First nice weather of 2007!

Wow, after a week of heavy rain and wind, Peakland was finally treated to a day of bright clear skies and cold tempratures. Unluckily for me i could only go out in the morning due to revision, so i made the most of it and got the bus to Baslow and walked over Baslow Edge, Curbar Edge, White Edge and Flask Edge to Owler Bar. On the plus side it was probably better that I came home eary as the winds buffetting the Eastern Edges (the hill group I was on) were incredible- i could barely walk on the descent from Flask Edge and it chilled me to the bone.

The plod along the tops was good, overtaking most of the crowds and all of the annoying Duke of Edinborough morons (D of E sucks) on Curbar Edge with stunning views over Peakland in all directions. However, i made a hash of climbing the Eagle Stone on Baslow Edge- usualy it is an easy bit of bouldering- and fell off numerous times before giving in. Thank god no-one was watching.

I Finished off the walk by visiting my local hill, Flask Edge, and sat in the ditch munching tiffin with the summit to myself as usual. Got home for 13:00 feeling sightly headachey and refreshed- any amount of time on the hills is better than non at all.

Oh, here is a photo i took from White Edge Moor of Kinder Scout with Shatton Moor, Lose Hill and Win Hill Pike in front.

Examophobia

What a start to 2007! The first week was ok, getting rid of the New Year's Eve hangover and immediatly back to school on the 3rd on Jan, school being easy and glad to meet up with freinds (my bunch are hopeless at keeping in contact over the hollidays).
The weekend was a bit poo, preparing for exams- yes, immediatly after the new year we have MORE exams to revise for- and then going for a walk on Sunday. It seemed a good idea to walk from Hartington to Bakewell over the Limestone Plateau, but it turned into a miserable slog. I went on my own and was ok at first untill i climbed Carder Low (my first hill of 2007) but by 11:30 it began to rain and didn't stop.
I trudged over the endless sea of green muddy fields of the Limestone Plateau (the southern and central part of Peakland near the southern end of the Pennines) , above 1000ft for miles on end, past the lovely backwater of Monyash and down Lathkill Dale in the rain. The worst bit though was in Bakewell waiting for the bus back home as there were some horrid chav girls playing thier vile 'music' staring at me like i was an alien- i'd rather be up on Kinder in a snowstorm than repeat that experiance again! Despite this the day was worthwhile, the route a great point- to point plod, and way better than being stuck at home.
This week has been full of exams- one on thursday and friday (i think i did well)- and lots of revision, spiced up by getting blown around walking to and from school by the gloriusly strong winds affecting Britain at the moment. Anyway, with more exams to look foreawrd too and colder weather on the way, it looks like 2007 is off to a great start (in a sarcastic way).

Bo + Jake turn 18!

Whoooppeee! Last night (New Year's Eve) was Jake and my 18th birthday, so now we can legaly get served at pubs. So, instead of the usual sitting at home we celebrated by going out on a pub crawl with loads of mates and got wasted. Luckily our town isn't too full of chavs so the atmosphere was great. Finished the night by gate-crashing a freinds house and staggaring home at 2:30.

Had a big party on the 29th with loads of mates, for once we had good music- hours of punk rock, metal and emo- instead of having to endure other freinds horrible dance/ rnb/ hip-hop and indie rubbish, and got very merry.

(photo is of a drunken me (left) and Jake (right) at our party on the 29th).

Merry 2007!

Crimbo scrambles

Merry Christmas!

Ah, the wonderous season of Christmas- presents, tons of food and copious amounts of alcohol- I love it. Despite being non-religeous (I believe in facts), Crimbo is about the solstice and family get togethers (great sunset from Flask Edge).

Anyway, did a fantastic walk on Christmas Eve with Jake and Dobbo from Castleton, up the Winnats Pass and along the Great Ridge, descending and climbing Win Hill Pike then walking down to Bamford to get the bus home.

Because of the fog we didn't see a thing (except for a few people on Mam Tor) but climbed the Elbow Ridge in the Winnats Pass. Having climbed the 200ft knife-edge arete before, we had little difficulties except Dobbo (this was his first time on the ridge. After an easy climb around the first tower we emerged onto the ridge proper. 100ft of air on both sides with the 1ft wide ridge looming up ahead. Dobbo was a wee bit scared, but Jake and I loved it, slowely making our way up the arete- very easy scrambling despite the exposure.

The final tower proved dead easy- nothing more than an easy grassy scramble- even Dobbo did it.

What a Crimbo Eve!

Photos (top to bottom):

- Me and Dobbo at the foot of the ridge

- Jake climbing up the ridge

- Looking down to me high on the ridge

Recent rain getting you down?

Recently we British folk have had a week or so of wonderful, heavy rain. Yes, I know it isn't snow (thanks to global warming) and we Brits love to moan about the rain. So, if the reacent weather is getting you down, here are a few reasons i came up with to be greatful for the rain:

- if you live in the south of England, then what are you moaning about??? After all, you lot moaned when you had the drought this summer (us northerners don't get droughts as we have hills and mountains!) so you should be bloody greatful for a bit of rain to refill water reserves.
- makes a nice change from the endless heat of summer- try studying for your A-Levels in 30 degree heat!
- a nicley full river is a healthy one, lots of water for our reservoirs and vegetation
- a bit of rain keeps the townies of the hills, allowing the peat bogs to re-saturate and the tarns to re-fill
- doing work, be it homework or other, is far easier if it is vile outside.
- at least it does rain, unlike some countries like Spain or in parts of Africa where they don't get much at all.
I hope that should cheer oneself up, just need some bloody snow now!

Kinder Scout wander

View up Grindsbrook from Ringing Rodger with Grindslow Knoll (601m/1971ft) on the left, Peakland's 4th highest hill, and the slopes of Kinder on the right.

Having planned to climb Kinder (the highest of Peakland's 3 mountains) from Edale the other week, only have plans go tits-up at the last minute, I decided to get the bus out and climb it from Ladybower.
Despite having a hell of a lot of ascent and descent the day turned out rather good, having a superb bog-trot over Kinder's eastern plateau. Though just below 2000ft, it provided a grand bog trot with stunning views in all directions, only encountering crowds above Grindsbrook. Finished the day with seeing a fantastic sunset over the Great Ridge and a spooky walk through Lockerbrook Woods in the dark.

Campaign for comfy chairs during overly long lectures

Ah yes, this week i had to go to 2 days of lectures in the urban sprawl grot-hole that is Manchester on the other side of the Pennines. Being history and geography lecures they were most interesting, with the one problem- uncomfy chairs.
Now this isn't a problem usualy when i'm sat down for an hour long lesson, but for 4 hours of lectures on a wafer-thin bit of foam on wood? arrrrrrrgh! What was supposed to be a useful talk to help me with my studies turned out to be a 4 hour long tourture session with my bum in numbing agony.
So, Mr lectureer, next time we pay £25 to listen to you talk, do us a favour and give us chairs that we can actualy sit on without going through phisical hell on our rears- a bit more foam under your bum goes a long way.
Bo

Whernside

Dobbo (left) and me (right) at the summit of Whernside, the highest mountain we had climbed at the time (26th Oct 06). It was so cold our camera packed in shortly after!

Whernside (736m/ 2415ft)- the highest mountain in Yorkshire- seen from Simon Fell (650m), Ingleborough's eastern summit.


Here a a couple of photos from a great trip to the dales Jake, Dobbo and I went on to climb Whernside and Mount Ingleborough. Despite what most walkers think, Whernside is a great mountain, especialy in terms of shape and views and is made far more fun if one forsakes the vile tourise route and ascends directly up the E (Skelside) Face for a superp grassy scramble. Sod majority of opinion, it is a grand mountain well worth climbing.
Photo- wise, is it just me or are there hardly any good quality photos of Whernside on the web? I hope this one will sort that out!
Bo

Bo gets eaten by a hill

Having had a crap day on Saturday getting rid of a hangover, I decided to go for a good ard bog-trot up Abby Clough and over Middle Moss out above Ladybower in Peakland. All went well with some superb scrambling in Abby Clough (though it isn't recomended to anyone without an appetite for lose rock and heather) and a fantastic walk over Middle Moss- the largest moor and remotest part of Peakland behind Howden Edge without seeing a soul.
Anyway, on my plod over Peat Street to Back Tor messed up crossing a peat bog and suddenly ended up to my neck in thick peat. Being completely alone miles from anywhere i was in trouble, but luckily got my muddy self out efore I went completely under. Cetainly an unforgettable, though unwanted experiance.
With a bit of luck this story should keep those who know me off the moor, leaving it nice and quiet for me!!!
ps- the photo is a rare one from Brunsten Croft Ridge looking west to Howden Edge with High Stones (l), the wilderness moor of Middle Moss (c) and Magery Hill (r), taken before my fall in the bog.
Bo the bogtrotter

Robertson n.o.2

Ah yes, Jake's technophobic twin, Bo has finally figured out how to work these things. Whopppeee!
Anyway, I don't wear eyliner, have an even worse love life than Jake and am addicted to hill walking. As we are so similar (goddam it!!!), here are a few differences between us:

Jake wears eyeliner
Bo doesnt
Jake is a skilled writer
Bo can just write long rants (though i got 6 A* in my GCSE English coursework!)
Jake is smaller than Bo
Bo is better at climbing than Jake
Jake is phisicaly fitter in terms of climbing uphill than Bo
Bo has stronger arms than Jake
Jake's favourute bands are NOFX and My Chemical Romance
Bo's are NOFX and Bad Religion
Is that enough things to show we are diffenrent from each other, not just two 'identical twins' (though we are) who are two of the same person?
Bo the technophobe