02 December 2007
Festive spirit
Too many festive spirits last night so feeling like a bear with a sore head and looking out the window at this awful, dreary December weather glad not to be out on the hills.
Since my trip to Malham I haven't done much walking at all.
Although b-f and I did make it to Parlick Hill and watched in awe as paragliders took to the air metres above us. Last year I bought b-f a paragliding voucher but he never used it and we sold it back to the company... Shame! Perhaps another time.
Then at the end of October b-f and I went up to the Cairngorms. We had planned to do lots of walking but were both completely exhausted by the time we arrived. We did a couple of short hikes but I left wanting to go back and bag some bigger peaks.
I also took my mum, who has lived in or near Ilkley her whole life, to some parts of Ilkley moor she had never been to.
Mum, like so many Ikley moor dog walkers, prefers a 20 minute quick circle and back to the car, which usually takes you about as far as the first ridge, but not high enough to get the views over Airedale (i.e. the whole of Leeds and Bradford) and the view looking north past Blubberhouses and to Harrogate.
So in all her 60 something years she has never seen the best bits.
I leave you with a picture from one of our Autumn walks on Ikley moor, taken in early November 2007. The sunset was pretty special.
08 June 2007
WwW #8 Malham
Last weekend I went to Malham, and so did everybody else, or so it seemed at the time.
It was Malham safari weekend but I wasn't there for the weird and wonderful mishapen animals and aliens... hence no pictures of those.
I started the walk from the National Park centre, where I got a map - and followed a well beaten path to Gordale Scar, Malham Tarn and Malham Cove.
It was superb, but I would prefer to do it in Winter - as less people would have been a bonus.
Anyway, here are some pictures of the walk, starting with the campsite at the entrance to Gordale Scar, of the famous James Ward picture, 1811.
Then on into the Scar...
back out again, and up along a ridge passed Malham cove and to Malham tarn...
then along the top and down to Malham cove...
When I got near to the Cove, I realised there were dozens of people all with the latest climbing gear, attempting to climb the cove. This has got to be one of the best and most difficult places to go if you're a climber. Obviously a regular haunt for the initiated - there's even a campsite nearby which seemed to be where they were heading back to after...
There was one girl who got really high up while I was there...
Can you make her out on this picture on the right?
Heading back into Malham, I took one last picture of the Cove.... in some way trying to imprint that view on my brain forever, or until the next Malham adventure.
And now it's Friday night and the walking urge is upon me again - where to Winston?
02 June 2007
WwW #7 Skafell pike
We spent Saturday hauling ourselves up Skafell pike (James, Matt, Chris, Ruth, Winston and me - plus 100s of other dedicated walkers, fell runners, novices and dogs).
It was a welcome escape from the campsite - neighbours from hell, and a great first look at the lake district from on high.
(I must have visited the Lakes dozens of times, but not since I was a kid and only at lake level. We used to go up to windermere and sail the shrimper my dad and his friend had.)
The climb itself was long, it is just a few metres off the height of Snowdon - 978m I think, so I should have realised that it would take a while.
But we were blessed with good weather, the best all B H weekend, and stunning views of Wast Water and the Irish Sea/ the Atlantic? off to the west.
Winston provided lots of entertainment, as usual, and by the end of the walk more people knew his name than my whole family and freidns combined.
The next day we drove over Hard Knott pass, as did every other man, woman and child, it seemed, in the Lakes that day.
Too many cars for that little windy road- we had to keep stopping and reversing, swearing at motorists who couldn't understand how big the road was/ their cars were - and therefore couldn't calculate that they hadn't left enough spaced for uncoming traffic.
So we listened to Star Wars for a while and I flicked through a Lake District guide someone had left on my desk at work the week before. It had an article about Wainwright and his epic 214 fells all documented in his special walking guides. I felt the tingle of a challenge coming on.
How long would it take me to climb all those fells? One little girl of 8 had done it in a matter of months, surely it couldn't be that hard.....But then again perhaps I should start with all the fells in Lancashire as they are a bit easier to reach.
More pics from last weekend:
19 April 2007
Walks with Winston # 6 - the Howgills
I made it to the Howgills. Barry, who I met on the Lancs LDWA walk in
Februa
ry, suggested I go, so I can now proudly say that I have.Steep doesn't describe this hill I walked up to get onto a plateau that led to the famous 'Calf' trig point near the village of Sedbergh, N Yorks.
I don't usually swear when I walk up hills. (I walk up hills for fun, every weekend, so why would I swear?) But this time I did:
"Josephine, get your fat arse up this bloody hill ..... come on woman!!!" and other less tame phrases came out of my mouth as I sweated and sidestepped my way to the top.
Even Winston looked at me as if I was torturing him. And he weighs all but 8 kilos and is a fit canine who shoould have no trouble climbing a hill.
At one point, about half way up and 30 minutes in, and after I had rested for a bit to get my breath back, I stood up and said 'Come on Winston' , and he started trotting down hill as if the torture had finally come to an end and he could now benefit from the gravitational pull back to the car and home again....ahhhh.
He didn't look impressed when I said 'No, this way...' and carried on hauling my body up the nearly vertical hill-face.
When it started to level out again I noticed something which made me feel less tough for conquering that climb.
One by one a group of mountain bikers walked over the brow of a similar hill with their mountain bikes slung over their shoulders.
On reaching the group I sat down for a cordial 'hello, nice day isn't it?' and was asked by one what the hell was I doing up there on a Saturday afternoon. I asked the same of him.
After the tough bit, I began to enjoy being so high up and in glorious sunshine. I even got a suntan - in April in the UK. Is that normal?
In fact the weather has been like summer for more than a week now, which makes you question how fast our climate changing.
10 March 2007
Now that's one chilled out beer!
The beer my boyfriend forgot -as seen this Saturday morning, 10 March.
Labels: frozen beer
01 March 2007
many days have past
I can't believe so much time has past since I last blogged.To be fair, I haven't been able to log in for a while.
I eventually got fed up of receiving incorrect password messages and being directed round in circles. I found the blogger group forum on google but have not checked it for replies to my pleas for help. Then, today I log in, and am directed to the reset password page -yeah!
What is going on with blogger?
Anyhows, I have been on some walks since 3 Feb, namely 'the big one' - the LDWA Anglezarke Amble which took place in horrible driving sleet and sub-zero temperatures but then improved as the snow stopped falling, a man called Barry lent me some gloves, and I walked with a kindly group from Preston to chat away the hours.
I videoed it for the lep, as part of our live in hope campaign against domestic violence: you can watch the video here.
Then last weekend I discovered Knott End opposite Fleetwood on the Wyre coast.
Here are some pictures:
This walk goes in a circle from Knott End on Sea inland for a couple of miles before swinging back round to meet the salt marshes and the golf club! (Why is this underlined?)
Lots of compliments about Winston, our new addition. I'm beginning to think he has some magical charm or something.He enjoys his walks in the country. Gets so excited before a walk. Takes to flying around the house until I can let him out...
Little and large...
More photos later, as it has taken a very long time to publish these - thanks for the error messages blogger!
03 February 2007
The one before the big one
It being Saturday and, also, it being just one week from my Anglezarke Amble Challenge, a 16 mile walk over Anglezarke and Rivington moors (to raise money for the LEP's 'live in hope' campaign against domestic violence), I went off to discover Anglezarke and see what delights lay instore.I wasn't expecting a great deal, partly due to it being early February, and partly it's location:
It's next to Chorley and band smack next to the M61. So while you may not always see the motorway, you can always hear it. And, as I spent the journey there listening to a program about people who suffer from low level background noise, I was all to aware of how difficult it is to block it out.
Anyhow, it didn't quite turn out how I expected. As I started to climb onto the moor, I found myself in dazzling sunlight, and it was warm. Not just 'above zero and not freezing warm', but actually warm. So warm that I walked in a vest and t-shirt for much of the way.
So with my headache and lack of sleep forgotten and Winston in his element, I carried on up and up. And the higher I got the more beautiful it was: the track passing ruined homesteads and offering views across to North Lancashire, West Yorkshire and Winter Hill - the one with the huge TV masts.
I looked back to Anglezarke reservoir and the motorway, a distant hum by then, but I couldn't see either, as the whole valley was blanketed in fog.
The sunshine really made it special, so even when it was wet and boggy underfoot, the light was fantastic and the views endless.
The walk continued across the moors turning, right and then right again, which eventually brought me back to the reservoir and the fog, and then right again along the edge of the reservoir and back to the car.
I forgot my camera, but will surely take it next week so watch this space. I only hope it's bright and sunny again!
Walking blogs in the UK...
...are there any?I've been looking for some blogs that focus on walking: where to do it (trails and areas etc), tips and advice, and amusing walking stories.... I'd like to find one but if I don't, I think Josie-blogs is going to become one as walking is what I do most in my free time, apart from cooking and cleaning (which don't merit blogging).
Ofcourse there's the other half and the dog, which will feature as they crop up in stories and accoutns now and then...
And then there's 'my life in Preston', but let's face it - I don't go out in Preston - so why write about what I know nothing about. (If you are reading this and are from Preston and know of any LIVE music going on then I may reconsider - jazz, funk, drum n'bass, irish, folk, classical... I like it all!
So, it seems, as a process of elimiation, walking is what I do most, best and what inspires me to greater things (how romantic!)