Five sisters, d1

Posted on 1st Aug 2016 by essiep

Sgurr nan Saighead , 929m;
Sgurr Fhuaran, (m), 1067m;
Sgurr na Carnach, (b), 1002m;
Sgurr na Ciste Duibhe (m), 1027m;
Sailag, (m), 956m;
Sgurr a’ Bhealaich Dheirg (m) 1036m;

Full kit, the Banshee tent, sleeping bag and food for 3 days. With water, it weighs in at about 16kg. It’s a comfortable bag so walking with it is not really so bad. Going uphill makes it noticeable. The initial climb was hard work. Fortunately, once on the ridge, the day will be easier.
The first summit was in cloud and a light breeze. Some breaks appeared quite soon.
Weight: the bag weighs roughly 16kg, but with water and the camera, considerably more. I felt this weight on the climbs. On the level, that is such comfortable bag that the weight didn’t matter.

Water, became a real problem on Sailag. This is a more grassy mountain with no visible, or audible springs.Thirst was a serious problem for over 2 hours. Over the spur, a small Lochan and springs in the Glen to the north, not far.
It’s late, 8.30 and I can’t see there being time to make the next summit as planned. So make camp.

An early picture, the day cleared up brightly by lunch.

Sgurr Dearg and the In-Pinn.

Posted on 30th May 2016 by essiep

15°C, light NNW breeze and clear, dry conditions.

Chose a fairly short route up from Glen Brittle. Ian knew we’d find other groups up on the ridge waiting to climb the Pinn. He suggested that I climb in my approach shoes, and even consider walking up to the ridge in them. Given that the idea would shave off 1/2 kilo I decided to go ahead.
2 1.4 hours later we were up there. Thanks to my not making the same navigation error as the party in front, we got there before. It was pretty clear where the turn was (oops to them).

Ian set Chris and me to climb first- Chris had his proper climbing shoes and I in my approach so we climbed the South Crack. HVDiff (Hard/Very/Difficult) Which is about a grade 4. Ian led and placed hear for the two ropes. I climbed first and removed gear as I went. The first 3rd was the most tricky. I took ages trying to find a solution- where to put my feet, where for hands, what combination, and so on. It’s all about decisions, some are how to hold while you rest a hand that’s going wobbly.
Figured out, I picked up the pace. It wasn’t until I got near the top that I noticed my breathing was hard. Not from the height, fear or stress, it was the exertion as I sped up.

Me, in red on the abseil.

Mountaineering, Skye

Posted on 30th May 2016 by essiep

12°C, NE light breeze, lifting cloud.
Today, we felt like proper mountaineers, not just hill walkers.
Ian, the mountain guide we hired was brilliant. To made two munros, after ascending through An Dorus, a straightforward, if steep ascent.
First, the more difficult Sgurr a’ Ghreadaidh (pronounced gre-teh).

Ian led on rope on the start out of the shute and we walked the rest. The Ridge is blocky on rock that offers good grip. There is very little space on its summit, we could just about stand on the summit.
Return to Dorus and make Sgurr a’ Madaidh (pronounced Vay-teh).

Wild camp, d2.

Posted on 22nd May 2016 by essiep

12°C, bright and fresh morning.
Woke at 6. It’s bright and dry. The geese are getting territorial on the lake. Two more arrived while I ate breakfast and the incumbents fought them off.

It’s dry enough to reorganise my bag, check kit and fix up some food. I even remembered to bring a sachet of milk for the coffee.
For the remains of the day, I wanted to make the summit of Rhinog Fawr.
By 8.30, I was ready to set off. My progress was careful. Nobody knows where I am, and there is nobody for at least 5 miles. No accidents please.
I headed over to Llyn Ddu. This is where the first rain started. That’s it then, scrap the summit, there’s no point. In that case, I will use the day to carefully navigate back.

Rolling hill fog occasionally blankets the surrounding hills. These are not great heights, perhaps no more than 500m.
Finally, returned to the car by 1.30 pm, in bright sun. The car was not alone, nor was it a burnt out shell.
A fine way to finish.

Llyn Morwynon. Wild camp.

Posted on 21st May 2016 by essiep

12°C, brighter and some cloud descending. Light breeze.
What has happened to Cwm Bwycam campsite. The portaloos have gone, and the signs. Walk around the field and there’s no sign of tents in the grass. Nothing. It’s sad to see it like this. I used to come here every year, sometimes several times. Places from memories, the crowded trips, I’ve quiet lonely ones. I learnt some tricks here from some trainee RAF guys, and they did from me. The site was managed by an old guy from the Midlands. He was a cyclist and would talk about bikes at the least opportunity.
Let’s hope that it reopens.

Wild camp. Found an ideal spot by the lake. It took about 1h 45m to get here from Cwm Bycam.

It’s so peaceful here, barely a sound. There are a few geese on the water, and I can hear a distant cuckoo.
Deeply relaxing, especially after a strenuous morning.

Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge.

Posted on 1st May 2016 by essiep

4°C, sunny start and snow on summits. Hail and snow later.

Diamond Challenge training hike. Climb the three peaks in Yorkshire under 12 hours. Started at Horton-in-Ribblesdale. It’s a very popular event this, the crowds were building when I got there at 6.30. A fell running event was setting up as was a Sikh Three Peaks Warriors event!
Booted up, we started on 7am dead. The return was at 17.58, eleven hours. We considered that decent when slowed progress on snowy summits and the fell runners race got in the way.
From a personal view, I probably went too fast at the beginning and flagged near the end. Despite saying that, I led most of the day.

MapMyWalk screen, before mapping.

The going was mostly secure. Lower down, there were limestone pavements, in a few places polished like limestone does. All the peaks were, however gritstone.
Gritstone offers good grip even with a thin coating of snow. It’s almost May now, so the ground is warm enough to prevent much ice forming. Most of the white we saw, was soft snow.

QMD: Cadair Berwyn.

Posted on 16th Feb 2016 by essiep

0 to –8°C. April northerly. Mostly clear sky.
Full mountain day, after packing up camp, I heard the car rumble by, my colleagues had arrived. We convened a meeting around an outside table to decide which route.
Choices ranged from 7 to 12 miles. The big one got the go-ahead. Initially, there is a climb out of the valley along well maintained paths. Meltwater ran down and exposed ice on top of slate. Slate can be slippery at the best of times, but with ice!?
Before the first kilometer, it was apparent that we’d headed up the wrong valley. We wanted north and faced West. Oops.
I proposed that we take a quad bike track over the spur and intercept the path. Good.
Route mended, white summits poked above the grassy ridge.
From this point, the walk became fantastic. Fantastic in the sense that we strode out into a wonderland of snow and ice sculptures. Crunchy snow like this offers good grip and filled over those hollows between tussocks.

The higher we got, the more fantastic the scene became. Wind was the sculptor here, and it had been very creative. Grid wire fences had long crystal growths of water ice, razor sharp and pointing downwind. Either the ice grew quickly, or the north wind had remained this way for days.
Worrying about time, we decided to skip Cadair Bronwyn and descent from the Bwlch before.

Ice waffles.

The walk out was a considerable distance along sheep filled valleys.
Getting dark, we made camp at about 6pm. I was tired, partially my own fault. I didn’t eat enough. My boots repeatedly unlaced, the laces had iced up and slid loose.

Summer summary.

Posted on 25th Aug 2015 by essiep

I rode Fixed with MapMyRide+! Distance: 42.2mi, time: 02:35:11, pace: 3:41min/mi, speed: 16.3mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1137096633
Back down, and looking back to one of the most adventurous summers I can recall.

Before cleaning, they are showing signs of wear.

Mountains, in Wales, Corsica and Scotland. Slept in a bivvy bag, a bothy. Burnt 71,000 calories and lost 7lbs (which needed to go).
Today, my body weight is 14St. 5lbs, a drop of 7lbs.
Incidentally, how many calories is each pound of body fat worth?
New mountains are added to my must-climb list:
Beinn Bhan, 896m,
An Rhuadh Stac, 892m,
Benn Arthur, ‘The Cobbler’. 884m.
All Corbetts, often the most interesting mountains.

I am nearly ready for the Hill and Moorland Leader assessment. Currently logged 50 QMDs.

Gairich, 918m.

Posted on 22nd Aug 2015 by essiep

14°C, falling breeze, run but rain pm hill fog too.
A very boggy approach, especially near the start, by the dam. Gairich has quite a long, gentle lead-in with steep schist rocks near the top. It took me about 5.5 hours round trip, including distractions. Scotch mist disorientated me for a short while, just at the track became indistinct.
Worse was later, without checking, I headed off on the wrong direction. A simple compass check would have prevented a 150m diversion. Embarrassing.

I was not alone on this climb, a German couple, who were not well equipped and turned back before the first steep section. They were probably dispirited by the bog anyway.
Another couple of retired teachers who probably have done all the munros but never kept a list. Some they have climbed 20 times or more. They recommended the Severn Sisters Of Kintail. Severn munros in one day!

I was delayed by that mist and the false turn, but a red car was finally visible next to mine in the dam car park. I thought a flash of headlights was visible, so I waved okay. That was kind of them to wait and check.

Part 2: Maol Chean-dearg, 933m.

Posted on 20th Aug 2015 by essiep

Rain cleared before dawn. 12°C, building breeze.
Woke before 6 and fixed breakfast. Re-packing the bag took a while but I made time for sweeping out the bothy.
My sleep in the night was good but had a strange interruption. From deep sleep, my mind was penetrative by a sound. At first like an approaching steam train, all thundering and chuffing. The sound got closer to the bothy, the thundering deeper and deeper. And an unearthly grunting and chuffing. It was a herd of deer, maybe in stampede. I have been spooked by deer before, at Glenfinnan for example. Still wary of them.
Anyway, back to my ‘adventure’. I left the bothy at 8am and got to the bealach by 10. The climb only took an hour and a half. It starts over brittle, sharp quartzite. More quartzite, loose and steep, then to more friendly sandstone. Quartzite seems less likely to be consolidated by organic matter, and much looser on steep slopes. The summit is found after several ledges of pillow like sandstone. It has the best cairn I have seen. It has six shelters arranged like an asterisk.
The summit was a bit cold to spend long there. The strong wind saw to that.I met and chatted to few people on the way down, but I was definitely the first up.
Something caught my eye on the way back to collect my stash. The Mountain opposite. It lifted from the same bealach as MCd. But the curves, textures and shapes in the quartzite captivated me. The way the inclined layers blended into the bealach reminded me of those fascinating forms you can find in comes. I will have to spend a day with this mountain.
On the walk out, I took my time. The loch beneath the day’s summit has beaches. I couldn’t resist washing my feet in it’s pure, clear waters. Lovely.
The day drew to a close with improving skies and stronger wind.

Micycle

Mike thinks b/hikes

Category Archives: Quality Mountain day