I worked on Sunday so I could walk today, Monday. I’m no idiot. There were reasons for this.
The picture is taken in the valley of Yewdale, north of Coniston in the Lake District. The fell in the background is Wetherlam. And an appearance for the moon, too — hiding away among a couple of similar little fluffy clouds, which is as aggressive as the sky got all day.
I guess there’s all sorts of metaphorical and analogical interpretations which could be put on the title of this post, but it’s all literal — these people (and obviously, myself) were engaged this morning on the climb of the steep south slope of the hill known as The Law, just outside the little town of Tillicoultry, which is visible below. Why? On a day of glorious sunshine like this, why not?
Lingcomb Edge is the north-western buttress of the fell of Red Pike, above Buttermere. As I took a shot of the broader panorama, I noticed the three walkers (I’m pretty sure there are three) way over there and zoomed in as much as I could. I like the way the viewpoint has formed the hills and moors behind into waves, curling around the contours of the land.
And no, I wasn’t at work today. If you’d seen the weather you’d understand why. I worked Sunday. Honest.
One last chance to get away from it all before teaching starts, and if one is going to get away, the Shap Fells, in the far east of the Lake District, is certainly the place to do this. Two days’ walking (of which today was the first), over 24 miles, and I saw more deer (three) than people (none). High House Bank is the easternmost Wainwright and rises attractively over the valley of Borrowdale below (this is not the Borrowdale you’ve heard of, by the way).
This isn’t quite the summit of Grisedale Pike, which at 2,593′ above sea level, commands a prospect that range from the Pennines (visible in the background of this shot) to the hills of southern Scotland. But you get the gist, even from this slightly less elevated position. I did have a cute shot from within the woods of Whinlatter below, but let’s get expansive. I spent too much time today tramping round under cover of trees — I want some fresh air and views.
I had to get myself out into some fresh air — the thunderstorms, which have been a constant presence for days, also relented. The sheep seem still to suspect me of some nefarious and unstated crime however. There was a lot of this today; sheep were definitely the dominant lifeform in the region.
Ben Nevis is a mountain of two sides, for sure. On the south side, a vast but rather dull slope up which hundreds toil daily; the payoff for climbing continuously for three hours being the chance to attain the status of Most Elevated Person in Great Britain, at 4,411 feet (or 1,345 metres). We secured this goal at 11.24am.
But going up that way doesn’t show you the other side, the North Face, with its stupendous crags and (after the tourist path) blissful sollitude. This is the connoisseur’s side of the mountain, the place where you can really look up and feel, yep: this is the culminating point of the whole country, it really doesn’t get any bigger than this.
A warm and sunny day, too warm really to be out yomping another ten miles over the Lake District, but I think I survived it. The foxgloves were certainly relishing it. Pictured on the descent of Steel Fell, which is up there to the right, and above the valley of Greenburn Bottom (a name, which if unpicked, could result in all sorts of images).
24 hours in Holyhead, Anglesey, planned around the enjoyment of two of my principal leisure pursuits. The footie was yesterday, the walk today. As you can see, the weather was… pretty decent. I seem not to be able to resist the temptation to collect places, and for a while have been preparing to set out to bag the highest points in all the counties of Great Britain, and with Holyhead Mountain, this, almost accidentally, kicks it off… so out spurts another blog, which you may or may not like to check out. While you’re here though, is it me or does that trig point look like the robot from The Day the Earth Stood Still?
Decent weather was forecast for the first time in three weeks and lo, it delivered. I had to get out and expand my horizons somewhat, and the Lake District is a fine place to expand them. This is the view from Low Fell, one of A. Wainwrights Western Fells. The lake is Crummock Water, the two big hills Whiteside to the left, and Grasmoor.
