Thursday when my friend comes to take me hillwalking 🙂

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Urgent! Footwear Recommendations Needed!

After having my third set of footwear fall apart on me in my third consecutive walk, I’m desperate to know if there is any non-leather/suede walking footwear out there where the sole will stay on for more than a year.  Someone must know of some.  It doesn’t have to be ‘vegan’ as such but I don’t wear dead-cow!  In fact, I’m wondering whether my sole-glue problem is because vegan footwear is likely to be using vegan glue and I’m wondering whether it actually works?

I think one of the problems is likely that all my hillwalking footwear gets excessively wet on every single walk due to where I live and walk and I don’t think modern glues are prepared for this (possibly because many are made abroad where they don’t have our climate).

If any of you can recommend anything, please leave a comment on this post – thanks 🙂

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Newlands Beck Gill Exploration

I’d been eyeing up the top (exciting) parts of this gill for ages during my ascents and descents from various parts of the Newlands Round.  Last year I finally got around to having an explore – I’d waited for a dry spell but it didn’t help with some of the waterfalls!

Hillwalking With Exercise-Induced Asthma

I have seen many hillwalkers on forums I used to frequent suddenly being diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma and thinking that’s the end of their hillwalking ‘career’ – nothing could be further from the truth!

Hope Beck Exploration and Round

On many walks last summer, I was doing an exploration of Hope Beck and the round of hills above centring around Hopegill Head.  There was one completely awful route where I tried to follow a rake onto the ridge before Ladyside Pike which was visible from across the valley but, once underfoot, ended up disappearing into thick heather in which I had to flog my way steeply uphill.  The routes I took up the gill, however, were good…

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

Late Skiddaw Snow After Work

Fri 7 May 2021

One Friday last year there was snow on the hills so, after work in Keswick, I decided I’d just blast up Skiddaw as it’s pretty unusual for him to be so full of snow in May!  Skiddaw is a pretty big undertaking to nip up after work so, unusually for me, I actually took the car up to Gale Road carpark and started from there – normally I’d call that cheating!

Place Fell a Different Way

Autumn 2020

Quick apology for the total lack of posts recently but, I’m getting so bogged down in running both mine and my mother’s house and affairs, I have virtually no time for anything of my own outside of essentials (and often not even those!) 😦

In Autumn 2020, Richard and I managed to actually get booked into the Patterdale Hotel (something which is getting harder every year now – even mid week) to walk my favourite Lakeland fells in my favourite Lakeland valley.  This particular day it poured down until at least midday but then cleared up – we waited till the sun came out and then set off!

Place Fell from Arnison Crag

High Cup Nick & Murton Pike

Thu 27 May 21

Still on the theme of Eden Valley Fells, after dropping Richard off at Appleby railway station to go home, I drove on to the village of Murton to the superb carpark there and nipped up Murton Fell with a view to continuing on to see High Cup Nick.  I hadn’t seen High Cup Nick since I was a child and used to walk with my parents!