Snowdonia Oddessy

Lynn and I took advantage of having no daughter around for a week to travel through snow drifts a-plenty up to the delightful town of Beddgelert, just south of the Snowdon massif.  We stayed in a converted cow house, very cosy and supplying all our needs.  The plan was to climb the high mountains, but the unseasonal snow created unstable conditions on the high crags, so we went on some superb low level walks with stunning views of the surrounding mountains.

Lynn's Birthday

Here is a challenge: can you guess what year Lynn has been celebrating on this birthday.  The cake candles give the clue but I warn you, the answer is not easy to determine!

First day, first walk

First day of a new tear and the rain has finally stopped for a while, and this bright yellow thing is shining from the sky.  New day sack in the sales yesterday as Lyds is taking my older one back to university.  So today Lynn and I pulled on our boots, barely dry from the soaking in the Lake district last week and headed out to Gutter Tor, Legis Tor (new one for me), Ditsworthy Warren House (of 'War Horse' fame) and Higher Hartor Tor.  This is an interesting walk with standing stones, stone rows and bronze age hut circles en route.

Christmas in Durham

 This year for the first time in many, many years we spent Christmas away from home.  We drove through the rain up to Durham on Christmas Eve to spend a relaxing few days with my Mum.  From here we zipped across to the Lake District to do a bit of walking the turkey off.  The weather as you can see was very character forming, but a good time was had by all.  Red Tarn at the foot of Helvellyn was our target, the summit being lost in cloud and storm-force winds and very snowy to-boot.  On the way out the next day we had a brief visit to Aira Force, a large waterfall that was very spectacular given the amount of rainfall.

Cairngorm Retreat

Half term, and a plan for Lynn and I to go to Snowdonia was quashed for some reason or other, so in order to gain a few days mountain experience in Scotland, I took a cheap but long coach journey of some 15 hours to Pitlochry, at the southern end of the Cairngorms National Park to spend a night in the Backpackers' Hotel - a characterful place, before venturing onto the hill to experience Scotland's mountains.  A wet first day with very poor visibility although disappointing, did give some good navigation practise.  A very, very, very cold night camping convinced me that one night is enough, so plans were changed to allow me to stay warm in town each night.  Some excellent walking with some superb mountain scenery - once the sun showed itself.

Cold October Moors

An icy spell of weather straight from the Arctic was chilling our bones in a fresh northerly wind as we stepped out of the car in Princetown, ready for our monthly hike on Dartmoor.  The 'we' were Chris, Adrian, Lee and Sparky the dog who followed the Devonport Leat to Nun's Cross.  This was a short walk, as I had to be back in |Dartmouth for a concert that evening, but the clear skies gave stunning views. 

Abbots Way Walk

 Last Sunday saw the occasion of the 50th Abbots Way Walk. So what else to do than pack our day-sacks and head off for the start-line at Buckfast Abbey just in time to hear the dawn chorus.  The team consisted of Lynn (wife of 33 years and one day), who together with Chris Bishop and myself made up the intrepid 'Dartmouth Baptist Church Ramblers'.  At 8am we set off for the moors, climbing, ever climbing until we reached the green and pleasant land they call Dartmoor.  Ten hours later we staggered into Kelly College at Tavistock, proud to be the last-but-one team to finish the gruelling 24 miles.
Well done the team!