Category Archives: Weather

1: Bridge of Orchy.

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27°C, highest in Glasgow. Better in highlands. 0 cloud or wind.

Very long drive, too long. The M6 was closed between Preston and Lancaster. That pushed all the traffic onto local A roads which immediately stopped.

Normally, on this trip, I go to Glen Coe but it’s too late. Besides, I have an idea for some hills tomorrow, some unfinished business. I’m eyeing up Beinn Dhotaih and some other summits behind.

Friday: some Munros. Started cloudy with summits obscured. 21°C, humid and milky haze. Set off in goood time 08.30. It took an nour toreach the bealach by Beinn Dorian. From here on its off track down the glen in front and turnn north to reach the next bealach. Another turn here and head up the grassy banks of Beinn Achaladair. (1016m). On the approach was the silhouette of a couple from Fife who were very friendly, they even offered me a lift back to the car if I wanted out before Chreachan. I didnt, I have all day and sunset is still late.the summits had cleared and views of distant land was clear, if a little milky. The photos should be good with some post processing.

Beinn a Chreachain was the highlight of the day although short lived as cloud drew in. The stiles of cloud passed on both sides but didn’t release any rain. From here, the desce t has to be north east which does add considerably to the day’s milage. I tried cutting the corner in Gleann Cailliche but am still unsure whether this practice actually saves any energy; the point is to avoid dropping any more height than necessary. Eventually, another track which offers better speed but it’s short lived. There is, for no apparent reason, a turning circle at its end half way up the valley. To get back, here are 2 cols to cross which explains the high climb figure for the day.

Figures: total time 12h 42m, ascent 2047m, decent 2003m,

Heavy thundery showers are promised for Saturday so I’m moving west to the coast tomorrow. The secret to a good trip in Scotland is to escape bad weather by moving to the sea. We’ve had a very hot and dry summer and this could mark the end of it.

One of the machines is broken.

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18°C, deep blue and still.

I rode Fixed with MapMyRide+! Distance: 40.97km, time: 01:35:55, pace: 2:20min/km, speed: 25.63km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/2998463041

What a fun ride. The lighter wheels make for a more racey feel, the higher gear is not felt.

As before, I used the seafront machines but one is broken. I hope it gets repaired. The beach is all set up for the Southport airshow. Such a shame that I’ll miss it.

DofE 2.0 North Downs

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24°C, cloudless and still

I led DofE Bronze with MapMyRide+! Distance: 18.27km, time: 08:35:00, pace: 28:11min/km, speed: 2.13km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/2868937525

Each day started cold, Saturday was +4.5°C and Sunday morning colder. Here, the sun happens to shine down the inside of my tent, usefully. Later, we all became hotter as the sun climbed higher in thd cloudless blue.

This little scatty object is usually overlooked. There was a spider out on the limb, right, but when she saw me, she scurried into the nest.

The expedition: The North Downs are interesting; like the White Peak, there are dry valleys and dew ponds. Most of the wild plants we saw were the same too. There were, however, some magnificent Red Kites. They’re surprisingly large with long vee shaped tails, perhaps inspiration for Star Trek spaceships. I was impressed.

Renew First Aid

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22C, Clear sunny blue skies. Still day one, breezy on day two.

I learn’t more on this course in the first morning than on the entirety of the previous course three years ago. One aspect of their teaching technique was drill. They drilled into us the routine of Assess/check Airway; Breathing; Circulation and then damage checks (ABCD). There were lots of role plays (which I normally hate) but it did build up nicely.

I was kept on my toes all the way through, mainly because I’d learnt so little on the first course.

We finished not long after 5pm each day which gave us a free evening on day one. A little group of us decided to walk up to Mam Tor to watch the sun go down.

peverilCastle

The route was gorgeous (pun intended) but we were late for the sunset (20:05). Even so, there were plenty of people on the hill enjoying the beautiful evening. Moving east a little along the saddle is the descent. From here we needed lights. Our companion Karen, was a little nervous about this. I was a little annoyed that my head-torch battery had gone flat and had to rely on a hand-torch. It was plenty adequate.

From a leader’s point of view, this is where it got interesting. Karen knew the route from walks in daylight and took the lead. However, she went off track which immediately seemed wrong to me. It’s interesting because you can see how smart people make mistakes. The combination of stress and changed estimated distance was one thing. Another is that once her stress levels rose, she admitted “being frightened”, and then there is the single-minded determination to see it through. These meant that she didn’t see the over-view and take in all the available clues on that dark hillside. This whole area of compound errors is studied in heuristics.

Heuristics is something I am conscious of when leading teenagers in DofE. More of that tomorrow.

Carneddau ring: 1

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6°C start sunny patches. No wind.

Hiking in semi-winter conditions. The theme here is ‘no planning’. My first idea for a start was changed because of a closed road. There map a cross country running event that forced closures. Other people having adventures.

The next obvious car-park is far more remote near a roman road. It’s along track with very steep bits and all single-track. At the car-park, I got chatting to an elderly woman who wanted to hike there despite her recent his replacement. She keeps these years secret from her physician. I could have chatted more, but it was 12 and time to go.

I’m trying to use the Carneddau as a horseshoe. So far, the idea has worked. I’m now camped in the Lee of Carnedd Lleweddlyn by a crash site. It’s cold, the sky has cleared and temperature has plummeted. Inside the tent is +1°C. Outside must be 5 below that. No wind though. Utter peace but no animals. I miss them.

This picture is taken on Foel-Fras in the Mountain Rescue hut. Don’t worry, I only went in to brew a cuppa. Despite there being ice on the inside walls, it felt considerably warmer than outside. I headed for the lake on the east where we wild-camped on my ML training course, summer before last.

Normal weather again.

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8°C, light S breeze, light cloud.

I rode Paddy Wagon with MapMyRide+! Distance: 49.59km, time: 02:03:55, pace: 2:30min/km, speed: 24.01km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/2747744446

Running at speed, I had a very enjoyable spin. Once I passed my new house, I headed south along the coast rode and faced this amazing atmospheric effect. There was a fan of crepuscular rays reading down beyond the pier. The most remarkable part, in my opinion, is that the rays didn’t seem to suite touch the sea. They ran out of energy in an impossible way. ‘Beautiful’ describes it mildly.

Walk in windchill.

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2°C white cloud and strong E. Windchill very significant.

I hiked with MapMyRide+! Distance: 12.95km, time: 02:27:16, pace: 11:22min/km, speed: 5.28km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/2740750153

It looks as though it’s about to drop into the water.

Lancashire has a crack in it.

There are rows of these grooves, probably cut to prevent flooding in the middle of these very flat fields.

All day, that wind was a feature on this open route. Some sections were sheltered but not many. They provided some respite and reassured of in my choice of clothing. I wore the same as the Ainsdale dune route a few da p ago when it was a good 4°C colder. Today felt colder. Feeling slightly cold for a long time takes a very long time to warm up again. A factor to consider for ML assessment this summer.

Arctic Blast.

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+1 to +5°C, sharp ESE wind. Dry with bright blue sky.

I rode Mustang with MapMyRide+! Distance: 80.44km, time: 03:53:29, pace: 2:54min/km, speed: 20.67km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/2729584762

In today’s Daily Mirror, the subheadline is ‘Temperatures colder than the Arctic’. What a stupid, blatant lie. They’ve printed that one before. It’s only a few degrees below in the UK.

I didn’t expect the photo to come out so badly. The lens must have steamed up. This is taken at CafeVelo which is by two small lakes. A very nice cyclist cafe, a good replacement for The Beehive by Rosliston.

By the time I got there, about 10, most of the ice had gone but the wind picked up. My feet and fingertips were cold. Actually, it felt as though there were pebbles inside my shoes. A cafe stop was essential to warm up.

The next leg, I could enjoy a tailwind and enjoy the scenery. The light is wonderful today and the roads, quiet.

Anyway, I set off for an early one. What spectacular weather, the light was sharp which cart deep incised shadows. All was tinged with blue from the cloudless sky.