Summer '11

So, It's summer time again (Technically I think it is still Spring, but it feels like mid summer already here in Manchester) so here is a summer compilation for the Summer Sunshine '11, and here is one for Summer Evening '11. I hope everyone has a good summer, I have the full intention of making this one as good as '01. Let's us all have another bliner eh? :)

Thirlmere

What a fantastic week! Went to "Thirlspot Farm" and camped for 4 days and generally had a brilliant little time. Me, Greeny, Tom & Boo and Leah & Emma went there. The first thing we did was climb Helvellyn. It made sense seen as we were camped at the bottom of it. We were pretty much up and down in time for lunch! Well, a bit past, but close. Disappointingly, no-one else wanted to do Striding Edge but content with the walk we landed back at the pub which was right next to the campsite (A good bit of serendipitous orchestration if you ask me!). That evening we spent hanging around camp, eating and chatting and being amazed at all the stars that came out. The second day the weather was very overcast and threatening.
We decided to go down to Keswick and get some ice-creams. Found ourselves in a second hand book faire, A climbing shop, a bait and tackle shop and 2 pubs! (not bad for 2 hours). At the pub, a man walked passed with a parrot. I jumped out to take a photo of it, and the parrot decided it liked me, jumped on my arm and perched on my shoulder! (Fully Awesome!!! - "HAPPY PARROT"!).

After picking up a climbing book, we shot over to a bouldering spot on the far side of Thirlmere, only to find out on arrival that is was under water! (there was some tiny writing in the guidebook at the bottom saying that this spot only gets uncovered when the water levels in the reservoir drop!) So after a brief splash about in the water, it was starting to look like rain so we headed back to the campsite.
By the time we arrived it had started to rain, and Tom had the bright idea of constructing a shelter out of the awnings of everyone's tents. Which we sat under and promptly got drunk (on a bottle of Lindersfarn Blackberry Wine, which I must say really is lovely stuff). Once the rain had past, the sky started to clear and began to do some very dramatic things. Everything that was green shone and glowed after the rain. Tom, Stev and I took our fishing stuff down by the lake, along with a large bottle of brandy and caught a few fish! (Yes that's right, I caught my first fish, WooHoo! Although I didn't quite manage to land the sucker, I didn't mind because I was told it was Roach or Perch and couldn't have eaten it anyway.)

The next day we took as a 'day of rest' and walked up to a waterfall that Boo had spotted from the road. It was so nice that we sat around there nearly all day, not really doing anything, just soaking up the sun and relaxing. We landed back at the pub late afternoon and I had Morecambe Bay Potted Shrimp, which was gorgeous! Terminally relaxed, we went back to the lake, but this time with everybody, where Tom caught his first fish! :) (again a Roach or Perch). That night we stayed by the lake till very late and watched the stars come out. The lake went so still that you could see the stars reflected on it. Stunning!

The last day, we packed our tents up and went to the other side of the valley and hiked up Ravens Crag (which was SO steep) but we got a well deserved view when we got to the top! We stayed there for quite a long time, still terminally relaxed from the day before. After that we popped into Keswick, got a sandwich for lunch and then drove up to Castlerigg to see the stone circle. There was a lot of debate, but I am convinced that the stones are supposed to be the surrounding mountains. I could tell instanstly, but apparently the National Trust haven't figured this out yet! (See Picture!)

After this, we drove back thought the lakes, past Winermere and down to Lindale to see my mum, where she fed us all wine and beer and gave everyone presents! The last leg took us home. One of the mose enjoyable weekend for a very very long time.

Thanks Guys! It was Perfect! :)

The First Half of the Rossendale Way

The first half of the Rossendale was hard. We did 20 miles in 11 hours with over 900m of elevation. It was very hard work, incredibly physically tiring, and emotionally draining. My little legs couldn't keep up with my friends so I got mostly left behind. Some of the views were OK, but it wasn't nearly worth all the hassle. 16kg is a lot to be carrying on your back also for a walk like this. We had intended to do the whole 'way' over 2 days, but after the first day, we all decided to give up. Fail!

Tryfan

Tryfan has no paths, at least, no paths worth talking about, at least, no paths that we could find! The road at the bottom of Tryfan runs east west Past Llyn Ogwen (lake), the mountain is south of this. We parked in the east most car park and we arrived in the car it was chucking it down. We sat in the car for a few moments while the weather died down, then donned our waterproofs and started up the mountain and begun our accent up the north ridge. The beginning was like a very steep set of stairs, harsh with no warmup. The clag descended on us after a while and we spent most of the rest of the trip lost. When the scrambling began, so did the hale. We did a lot of walking up to things that were very steep and deciding against it, then a lot of traversing the mountain looking for a reasonably sensible way up. The climbing got difficult at the ice from the hale melted and the ice cold water formed streams that would fall from the rock, down our front and into our boots and we climbed. The cold rock got hard and harder to grip as our fingers began to numb from the cold. The trip was very good for putting the fear of god in us, and reminding us how rotten bad weather climbing can be!
When we finally found Adam and Eve at the summit, we stayed for about 60 seconds, before we began our hurried decent! There was no chance of us even climbing up onto Adam and Eve at the summit because of how slippy the rock had become, the jump didn't even get a lookin!

  Descending off the West face towards Llyn Bochlwyd. 10 minutes of decent, and we had lost the route again, the way we were going was getting steeper and steeper, and in the end we decided to traverse further to the west in hope of finding the route. In a brief moment of clarity, the clouds parted, just enough for us to spot the path off in the distance, before we were wrapped in clag once again.
   I can not describe the overjoyed feeling we got when we found that path. Elated we began to run off the mountain. On the way down we lost the path another 5 or 6 times, and at one point ended up in a lovely peat bog :P.

5 hours after we set off we arrived at the bottom, and I drove myself and my traumatized friends back to Conway, for a well deserved drink down by the bay, a lot more civilized :)

In Conway we had a little walk around the wall, and a sit in the harbour. We also so the smallest house in the world, shown (it has a red front)