Wilderness Gully East: Grade 2 Scramble Number 2 in the bag.

It may only be around 250 feet from bottom to top, but Wilderness Gully East has the most fun packed into such a small space I have yet come across scrambling. If you look around on the Internet you will find it referred to as a classic, I have to totally agree. It is easily on par with Wildboar Clough, if considerably smaller.

 

 

High Cup Nick: If I could only do one walk…..

High Cup Nick is a glacial valley situated near the village of Dufton, in Cumbria, on the western edge of the Pennines. The Pennine Way literally passes along the edge of the valley. I’ve read that is considered a geological wonder, and I would have to totally agree. For me, it is like The Roaches, one of England’s natural wonders. The valley is an almost perfectly symmetrical ‘U’ shape that I have never seen before.

 

 

 

Ashton Clough: A C47 Dakota and A B29 Superfortress

Located in the Peak District Ashton Clough is a narrow clough that goes from the path of the old Roman Road (at the point of Doctor's Gate) up to Shelf Moor and the Lower and Higher Shelf Stones. I accessed the clough from the top end of the snake pass just over three miles east of the little town of Glossop.

 

 

Ashton Clough is not really the subject of this post, the two wrecks are. The first is a C47 Dakota Skytrain (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_C-47_Skytrain). The second wreck is that of a B29 Superfortress, a huge quad engine bomber of the Second World War era (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_B-29_Superfortress).

 

Black Diamond Speed 22: A Little Gem

Trying to get a spot on pack for scrambling is quite tough. Smaller packs tend to be a little short, not comfortable or not designed for the purpose. I recently reviewed the Lowe Alpine Illusion 16 that punches above its weight, but not always large enough. So I wanted a reasonably priced, narrow, comfortable pack of around 20 litres or slightly above. After a lot of research and looking around I settled on the Black Diamond Speed 22.

 

 

 

Wildboar Clough: My First Grade 2 Scramble

Situated right along Torside Reservoir in the Peak District, Wildboar Clough is a popular Grade 2 scramble. I’ve heard it can be quite dangerous in the wet, so waited for an extended dry period before giving it a try. The descriptions I’m giving are of how tackled the crux sections, routes and techniques I chose to use. If you have limited experience I would advise going on a course. I’ve had some rock climbing experience and this comes in handy on tougher sections. Smart people walk away from something they don’t think they can do, especially when serious injury would be the result.

 

 

Red Pike with Stile on a High

There are two fells with the name Red Pike in the Lake District. One resides by Buttermere, while the other sits on the opposite side of Pillar, near Wast Water. The Red Pike I’m covering in this post is the one near Buttermere. I’d spotted Comb Crags, part of the ridge that is formed by the three peaks of Red Pike, High Stile and High Crag the year before while on my way up Haystacks. This intrigued me and I had to have a look. I’d been told that you can see the Isle of Man from up there and was looking forward to some good views. Unfortunately the Lake District weather had other ideas.

 

 

Helvellyn of a lot of fun!

Helvellyn, a very Scandinavian sounding name to me, standing at 949 meters (3113 feet) is England’s third highest peak after Scafell Pike and Scafell. The Helvellyn massif was originally formed volcanically around 450 million years ago. The shape of Helvellyn as it is known today was formed from several glacial valleys. One of these glaciers formed what we know as Striding Edge and Swirral Edge. This naturally occurring terrain makes for some interesting challenges, and a lot of fun.

 

 

Helm Crag: A Wainwright with Pride

With a prominence of only 405 meters (1329 feet), Helm Crag sits overlooking the village of Grasmere in the Lake District. It’s not very high, but will give more than higher fells if you time it right. It really is worth a visit.

 

 

Fleetwith Edge…..fun, fun, fun.

Fleetwith Pike is a very busy location in the Lake District. It is the home of the Honister Slate Mine and their via ferrata courses. But all this happens on the eastern side of the mountain. On it’s western side is Fleetwith Edge. I spotted this from Haystacks last year and vowed to return to go up it. In May I did just that, but it wasn’t quite what it seemed.

From the side the ridge that forms Fleetwith Edge looks quite narrow and exposed, but this is quite deceptive. I thought that it would offer a serious scramble, but up close and personal things changed.

 

A montage of two photographs of Fleetwith Edge

Lowe Alpine Illusion 16: A review

It’s no longer on Lowe Alpine’s website, but the Illusion 16 can be picked up for as little as £15. It started out life as a rope bag, but has been adopted by some as a lightweight day-sack. So what makes the Illusion a good pack?