Blethering Blonde

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...

While the main focus of our Easter trip south to the East Riding was for Steve to get his football fix and catch up with family, we also decided to make the most of the glorious weather by venturing to the North York Moors. Route for the day was staring at Grosmont.  It wasn't deliberate, but we timed it perfectly to get a steam train on the North York Moors Railway back down the line to Goathland, aka Aidensfield in the TV drama Hearbeat. We filled up on nostalgia (and cream tea) before heading back down the Railway Trail back to Grosmont .  Needless to say we couldn't go past Beck Hole without stopping in at the wonderfully quaint Birch Hall Inn for a pint with a pork pie and pickle chaser for Steve.  It was great to see and hear the various trains as we made our way back to Grosmont in glorious sunshine. Next stop Whitby for fish and chips - we were making the most of being in the area.  We parked up at the Abbey which would ensure...

There is a definite common theme to the walks so far this year.......... buffeting winds.  As the weekend approached MWIS did forecast blustery conditions, windchill of up to -10C and beware sunburn!!!  Even the ferry was warning us the wind might cause disruption to services.  But that didn't stop Carol, Frank, John, Steve and Susan from wanting to get out. Rendezvous was the 7am ferry except John had underestimated his timings, so he'd be on the 820am. He'd catch us up somehow later.  As tradition dictates, breakfast on the ferry was consumed by some and discussion ensued on the route. Default route from Corrie is to go via the Corie Lan path, however......... we had been eyeing up going via Am Binnein.  Harvey's map suggested there is an intermittent path via an old quarry and forest from High Corrie.  It also looked like there was a good forest break from the usual path to follow to the base of the ridge onto Am Binnein.  As we got off th...