Destination Yorkshire Dales

Well, this Sunday we are planning on either Pen-Y-Ghent or Ingleborough.

It looks like it might be a cold one so I'll be digging around in my kit to see what I have.

Fortunately, I found my North Face windproof fleece this weekend, which I haven't seen all year, so that'll be getting used.

The weather for the week is below freezing temperatures, a risk of fog, and some snow showers.

How we'll be effected won't be know until the end of the week, but I don't really care. I'll be out there regardless.

Again, it's down to me and Rixy. All the others  have 'prior engagements', but I'm sure they're just too soft for the weather.

I might look into the possibility of doing both together, but I'm thinking not due to our lack of experience and the short days.

I'm hoping it will be clear. Cold I can cope with, but fog I can do without.

Anyway, keep your eyes peeled, I'll be posting up a trip report when we're back. Now, what to have for lunch while we're up there?

Pen-Y-Ghent

Ingleborough

The Bagging List

I guess every hiker has a bagging list?
I do, and it includes many of the highest peaks of the UK, Ben Nevis, Scafell, Snowdon etc.

So why do I want to do them?

I decided, not long since, that I want to get back into walking. I decided that a walk around the park wasn't good enough any longer. I wanted to get back into walking, which I did with my old man some 20 years ago, at the age of 13/14. I also have some personal mountains to climb.
I'm not entirely sure what these personal mountains are yet, but on the few walks I have done, I have felt a sense of achievement, a sense of being 'on top of the mountain'.
I always feel good after a hike, no matter how hard it was.

My outlook, was to start with Simons Seat, as I remember this being the first hill I climbed with my Dad, and at 1500ft it shouldn't be too hard?
My Brother and I had a failed attempt at the beginning, which he is unfortunately still suffering from!
The second attempt, a success.
The second attempt was a success in a few different ways. A group of 5 of us 'bonded' in the good old fashion of walking together, only 2 of them knew each other, but they were all friends of mine. We made the round trip in one piece. We made it to the top in horrible weather, all things considered.
It was a success, and I was happy.

The next Peak on my list was going to be one of the Yorkshire 3 Peaks, Pen-Y-Ghent, Ingleborough, or Whernside. Only 1 of the group could make it, Rixy, and he was one of the more experienced. We chose Whernside as he had done it before, but I hadn't.

Whernside has been done. Another 'achievement unlocked' for me - walking in the snow.
It wasn't bad snow, but I had a grin like a Cheshire Cat inside my hood.
Rixy was a great walking partner, and we had some very, very random topics of conversation.

So back on to my 'Bagging List'...

We have done Simon's Seat @ 15000ft
We have done Whernside @ 2415ft
I think the next should be either Pen-Y-Ghent @ 2277ft or Ingleborough @ 2372ft
Also on my list, I have;
Scafell @ 3163ft and Scafell Pike @ 3209ft
I have Helvelynn @ 3117ft, via Striding Edge of course.
Skiddaw @ 3054ft
Great Gable @ 2949ft
Pillar @ 2927ft
Blencathra @ 2848
Crinkle Craggs @ 2818ft
Coniston Old Man @ 2635ft
Buckden Pike @ 2303ft
Kinder Scout @ 2807ft
Gragareth @ 2057ft

At some point, I also want to complete Ben Nevis @ 4409ft and Snowdon @ 3560ft.

(All heights shamelessly stolen from THIS wonderful website)

Now, these are on my list for the simple reason that I want to do them. I'm sure there are many more peaks, many more beautiful walks, but this is about me climbing mountains!
When I figure out what the mountains are that I'm climbing, I'll be sure to let you know.

Once these are finished? Well who knows eh!
So far, 3 walks in, and I'm loving it. I already have dates planned for next year, and plan on getting at least 18 peaks in, a night walk, and the Yorkshire 3 Peaks for the Anthony Nolan Trust.

I'll point out at this point, that I am fully aware I'm a novice walker, I have mediocre gear, and little experience (although pretty good knowledge)  of what I am doing.
I don't plan on going un-prepared. As my buddies will tell you, I'm usually over prepared.

I'll leave you with a few pics now. I've blatantly stolen these from Google Images.
While searching for them, it became apparent, that when you climb mountains, you have a clear picture of what is out there.

Striding Edge

Coniston

Snowdon, Crib Goch

From what I know, this is Crib Goch, a route up Snowdon. I did this back in '92 with my old man. I would have been 13 years old. I've never seen it from this angle before because it was COVERED in cloud when we did it. Good job really, it looks scary haha!

Into the clouds.

Well, that's Whernside done.

We arrived at the Ribblehead parking area in good spirits (as always) and donned our gear.

Looking up to the peak, there was a bit of clour cover, but it wasn't going to put us off.

Rixy and I set off walking, he kept telling me how bad a walk it was going to be.

As he said, no point sugar coating it haha.

As we went past Blea Moor signal box, the cloud cover seemed to dissipate from the peak a bit, thankfully, as I wouldn't want to get to the top and not have a view, would I?

 

The going was steady for the beginning, with a few simple stream crossings, that added to the sight seeing I guess. We then hit the hill and slowly wandered up, stopping every now and then to take a breather and take in the views around us.

On the way up, Rixy saw a Collie that looked like Richard Gere. Strangely enough, I saw the resemblance! (I'll point out now that if I told you about ALL the random conversations we had, we would probably be hunted down, put in a straight jacket, and locked in a padded room)

We got a spot of drizzle just before we hung a left, and over the stile.

From my point of view, the going got a bit easier here. Still uphill, but somewhat less strenuous.

I mentioned stopping for a quick snack, and Rixy said 'Just over the next hill then, there's plenty of rocks to sit on'.

When he said plenty, he meant one or two!

 

We sat down and I put my waterproof on, just to keep the wind out. I've been collecting Army ration packs of late, as they are pretty good in my opinion, so I gave the yeast extract, on biscuits brown a go.

NEVER AGAIN! Hell that stuff is foul, I doubt even Bear Grylls would touch it. Fortunately, I have some 'Fruit Spread-Strawberry' as back-up, that went down a treat.

As we were more or less ready for setting off again, it started to hail. Instead of re-packing the waterproof, I kept it on. Good move.

As we trudged on, the hail started coming down, and then the snow flakes.

Now, this may sound a little childish even a little stupid to some people, but it put a HUGE smile on my face. I said to myself that despite the weather, I was going to walk as often as possible, as often as family life allowed. I wanted to walk in snow, it was just something I wanted to do.

When walking as a kid/young teenager with my old man, it was always just Summer walking. I have wanted to do a bit of Winter walking for years, and this was the start of it.

As we wandered further on we stopped to take in the fact that the cloud base was just there, right in front of us, 50 yeards up.

We kept our heads down at this point, as it was getting quite bleak, and cold.

When we hit the summit, it let off a little (but not much). We got into one of the wind breaks up there. There was another couple sat eating their soggy butties.

I had offered to provide the meals, as Rixy had driven, but he decided he didn't want my Curried LAmb.

He announced that he was going to have his Chicken Casserole, at which I think the couple silently scoffed at the idea. That was of course, until the cookers and meals came out. The lady piped up that she thought we were joking. We were deadly serious haha.

We had a bit of a chat, and seriously, if you are reading this, and you are the couple that was up there, it really is part of the fun, part of the adventure.

We set off cooking. Very similar set-ups, gas canister with small burner screwed to the top.

If you have read my blog about Simons Seat (which can be found HERE) you will see that my last idea of cooking was a disaster! Well this time, it was Rixy's turn to need the use of somebody elses gear...mine!

He forgot a lighter, I had a few spares 'just in case'. His cooker was taking forever, so while I was tucking into my Sausage and Beans, he was using my stove to warm his food. Oh, and he borrowed my spare mug for his brew.

We talked on the way up about my idea of packing everything 'just in case', but as you can see, it helps sometimes.

We hurried along, had our snap, had our brew's, and then headed off after checking we had packed everything away, including all our rubbish. (It bugs me when people leave rubbish behind, even the slightest bit, but I can bend over so many times to pick up the odd bottle top, I can only fill so many tight pockets with bits)

We both knew it wouldn't be long before we were back to seeing the fields below, but it was quite windy, and freezing on the face and soaked gloves (note to self, windproof doesn't necesarily mean waterproof!) so we kept our heads down.

Ingleborough

After a short while, there it was...the descent. Oh my god! It was hard work, harder than the ascent. My knees were killing me, but my boots were holding out well and not rubbing.

For those who don't know it, it's a quick drop of about 750ft (very rough estimate) down some steep, stone, man made steps. I can imaging it being deathly in icy conditions.

Fortunately, after probably 20 minutes, it levels off and it's through a few fields and farms, up to the tunnel under the railway, back onto the original path, and then back to the motor.

Happy Rixy

Looking back up towards the peak

All in all, it was pretty easy going, the descent being the hardest part.

The climb up? Yeah, it's kind of hard, but my aim is to get out and climb mountains. I'm under no illusion it will be easy. I don't ever think I will do it stood on my head kin of thing, asI know that is the attitude of silly people.

I'm out to climb physical mountains, and climb personal mountains.

I thoroughly enjoyed the day. It added to my 'bagging list' for 2012/2013, it was a hill I had never hiked before, it also gave me route knowledge for the 3 Peaks Challenge, which we will be doing for charity (probably in October 2012) Near the top of the descent, Rixy showed me the rough route of the 3 Peaks Challenge. It's going to be a killer, but all for a good cause.

Just to add, one of our conversations was about Tele-transportation machines, and whether the useage would be charged pence per mile, with an altitude gain surcharge or not? That's the sort of randomness that I enjoy.

Whernside at the end of the week.

Seing as a couple of us will be doing Whernside at the end of the week, I guessed I would need some more suitable kit.
Happliy, I found a Berghaus 35 Ltr rucksack up in the loft, so I can't overload myself with gear, neither do I have to cram it all into a 25 Ltr rucksack.
I bought a treking pole, even though I should use them in pairs! I also bough some water repellant trousers, Regatta Geo's, which will also keep me warmer than my Nosi-Life's.
I have some gas for my stove, which hasn't arrived yet!!!

I'm looking forward to it, as I haven't done it before, but I understand it's a long slog.
We will be setting off from the Ribblehead Viaduct, and completing the 7.5 mile, 1500ft ascent walk.
I think we're down to just me and Rixy (Jake)
Steve doesn't have suitable gear, Scott will have to be up early (1am) Monday for work, and Jools has family commitments. Brother Dave STILL isn't fit for purpose yet, so he can bloody well behave himself and sit at home haha.

It's the highest of Yorkshire Peaks, and one of the Yorkshire 3 Peaks Challenge, which we are looking to do next year in memory of a friend, and to support the Anthony Nolan Trust, as his family requested.

Yorkshire Dales 3 Peaks Challenge. "Let's just get on with it"

Well, it's with great regret that an Airsoft friend of mine passed away  on Oct 29th, after suffering with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia. You can read a little of his story HERE on the Daily Mail website.

Today is his funeral, but I'm unable to attend due to work commitments, which is quite saddening.

Due to such a sad loss or a great man, and his families wishes for people to support the Anthony Nolan Trust, I am planning, in 2013, to do the Yorkshire Dales 3 Peaks Challenge.
The challenge takes on/around the Pen-Y-Ghent, Ingleborough and Whernside hills in the Yorkshire Dales.
The route will take in 26 miles and 5250ft ascent/descent, all within 12 hours (usually).
With Rob being a 'man of action' though, and always challenging himself to be the best, I may look at shortening this time if I feel it can be done quicker by the team.

I say 'team' as I know that when I let more people know about this, they will join in, I may however just open it to those of Cerberus Airsoft, which is where I know Rob from.

Keep your eyes peeled here, and I shall be advertising the date this is going to happen, as soon as I have plans confirmed.

Simon's Seat...The Return.

Well, we're all back in one piece (each).

It was a hard slog.

In total, there were 5 of us. Steven, Rixy, Scott and Myself set off from Bradford, and met Jools, from Howden, in the Cavendish carpark.

Despite Steve being 15 minutes late, we arrived on time at 10:00. The journey over was filled with giggles, but the weather was trying to put dampners on us.

When we got there, we spent about 20 minutes just milling about, gearing up, and discussing the route. We followed Jools lead, as his map was waterproof, which they hadn't invented 20 years ago when I got my map!

We lost Steve pretty quick, but he then re-appeared, right before out eyes!!!

(NB: He wore his Airsoft gear, the most suitable gear in his possesion, before forking out loads, on kit he may never use again. Fair enough.)

We followed the path up towards Strid Wood, stopping 20 minutes in to re-check the map, get more 'comfortable' and drop a layer.

We were quite sheltered, under the trees, from the poor weather, as it was just a fine drizzle then, but as we approached the edge, towards the bridge, the rain got heavier.

We donned our layers again, and carried on into the open.

Despite the weather, the going was easy, and the view wasn't too bad.

We carried on walking...and talking (which is fine on the level, we'll come to walking, talking AND climbing uphill later!)

We discussed walking, ales, guns etc...proper MAN stuff ;-)

We crossed Barden Bridge and re-checked the map.

At this point, I was guaging how far we had gone, how far we had to go, and how far we HADN'T climbed yet! I knew there was something to come, but it didn't hit until a mile or so later.

Through the farm, over the road, and up the track...UP...UP...UP...and UP. We covered about 800 yeards, then we had to take a breather where the track leveled out to cross a road. That was steep!

What none of us, apart from Jools, realised was what was to come. It got STEEPER!!!

Fortunately the track weaved, which I guess helped, probably.

Steve was lagging a bit, but we kept holding on for him. It wasn't until we were rounding the next corner that we realised how bad it hit him.

Never mind, drop his rucksack and feed him sweets and water, that'll sort him out.

The hill was steep, very steep. After 20 minutes, he was sorted. He had just over exerted himself I thing, maybe we kept the pace a little too fast. Who knows. Either way, he picked himself up (we shared his pack for a bit) and carried on...carried on up. Just as we were nearing the end of the steep climb, there was a gate, a locked gate. Just what we wanted, but we had to climb over it, as it was locked. The obviously slightly more experienced ones climbed over near the hinge end, Scott climbed over the wobbly middle haha.

We were however, all fools.

As we jumped down the other side, we saw the stile...off to one side...hidden behind a wall!

We carried on up the hill, and once again into the open, exposed hillside.

A little further up...

The higher we got, the colder, wetter and less enticing it became. We were nearly there though, just over this next ridge. Surely?

The going was quite tough here. The path was narrow and we all had our heads down, just tramming along.

As we crested the ridge, the going got better, well made paths and a steady incline were well appreciated.

And then...the summit.

We could just see it through the mist. A little further than I expected, but it was there...in sight.

We got our heads down and went for it. The path there was OK, and we all had the summit in our sights.

As we got near, there was an outcrop of rocks...and an alert on Jools' GPS said there was a geocache nearby! He hunted for it, we got some shelter!

It was decided we would have a bite to eat there. Jools and Scott got their butties out, Steve got his Jetboil out (which he was sharing with Rixy), and I got my Dutch Army Meths Stove out.

Little did I know that I would turn to Steve for his Jetboil. By the time my water had started becoming tepid, we had cooked up 3 rat pack meals on Steve's stove...time for me to change mine. (Thanks to Jools for sharing this, if you subscribe to Trail magazine, you get a FREE Primus Solo HERE)By the time our meals had cooked, my water was just warm enough for a quick brew.

We stood around, shivering but having a good laugh and a dig at each other.

The weather was poor, but the spirits were high (even though Jools never found his cache.

We had been stood around in the cold and rain, but sheltered from the wind, for nearly half an hour, so it was time to move on and touch the trig, before heading down.

We did the further 200 yards, and in the weather, it was a bit of a scramble to the trig.

Unfortunately, Steve never made it, and plunged to his death in the clouds below...only joking...he just stayed at the bottom of the scramble as his legs/feet were knackered.

Scott, Myself, and Rixy, at the Trig.

The view from the trig.

From the trig, we chose to go towards Lords Seat, and down past the Grouse Butts. The path was excellent. Man made from big slabs of stone. This was a lovely pasth to walk, after the slog up.

It was pretty uneventful on the way down. We got talking between ourselves about this and that, and just kept going as the weather was worse than ever.

Many things were learnt from the trip out today.

I learnt that, despite the weather, I'll be heading out again.

I have Whernside booked for 18th November ;-)

I also learnt that I need LOTS of new/different kit if I'm venturing out more. I thought my kit would be OK, but it was actually less than adequate.

Steve has already been in touch, to discuss some better kit for himself, which surely mean he has got the bug?

Despite missing Brother David (due to his injury), it was a good set of lads to be out with, and I look forward to more outings soon.

Here's a map of the outing, with some good stats HERE

Simons Seat, take 2, the night before.

Seeing as it's gonna be a cold one, the stove and hot food has been packed.
The rucksack has been changed twice, and all the 'just in-case' kit has been packed.
Hopefully, all will go well tomorrow. We'll keep with timings, get to the top, cook some food, eat said food, then walk round and down.
Mixed in with all this, we'll have a laugh, and get some pics.

Here's that all important weather for the day ahead.

Yorkshire Dales mountain weather forecast - Met Office Mobile Weather

Mountain Rescue Teams.

They are there for a reason.

You'll see that a couple if weeks ago, I blogged about my Brother twisting his ankle at the top of Simon's Seat. Being a grown man (most of the time :D) I wasn't going to force him to call the local MRT (which would have been UWFRA)
Well, I bet he wished he had dented his pride a little now.
Because he chose to hobble down the 3.5 miles, I think he has caused permanent damage.
Physio have decided, that he has severed the ligaments on the outside of his ankle, and they won't repair.
It's not all bad. He can build the muscles up around the ankle, and a bit of physio will sort it out, bit it will be forever weak!

So folks, as bad as you may feel calling your local mountain rescue team out, think of the consequences before continuing to keep your pride.

Simons Seat, the revisit, the build up.

This Sunday (Oct 28th) I will be revisiting Simons Seat, and all being well, completing the circular.

Disabled Dave has bowed out with plenty of notice, as his ankle is still painful to walk on!!!

I have 3 potnetial new victims this week coming though :-)
Scott, Steven and Jake will be joining me.
I have all the confidence in them (maybe not so much Scott though haha) and it should be a good walk round.
I've modified the route up slightly, the route down is still unknown though.
I have studied the map, both paper and online versions, so have a pretty good idea which way we need to be heading etc.
Hopefully, this time next week, I'll have a good write up and some more pictures.

This is the route, running anti-clockwise.


View Untitled in a larger map

Fresh Air...

...Hell yeah! Well, I eventually got out hiking. We (My Brother Disabled Dave and I) decided to attack 'Simon's Seat' near Bolton Abbey. The day started slow, and got slower. Dave was late, and unprepared, and slightly hungover!!! We got to Bolton Abbey car park, got ready, and then set off walking. We headed over the bridge and along the track, then up the hill, which kept going! We're both unfit, we don't deny that, so it took us an hour and half to get up. I reckon we could do it in the hour if we were fitter. When we got to the top, the views were breath taking!

Now, on the way up, I pointed out that it was lovely and warm. The ever helpful Dave said 'Wait until you stop for a minute. It'll be freezing' I knew this, I wasn't daft. This lead me to putting my fleece on as we sat to eat out butties (mine which I had prepared the night before, Dave' which had been bought from Tesco's on the way there!) At this point, Dave said he was cold... We sat there, he drank my coffee and took the piss out of my first aid kit. We ate, we enjoyed the views, and we enjoyed them some more. Before we headed off, we got a pic at the top together, We packed up and made sure we had left no rubbish behind. If you know Simons Seat, you will know it is a rocky outcrop, so imagine a big Bear Grylls style leap from one to another. Dave said he wasn't so stupid and he didn't want to end up on Helicopter Heros (Pride thing, he's a Fire Fighter) This is where it went downhill (pardon the pun, we were heading for descent, and heading for disaster) Dave walked around the rocks while I hung on for him. As he caught me up I turned and put my best foot forward, then heard rustling and swearing behind me!!! I turn up to see him hopping about in agony, having twisted his ankle on a cotton plant (or something equally poor). Out comes the FAK and my Israeli Field Dressings. We had to bandage his ankle up, and then hobble down the way we had come from for 3 HOURS!!! Poor lad has done his ligaments in :D Now, all this pride thing meant he wasn't going to call out the local MRT (UWFRA) which could have made it worse, but we'll never know. As we headed down however, his pride was shattered. His pride was screwed up, swallowed, and farted out into the atmosphere. Upon gaining a small audience (one poor older lady) he told her to be careful and not hurt herself. This is where she exclaimed that she thought I was a kind person taking his disabled mate out for the day. So I bring you, Disabled Dave

I have told him the piss taking will be relentless. He can only redeem himself by getting up to match fitness soon and getting out there with me again!