Hill Walking

Wainright Walk 17 – Castle Crag

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Standing at 290 metres, Castle Crag is the smallest fell in Alfred Wainwright’s pictorial guides.  However, what it lacks in height, it more than makes up for in character.  I’ve walked up Castle Crag a few times, and know how lovely yet interesting it is, so when my Mum decided to join me and Rowan for her first Lakeland hill walk, it seemed like the perfect choice.  And given that the route I’d planned took us to, what Alfred Wainwright described as, the loveliest square mile in Lakeland, we were in for a brilliant day out.

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Goat Fell – The Mountain Goat and the Eagle?

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Standing at 2,866 feet, Goat Fell is the highest mountain on Arran.  On our first visit to the island, we decided against trying to reach the summit.  It would have been by far the furthest and highest Rowan had walked, so we didn’t want to over-do it and potentially put him off days out in the mountains.  But for our latest visit, and with Birkhouse Moor under his belt, we decided he would probably be ok.  We just needed a decent mountain forecast during the week – and we were in luck.

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Wainwright Walk 16 – Bowfell and Rossett Pike

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I love it when someone goes hill walking for the first time and gets the bug.  After walking the Langdale Pikes and the Old Man of Coniston, I was out with Beth again, this time to tackle Bowfell on another hot day.  Nigel also joined us as we set off early from Manchester to arrive at the National Trust car park by the Old Dungeon Ghyll pub (LA22 9JY) by about 10 am.  After toilet stop and a check to ensure plentiful supplies of suntan lotion, we set off towards Stool End (snigger) farm.  Our route would take us along both the valleys we could see, but whilst the tops of Mickleden were clear, clouds shrouded Crinkle Crags at the head of Oxendale.

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Wainwright Walk 15 – Birkhouse Moor and Red Tarn

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You may remember from my first Wainwright walk post, Cold Pike and Pike o’Blisco, we used to get around the Lakes in Old Peg, our brilliant old campervan.  We’ve missed having a van so last year, after much scrolling through eBay, we bought Tormund the Transit.  And our first trip (after the back garden) – the Lake District.  Travelling up on Friday night, we stayed at Sykeside Camping Park and after tea in the pub and a wander down the lane at the back of the site, we settled in for the night.

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Coire Fhionn Lochan – Going Off Piste

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Most of my previous walking has been done in the Lake District.  When I open the OS map to plan a walk, it is criss-crossed with green and black dashed lines indicating footpaths and right of ways.  This was not the case when I opened a map of Arran.  Contours and streams were there, and lots of other symbols, lines and colours that make maps so brilliant to look at – but not too many footpaths.  I guess the Scottish Outdoor Access Code means that much of the landscape is one big right of way (within reason).  But it came as a bit of a shock when I was trying to plan a day in the hills for us.  After consulting my guide book, I decided that Coire Fhionn Lochan would be the walk for us.

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Wainwright Walk 12- The Langdale Pikes

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After listening to me harping on about walking in the Lakes, my friend Beth decided she would like to go hill walking.  As it would be her first walk, we wanted something with not too many miles, but at the same time, managing to satisfy Beth’s motto of “go big or go home”.  The Langdale Pikes with their stunning scenery and little bits of scrambling opportunity were hopefully, going to be the perfect walk.  So, joined by Angela, we set off early one Saturday morning in July.

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Navigation – For the Love of Maps

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You may have noticed from some of my blog posts that, occasionally, I get a little confused with my navigation.  From taking a bearing with the direction of travel arrow pointing in the opposite direction and squinting to try and find paths I can see in the real world but not on the map, to just generally doubting my map reading and decisions – I decided it was time to do something about it and booked myself on not one, but two navigation courses.

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Wainwright Walk 10 – Dollywagon Pike to White Side

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Earlier this year, whilst Rowan was off gallivanting with his Anma and Grandpa, Rick and I decided to go for a big walk.  Rick had always fancied climbing Helvellyn, preferably by the edges, but we were taking Rocky and Pebble with us.  A few years back, during a walk by a local canal, they had both fallen in, so Striding Edge was deemed to be just n0t suitable for our giddy furry pair.  Instead, we decided walk the Helvellyn range, south to north for a brilliant high level walk.

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