Win Hill at Dusk

Tuesday 8th April 2014

An evening walk up the steep side of Win Hill 

Distance: 5.5km; Ascent: 320m; Dry with a cool breeze; Solo

See tracked route in new window

After last Tuesday's pleasant evening walk up Shining Tor, I decided to head out for another walk this Tuesday evening and settled on Win Hill from Yorkshire Bridge.  I set off walking from the main round shortly before half-past seven and headed downhill to Yorkshire Bridge to begin the ascent up footpath number 408.

Footpath sign at the bottom of Parkin Clough

The climb up through the woods was steep and muddy, but around 30 minutes later I was rewarded with good views from the trigpoint on the summit of Win Hill (HuMP).  There were already three other people on the summit when I arrived, who appeared to have been photographing the sunset (which I unfortuantely was around ten minutes to late to see!).

Ladybower Reservoir from Win Hill

Win Hill at dusk

Win Hill trigpoint at dusk

After a short break on the summit to admire the extensive views in the last light of the day I headed a short distance west along the ridge to pick up a narrow path through the heather, heading NE to the edge of the forest.  By the light of my headtorch I descended muddy paths and tracks through the woods to reach the track along the shore of Ladybower Reservoir, whose dam I then crossed to return to my car shortly after 9pm after another nice evening hill-walk :-)

Footpath sign north of Win Hill

Tryfan, Glyder Fach and Castell y Gwynt

Saturday 15th March 2014 

An afternoon scramble up the north ridge of Tryfan, onto Glyder Fach and down Y Gribin 

Distance: 6.5km; Ascent: 940m; Windy with much low cloud; with Colin

See tracked route in new window

After this morning's short walk we drove around to the Ogwen Valley where we had lunch in the car before setting off to ascend Tryfan.  It had been a while since I'd last scrambled up the north ridge and it was nice to return to ground that I used to be very familiar with ten or so years ago.

Llyn Ogwen

Colin headed off to solo an obscure rock climb whilst I ascended the reasonable path, past the Milestone Buttress, to the start of the scrambling where we met up again. The scrambling was pleasant, and it was nice to be scrambling again for the first time since I was on Skye a couple of years ago.

On Tryfan's North Ridge

Soon we reached the Cannon Stone - I wonder how it got it's name! ;)  We continued on up into the cloud to eventually reach the summit of Tryfan (Marilyn, Nuttall) at around the same time as a large party of climbers who had presumably been climbing one of the classic routes on the east face.

Inspecting the view from the Cannon Stone 

Adam & Eve on the summit of Tryfan

After a short rest on the summit we made our way down the south ridge to reach Bwlch Tryfan, where we dropped below the clouds.  By now it was very windy so we decided against our original plan of scrambling of up Bristly Ridge and instead opted to make our way up the unpleasant scree path to reach the summit rocks of Glyder Fach (Nuttall), just as the cloud was beginning to lift off the summits (although low cloud remained in the cwms).

Looking across Bwlch Tryfan to Bristly Ridge

Cloud lifting off Y Foel Goch

Looking down towards Nant Ffrancon from Glyder Fach

Tryfan from Glyder Fach

Looking NE from Glyder Fach

Pen yr Ole Wen and Tryfan

It was a short walk across the rocky summit plateau to reach the main objective for this afternoon: the impressive spiky rocks of Castell y Gwynt (Nuttall).  A pleasant short scramble took us to the highest rocks of the peak, which was my penultimate 2000ft peak in Wales.

Castell y Gwynt

On the summit of Castell y Gwynt

By now time was getting on so we opted for a reasonably quick descent back down to the valley by way of the pleasant Gribin Ridge down to the outflow of Llyn Bochlwyd.  We then made our way back to the road in fading light, reaching the car shortly after 7pm after a very pleasant afternoon :-)  That evening we headed round to the Llanberis Pass to stay in a nice Climbers' Club hut, where we enjoyed a pasta dinner followed by a couple of drams :-)

Looking down the Gribin Ridge

Last light of the day over the Devil's Kitchen

Foel Boeth & Gallt y Daren

Saturday 15th March 2014 

A short walk up a couple of Nuttalls from the road pass 

Distance: 3km; Ascent: 90m; Sunny and windy; with Colin

See tracked route in new window

Colin and I had originally planned to head up to the highlands this weekend for a spot of Munro bagging.  However the weather forecast for the highlands didn't inspire us to take the long drive north and so instead we hatched a plan to head over to Snowdonia for the weekend with the aim of climbing my final four Welsh 2000ft peaks.

The Rhinogs from the S slopes of Foel Boeth

Heading towards Foel Boeth

We set off walking from the summit of a minor road west of Bala Lake shortly after 10am and headed over the moorland to reach the top of our first hill of the day: Foel Boeth (Nuttall).  It was pleasantly sunny here today, although there was a bitter wind.  Many of the higher hills were covered in cloud, although there were good views towards the Rhinogs.

On the summit of Foel Boeth

Looking E towards Arenig Fawr and Moel Llyfnant

We continued NNW for a few hundred metres to reach the slightly higher summit of Gallt y Daren (Nuttall, HuMP), where it was even more windy!  We didn't linger here long and soon retraced our steps back to the car, where we arrived around an hour after setting off.  It was now time to head round to the Ogwen valley for our second walk of the day...

On the summit of Gallt y Daren

The Rhinogs from the road pass

Shining Tor at Dusk

Tuesday 1st April 2014 

An evening walk up Shining Tor in the western Peak District 

Distance: 6km; Ascent: 280m; Dry with light winds; Solo

See tracked route in new window

Now that the Spring Equinox had passed and the clocks have gone forward, it's now possible to head out for a hill walk in the light evenings after work :-)  Therefore this evening at 7pm I set off walking from beside Errwood Reservoir and ascended westwards past the ruins of Errwood Hall.

Errwood Reservoir

Ruins of Errwood Hall

I've climbed Shining Tor many times before, but today I noticed a route of ascent I hadn't used before and hence set off climbing up a zig-zagging vehicle track through the woods to the west of Errwood Hall.  I gained height quickly, with good views back westwards to the moors on the far side of the reservoirs, and soon reached the end of the vehicle track shortly after leaving the woods.

Looking east towards Combs Edge

Looking N along the ridge to Cats Tor

I followed a path westwards to meet the main slabbed path along the north ridge of Shining Tor, with good views north towards Cats Tor.  I had arrived on the ridge shortly before sunset, so I spent a few minutes taking a few snaps before continuing on to the summit and trigpoint on Shining Tor (Marilyn, Dewey).

Dusk skies from Shining Tor ridge

Sunset from Shining Tor ridge

Sunset from Shining Tor ridge

Shining Tor trigpoint

After a quick break on the summit I headed SE towards Stake Side before following the pleasant ridge NNE down towards Errwood Reservoir in fading light.  Around half way down I resorted to using my head torch as it was now getting quite dark.  I reached the car at around twenty to nine after a pleasant 6km evening hill walk.

A Moorland Walk in Lyme Park

Friday 14th February 2014 

A windy walk in and around Lyme Park on the western edge of the Peak District 

Distance: 15km; Ascent: 420m; Very windy - heavy rain later; with Lynsey

See tracked route in new window

It had been some time since Lynsey & I had been out for a decent hill walk together, so we were determined to take advantage of a child-free day today to get out for a walk.  Unfortunately however the weather had other ideas!  Therefore due to the strong winds forecast we decided to go for a slightly lower level walk in the moorlands of Lyme Park.

On the way up Cage Hill

We set off from outside Disley Station shortly before 10am and headed along a lane to enter the northern edge of Lyme Park, before ascending up Cage Hill, which is topped by a tower known as The Cage.

The Cage

The Cage

Lyme Hall from Cage Hill

After passing the Lyme Hall we ascended ESE up past a forest to reach the edge of the moorlands, before reaching a minor road.  Soon afterwards we reached the Bowstones, which according to the sign are shafts from Saxon crosses.

Looking south towards Reed Hill and Shining Tor

The Bowstones

Now we had the most exposed section of the walk to look forward too!  We continued SSW along the track towards Sponds Hill, stopping on route to don waterproofs due to the entirely expected arrival of the heavy rain.  It was pretty windy on Sponds Hill so we decided to forgo the opportunity to visit the summit trig point and instead walked perpendicular to the wind, eastwards along the outside edge of the southern boundary of Lyme Park.

Just outside the western edge of Lyme Park

After crossing the moorland it was nice to descend out of the wind as we approached West Parkgate, from where we followed the estate track NE back into Lyme Park and on to the cafe for a well earned lunch of soup and cake.  It was nice to be inside out of the now very strong wind and rain, but we couldn't stay here forever!  So after lunch we headed back out to brave the stormy weather, to head north to Parkgate and back to Disley village after a good walk.

Heading north towards Parkgate

On the way to Parkgate

Marbury Country Park

Sunday 16th February 2014 

An sunny walk around Marbury Country Park and along the Trent & Mersey Canal towpath 

Distance: 6km; Ascent: negligible; Sunny; with Lynsey, Isabel, Olivia & Margaret

See tracked route in new window

As it was actually forecast to be sunny today, we decided to head out for a family walk in the Cheshire countryside.  We set off from the car park at Marbury Country Park and walked through Hopyards Wood to reach the Anderton Boat Lift, where we had lunch in the cafe there.  To return to the car, we walked along the Trent & Mersey Canal's towpath to reach Big Wood and the car park beyond.  Here are a few photos from the walk:

In Marbury Country Park

Trent & Mersey Canal near Anderton

Trent & Mersey Canal

Dales Way - Day 5: Sedbergh to Oxenholme

Sunday 23rd February 2014 

A wet walk from Sedbergh to Oxenholme via the Crook of Lune  

Distance 22km; Ascent: 400m; Very wet and windy; Solo

See tracked route in new window

I set off walking in drizzle shortly before 9am, but it wasn't long before the rain became heavier and I had to don waterproofs.  Due to the weather I opted to skip the first section of Dales Way today and instead followed the A684 to Lincoln's Inn Bridge, where I rejoined my planned route.

Lune Viaduct

The route north alongside the River Lune was pleasant, and I crossed underneath the disused Lune Viaduct before spending a couple of kilometres away from the river.  I then returned to the river, following a path through the riverside woods, past a number of kayakers paddling downstream.

In the Lune Gorge

Shortly before 11:30am I reached the Crook of Lune bridge, where I stopped for a quick break.  By now the forecast heavy rain and strong winds had well and truly set-in, and I decided to abandon my original plans to continue across the, almost certainly, very muddy fields to Burneside.  Instead I opted to walk along the minor roads to Oxenholme station, from where I'd have a greater choice of trains to catch home.

Crook of Lune Bridge

The River Lune at Crook of Lune

I walked into driving rain and wind for much of the next couple of hours as I made my way SW to reach Oxenholme station shortly after 2pm.  I shall return at some point to walk from Oxenholme to Burneside, where I'll pick up the Dales Way and follow it to the finish in Windermere - probably later in the year.