Todays walk

[ScotRoutes]

More VeloViewer squares today. I was planning the walk last night and it came to 22km which I thought was a bit much given I've not done high/long for a while. Got it down to 17km but it was nice today I actually went further than planned and ended up with 24km. Crampons & ice axe wielded for the first time in a while too.

[Dean]

More VeloViewer squares today. I was planning the walk last night and it came to 22km which I thought was a bit much given I've not done high/long for a while. Got it down to 17km but it was nice today I actually went further than planned and ended up with 24km. Crampons & ice axe wielded for the first time in a while too.

Sgor Gaoith? Was up there last February on my hands and knees the wind was so strong (views were as good as yours though).

[ScotRoutes]

More VeloViewer squares today. I was planning the walk last night and it came to 22km which I thought was a bit much given I've not done high/long for a while. Got it down to 17km but it was nice today I actually went further than planned and ended up with 24km. Crampons & ice axe wielded for the first time in a while too.

Sgor Gaoith? Was up there last February on my hands and knees the wind was so strong (views were as good as yours though).

Aye that's the peak in the photo, though I wasn't up there today, I was on the ridge north of that and then following the corrie round back to the start point.

[Dean]

More VeloViewer squares today. I was planning the walk last night and it came to 22km which I thought was a bit much given I've not done high/long for a while. Got it down to 17km but it was nice today I actually went further than planned and ended up with 24km. Crampons & ice axe wielded for the first time in a while too.

Sgor Gaoith? Was up there last February on my hands and knees the wind was so strong (views were as good as yours though).

Aye that's the peak in the photo, though I wasn't up there today, I was on the ridge north of that and then following the corrie round back to the start point.

It was not until I was hanging on for dear life on the summit that I realised just how big that mountain is, I have not checked on VV yet but I can imagine how many squares each of those subsidiary peaks and glens cover.

[ScotRoutes]

Yeah - it's a long (but very direct) drop down to Loch Einich

It's an appropriately-named peak.

[Bearlegged]

Up early*, and out into The Peak with the offspring in tow. Mrs Landslide opted to do some fell running while the rest of us bimbled down a hill and back up it via a number of paths of varying bogginess.
I'd (perhaps unwisely) mentioned that we might see deer if we were (a) quiet, and (b) lucky. This, and a bag of mini eggs seemed sufficient motivation for the offspring, along with a bit of tree climbing.
The downhill bit achieved, we set off uphill, following a rocky track. I wondered if Mrs Landslide would appreciate my route setting at this stage. We reached a plateau, which (with the resultant drop in run-off potential) transformed the rocky track into a quagmire. My wonderings turned to near certainty at this point.
But bog was not all this plateau had to offer! Just on the brow of the hill, some deer appeared! We'd achieved (b)! And the offspring also managed (a)!! We squelched quietly along the track, getting closer to the herd, maybe a dozen hinds keeping a wary eye on us, overseen by quite a young stag.
At this point, Mrs Landslide appeared, heading down the hill towards us. Apparently, she'd had a great time, hadn't lost her shoes in any bogs, had rather enjoyed picking her way up rocky tracks, and had treated the moorlands to a spot of Eurovision karaoke while she was at it.
Great to be out before the hordes descended, and the offspring are suitably worn out for the day. Saves me from being badgered to play football with them...

* by our usual weekend standards.

[Bearlegged]

Weltschmerz well and truly took over today. I had a chat with my manager at work, we agreed I should log off for the day, and I headed out to the local hills and moors.

It was pretty bright, definitely windy, and though I didn't find a cure for what ails me, I did find relief from the symptoms.

A decent distance, a couple of stops for a bit of pork pie and some hot chocolate from my flask, and a carrier bag full of other folks' rubbish by the time I'd finished.

Pics here, including some very jazzy fungi.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CMxeIcABmo7/

[summittoppler]

Made the short walk over to Conwy last night. The castle was lit up 'yellow' for the C anniversary.
Surprisingly it was quiet out.
20210323_202050 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

[Verena]

Made the short walk over to Conwy last night. The castle was lit up 'yellow' for the C anniversary.
Surprisingly it was quiet out.
20210323_202050 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Looks stunning. Never been, but it's on the list. For my third-time-lucky (??) May self catering holiday on Anglesey.... although now they've gone and made a local outbreak in Holyhead FFS - hopefully that will be under control by then..

[summittoppler]

Looks stunning. Never been, but it's on the list. For my third-time-lucky (??) May self catering holiday on Anglesey.... although now they've gone and made a local outbreak in Holyhead FFS - hopefully that will be under control by then..

Yeas Conwy is gorgeous, I'm lucky to live just over 1 mile from there so. I do miss an evenings pint after the short walk there. Definitely worth a visit. There's some really nice places on the island too. Let me know if you need a local's input on where to go

[Verena]

Cheers, will do

[ScotRoutes]

A short local walk today, most of which I'd previously done by bike (we descended a trail called "Cake or Death" which some folk might know). The difference today was to carry on where we'd normally turn off to a wee hill I'd not been up previously.



Not too shabby. That photo is now the background on my PC

[Alan63]

Great to be back on the hills. Ticked off the Corbett Ben Stacath near Balquhidder. Weather wasn't great but who cares.

[Boab]

Went for a lunchtime wander to try out the pinhole camera I bought earlier in the year. Only 5KM, but am now totes knackered...





Only took six shots, which is what the MOD54 film holder can process in one go. So hopefully I can get them processed this weekend, before a trip to London on Monday, where I'm planning on spending the morning taking photos.

[PaulE]

Absolutely beautiful walk today - mini-expedition with 25 scouts, walking from Dore near Sheffield, up the surprisingly unknown Hoindkirk hill, along the top of Burbage edge and back the scenic route to home. Amazingly clear crisp day, about -1°C with plenty of ice. All kids are tired and happy, no incidents and a great day out.

20231202_104315.jpg (78.92 KiB) Viewed 11941 times

Shorter, darker but also great walk to the scout hut we were sleeping at last night went well too...

[Tractionman]

couldn't get my son's new bike on the Passat this afternoon without some roof bar adjustment so we went for a walk instead in the Belfast Hills, gorgeous weather if a bit blowy

IMG-20231228-WA0002.jpg (106.06 KiB) Viewed 11480 times

[thenorthwind]

Went for a wander round the hills today and was once again reminded of the importance of G(ing)TFO. The forecast was good and I knew I needed to get out in the hills, but riding to them on the same old roads didn't appeal and neither did any of the XC routes I could think of, so decided to drive and walk instead.

I thought I'd wander up to a loch ("lough" locally) I've not been to. A 4 mile loop from the road and no obvious alternatives or excursions, so I wasn't expecting much of an adventure, just a pleasant walk. Packed a sandwich, stove and coffee, monocular and bird book.

I decided for a change to take the paper map and keep the GPS in my rucksack to lubricate the rusty navigational brain cogs.

The walk up to the lough and accompanying "summit" and trig point was enjoyable, but I fancied a bit more exploring, so headed off-piste across the boggy heathery moor riven with burns in search of a cave in some crags marked on the map.

Having reached a point directly across the valley from the crags, I didn't fancy dropping any further down, it being hard enough going downwards let alone coming back up, and the valley was thickly wooded further down.

I retraced my steps out of the valley, occasionally hauling myself up by the thick heather and jumping some deep, well-hidden burns. I was following the paths of old muirburn (I don't necessarily agree with the reasons for it, but it doesn't half make walking easier) along the craggy edge of the valley when I realised my map was no longer in my pocket Clearly it must have fallen out during one of the more gymnastic bits of my route, and retracing my steps (and stumbles) I managed to find it.

Before I rejoined the path, I found a spot by a lively burn and ate my sandwich, reflecting on the how it's always worth getting out, even when expectations or motivation are low. I remembered how to read a map, rather than just following a line, found somewhere that could genuinely be described as inaccessible (almost), and gave my hip flexors a damn good work out. All in, in the end, about 6 miles.

[whitestone]

I headed up into the Dales to fill in some VeloViewer squares - any human powered activity can contribute and some of my missing squares are all but impossible to get to by bike. I'd a big block of seven contiguous squares at the head of Littondale.

I parked at Halton Gill at the top end of Littondale and headed up the dale towards Cosh Farm http://streetmap.co.uk/map?X=385655&Y=478074&A=Y&Z=120. Cosh and Foxup becks are the two main tributaries to the River Skirfare which flows down Littondale to join the Wharfe at Kilnsey. If anyone has done the "Tour of Penyghent" MTB route then they'll have ridden down the valley containing Foxup Beck, however the valley containing the Cosh is somewhat secretive and all but hidden from view. There's no public or private thoroughfare of any kind through the valley so very much a backwater. There's a few caves/potholes marked on the map but I don't know much about them, certainly not among the better known systems in the Dales.

A bit of road then turn off along a farm track alongside Cosh Beck. In a short while I ignored the footpath on the west side of the valley and kept to the main track that led to the farm. Almost as soon as the gradient steepened it became obvious that the track was very washed out, you'd get up here in a 4x4 or quadbike but not much else. A bit odd as the gravel on the track looked pretty new with little if any grass or vegetation pushing through it. As I plodded on there were more and more washed out sections, in some instances the plastic pipes used to channel water under the track had simply been washed away. Obviously this winter's storms had done their worst.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I reached the farm - it was in a hollow and you could just see the roofs when approaching. The state of the track was both new but essentially unusable. A cattle grid was blocked by a pair of hurdles that hadn't been moved in a while. But, there was a newish wind turbine and solar panels on the roof of one of the buildings. So it was quite a surprise to find a well built house and barn with a pair of very ornate gate posts at the yard entrance. The place was empty and didn't looked lived in. The building with solar panels looked like it was a field centre/dormitory setup. All very weird.

The track now became a quad bike track through rushes and led past another barn/shippon. What was strange was that none of the old fields looked particularly workable or likely to produce crops.

At the head of the valley it was a short steep pull onto the ridge and a bit of lunch behind an old wall to get out of the wind. This wall would basically be my companion until near the end of the walk. I was now at the high point of the walk, a mighty 602m above that there sea level. Butty consumed I carried on. The problem with many of these "ridges" is that they are basically bog sat on top of a hill so there was a lot of squelching underfoot.

Further south on this ridge there are three BWs that cross it. They are all pretty much winch up, plummet down from whichever side you approach them. The northernmost is Horse Head Gate which I've done on one of Stu Rider's YD200 routes. Before I got there a footpath between Beckermonds and Halton Gill also crossed the ridge and I decided to head down this. It was actually quite a bit drier than the ridge and would make a good MTB descent apart from a couple of stiles and a very new barbed wire fence.

Just before I got back to the car there was the first person I'd seen since setting off. A bit of chatting: Cosh Farm certainly was a farm, someone took it over and tried to set up a bunkhouse business but did the conversion without planning permission so nothing came to that, hence the field centre look. The place was sold last year via bit of a bidding frenzy and ended up going for £600k The gravel on the track is new as national park rules won't let them concrete it (the track is over 2 miles long so might cost them another £600k to do that anyway). Certainly going to be an "off grid" experience for the new owners, there aren't many properties in the southern part of the Dales at least that are as remote.

[riderdown]

The track now became a quad bike track through rushes and led past another barn/shippon. What was strange was that none of the old fields looked particularly workable or likely to produce crops.

Farming subsidies, this type of grassland is important for ground nesting birds and if unimproved probably has numerous rare species of invertebrates and plants

[whitestone]

It was last a working farm forty or fifty years ago. By 2000, possibly earlier, it was derelict and was renovated in 2006.

The walls of the in-bye fields are in a very poor state indicating a long time since they were worked. These would be the most likely to be kept in good condition.

I Need to do a bit of research

[whitestone]

More Veloviewer tile grabbing...

This time at the top of Waddington/Easington Fell I'd three squares in a row to visit. On the way up the long road climb I passed three cyclists. I was just getting ready to set off and one of them pulled up - John Allen of this parish! So a bit of a chat before I headed across the boggy moor. No great interest in the terrain but some nice views.

Didn't increase my max square but filled in a hole that will allow a big increase when another couple of holes are filled in.

[Johnallan]

Good to see you Bob!

It looked a fairly bleak patch of land you were heading across, but a lovely day for it.

Unfortunately the cafe we were heading to in Slaidburn had shut down, but a coffee and sandwich from the nearby post office was a reasonable substitute.

[whitestone]

Unfortunately the cafe we were heading to in Slaidburn had shut down, but a coffee and sandwich from the nearby post office was a reasonable substitute.

Sad to hear about the café, there's a lot that's shut down in the last couple of years so things are getting a bit thin. Dunno what your route was but the next one is the Old Vicarage at Tosside. There's a good café on the main junction in Gisburn.

[fatbikephil]

A bit of packraft action today, first time walking and boating on Lower and Upper Glen Devon Reservoir so good practice inflating and deflating boat. A lovely clear and fairly still day made for some very pleasant paddling (i.e. sitting in a boat in the middle of a pond watching the view)



This is actually one of my GR's from last weekend - I only looked at it on the ride, today I floated over the top of it. On reviewing my track on the OS app, I was amused to see I'd paddled over land, a wall and various rocks, when viewed on aerial photos which must have been captured during a drought!

Overnighter next I guess

[gecko76]

Excellent