Skip to main content

Wet wet wet............

We hadn't been to the Lakes for a while and it was time for the annual Autumn get together. The usual suspects were assembled with Cath very kindly offering us shelter in the Fell & Rock Club Hut at Raw Head - this turned out to be a godsend. Steve also  gave the rallying call to the Outdoorsmagic side of things with a reasonable number being very brave and camping at the NT Campsite.

Langdale is a great part of he Lakes which I like, but so do a lot of people. I think I'm getting spoiled doing my walking in Scotland where its a lot easier to avoid the honeypot hills. The weather was not being our friend with the forecast being quite hideous and the actual weather even worse. Cabin fever did start kicking in so it was time to stop playing Jelly Baby Theater. Me, Matt and Kate decided to go for a wander round the Langdale valley to see how the various waterfalls were looking. It was going to be a good test for the gear ;-) We were doing a wee circuit, Elterwater, Skelwith Force, Colwith Force, Little Langdale and back to Elterwater. Well, we did come across some water ;-)


Matt


 Skelwith Force


 Colwith Force


Salter's Bridge

En route Matt also took us on a wee detour into Cathedral Cave which was very entertaining with our wee re-enactment of Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs with John, John & Bob fro the hut along with two other poor sods who just happened to be in the tunnel as the same time as us :-)





Despite the weather, we had fun. I did have very wet feet. My Keen Targhee Mids lasted minutes which is not good. They were also abysmal grip wise on wet grass and I ended up doing a spectacular arse plant. I really need to get in touch with them to see what they say about the supreme lack of waterproofness. I know the model I have is an older one with Event liner and they have changed this for the latest version. However, they are supremely comfortable and even though my feet were wet I wasn't too uncomfortable. I do still like them I just have to be very selective what terrain I take them on.

Still, twas a grand day out :-)


Little Langdale Tarn
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Salomon Mission GTX Boot

I've had these on a few times now and so far they are just what I've been after to get me through the winter for most of my days out. Salomon describe them as being perfect for "light hiking" - take that whatever way you want ;-) They come in at 1210g for the pair and feel fairly easy on the feet. They've handled saturated grassy stuff without me applying the famous arse plant (so far!!). They even seemed to be OK on rocky stuff too. Where I have been really impressed with them is how they handled the snow on Na Gruagaichan. It was hard enough that we were kicking steps. This was easy enough for Steve in his Scarpa SL's and Iain in his La Sportiva Nepals. Initially I followed their steps then decided to give it a go myself. I occasionally had to kick a couple of times on some of the really hard stuff, probably more down to my poor technique than the boot, but they managed well on the cover we had for the ascent. As my balance is rubbish I decided to apply...
Post a Comment
Read more

Creag Meagaidh MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Creag Meagaidh has been on the to do list for so long. The past couple of years have seen us have to abort at least three attempts at the last minute because conditions weren't for us. So were we going to get it done this time................. YES  The weather bods said mostly dry with a risk of potential showers later in the day.  It was warm so even if it did rain it would be warm.  Off we set having smothered ourselves in factor 50 and Smidge. Warm they said.......... baking I said!!!! We had decided our ascent would be via Coire Ardair and The Window to ease us into the walk on a good path.  It felt more like a slow roasting.  It is a gorgeous walk out to Coire Ardair on a very good path but as soon as we were out of the forest the heat and humidity kicked in.  When we reached Lochan Coire Ardair there was only one thing on my mind, getting my boots off and getting in.  It was at this point I began having major doubts as to whether we woul...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ben Lomond

Storm Hannah tried to wreck the planned Craggy walk to Ben Lomond. Thankfully, she had moved off quickish to allow the walk to be rescheduled to Sunday.  For once wind was not going to be an issue, all the makings of a good hill day.  So off we trotted.  While there were only a few folk heading in the same direction as us, there seemed to be a constant stream coming down Ptarmigan.  I suspect this is a result of the route description in Walk Highlands.  My body was having issues at moving at anything more than snail pace, earning me the title of Pace Setter of the Day for keeping us at a steady 1.9km/hr.  I have to thank the gang for being super patient on what was a longer than anticipated ascent of Ptarmigan.  We had some Ptarmigan Ridge virgins in our midst, some requiring reassurance from Steve "trust me" Morley. Plus Quote of the Day 1 from Carol "so where's this ridge we're doing?" ( said at approx 700m on said ridge ) We eventua...
Post a Comment
Read more