More Wet Walking

 Clive and Jago set off for Ynys Ettws the CC hut which was the venue for the November meet. A wild windy drive brought us to Nant Peris where an accident had closed the road so we made a long detour round to the Pen y Pass approach. At Pen y Gwryd the police were blocking the road due to a landslide down the pass so we decided to retreat to Helyg where we found 2 family parties who were unable to get to Cwm Glas.

  On Saturday wind and rain were the dominant features in our choice of a walk round the hills behind Llanberis. These were relatively low so would miss the worst of the wind and we had not done them before.

A pleasant path took us to to the col below Foel Goch from where a steep slope led to the summit. Up to the col we had enjoyed dry conditions but now we were exposed to the wind and rain. The ridge then continued over Foel Gron and Moel Eilio from where we descended down the ridge to Llanberis.

 Meanwhile Dennis had arrived at Ynys Ettws early on Friday afternoon and fled from the rain as soon as the pass was open on Saturday morning.
 On Sunday the same weather conditions prevailed so we decided to traverse Creigiau Gleision above Capel Curig and return by the llyn Cowlyd Reservoir which we completed without incident and even got the occasional view.

Get Fit Week-end

I accompanied Colin and Bev up to Langdale on a quickly arranged get fit week end. Arriving Saturday afternoon we made a quick ascent of Loughrig Fell in rain showers. 

On Sunday we headed up the Band and across the climbers traverse towards Bowfell Buttress which was shrouded in mist and where a party of 4 brave souls were preparing to tackle the climb. In the mist we missed the gully by the Great Slab which we intended to take and scrambled up the gully next to the Buttress which brought us out almost on the summit.  The summit still held an accumulation of snow which had fallen the previous day. From Bowfell we headed over to Esk Pike and back to Ore Gap to descend to Angle Tarn and then took in Rosset Pike before dropping down Rosset gill to the valley floor.

Last weekend (24th/25 Oct) I accompanied Clive on a couple of wet walks in the Lake District. We  were on the Langdale meet stopping at the Raw Head FRCC hut. Saturday morning served up an obviously wet day so Clive and I opted to do the Green burn horse shoe starting from the Travellers Rest Pub on the A591 near Grasmere.

We reached the summit cairn of Steel Fell (553m) at 12.30pm during strong winds and heavy rain. So in the best club tradition we agreed to stop for lunch. Once we were comfortably ensconced in Clive's new bothy shelter he nonchalantly commented that he thought the map and bothy storage bag had just blown away. Surprisingly this turned out to be erroneous, as on this occasion he was merely sat on them, nevertheless flashbacks of past experiences triggered by similar comments from Clive momentarily intruded on my consciousness as I chewed my gluten free sandwiches (Mme lovely).
The route then took us SE to Calf Crag (picture of me above) and then down the SW ridge until we reached Helm Crag (405m). Clive claims this is the only Lake District summit that can’t be reached without the use of hands, and although it isn't in the same league as the Inaccessible Pinnacle, it did require a few moments of rock climbing concentration to safely negotiate due to wind and rain suddenly strengthening. Indeed the last section of ridge proved unexpectedly challenging as the wind became quite vicious, but the final descent through woods rich with autumn colours was a seasonal delight. We reached our car at 16.23hrs and returned to the hut just before Nick and Christine arrived after enjoying some shopping in Ambleside. Their day’s ambitions having been limited by an impressive array of injuries acquired whilst playing football and squash.
On Sunday morning Nick and Christine determined to make a tactical withdrawal home in order to recuperate. Clive and I headed to the Rigg Wood car park on Coniston Water’s SW shore, before heading directly up hill through the woods towards the Top o’Selside summit (335m). After a second bothy bag protected lunch stop we attempted to negotiate the mere 3Km to the nearby top marked by the presence of Grizedale Visitor Station. However our efforts were thwarted by the alteration of the woodland landscape since our map was printed – at least that’s our excuse. Despite scrutinizing the map endlessly, referring to compass bearings and consulting Clive’s GPS (a retirement present), and lots of cunning navigational plans, we managed to walk in a complete circle and exited the woods where we‘d previously entered! However we easily salvaged the situation by employing another trusty club tradition on wet days. We retreated for tea and cakes in a Coniston