When is a Wainwright or any Summit Truely Bagged?

I’m a little confused over what people consider bagging a Wainwright. For example, there exists in the Himalaya a ridge of summits called the Gasherbrum (translates to ‘Beautiful Mountain’ in Balti) massif. This massif is made of 7 peaks. If I climb the first peak Gasherbrum I and cross the connecting ridges between them all, summiting each peak, have I bagged them all? Or should I climb each peak individually. The worlds mountaineers seem to think so. Gasherbrum V and Gasherbrum VI remain unclimbed.

 

So transposing this to the bagging of Wainwrights, if I summit Green Gable and then walk across to Great Gable, how many Wainwrights have I bagged? I’ll be honest, I’m not out to bag all the Wainwrights, it’s a challenge I chose to ignore. I am happy to climb the interesting ones and look for nice views and meet nice people. I’m just interested in opinions on this as I find it intriguing. I certainly wont be judging peoples opinions. Please comment.

Haystacks: I get it……I think!

It’s name may be Icelandic, but Haystacks is a pretty appropriate name in my mind. Climbing over the summit has a feel of clambering over the top of a stack of hay bails. Positioned at the South West corner of Buttermere, a highly picturesque Lakeland Lake, Haystacks is one of the lower Fells at 1959ft or 597m. It has quite a unique structure, very different to the more conventionally shaped peaks around it. And appropriately, the site of Alfred Wainwright’s ashes.

AQUAPAC Medium Stormproof Camera Pouch: The Good. And the Why?

My current camera case is a none waterproof type. It’s fine in the Summer, it will take a light shower. But heavier rain is an issue. If it rains heavily, it gets wet, and eventually the water gets through. The padding holds water and makes the case heavier. And worse than that, my camera gets wet. The advantage is that I can easily access my camera, and the case does a good job of protecting the camera from knocks. So what camera case for the winter. One that protects the camera from knocks and keeps the rain off. But still provides a reasonable time for access. I decided to try an Aquapac Medium Stormproof Camera Pouch which I picked up from a Outdoor Retailer for a little over £10. Firstly the key features, from Aquapac.

Should I join the National Trust?

The National Trust is a charity that purchases, preserves and makes access to historical man made, and natural properties within the UK. They are the UK’s biggest land owner. They use an annual membership, donations and money raised from it’s properties to fund it’s running costs. With around 3.7 million members, 61,000 volunteers and ownership of over 350 historic houses and properties, etc the National Trust is quite a large organisation. But is it worth being a member?

 

Outdoor Research Spectrum Sun Sleeves Review

Due to a large amount of scarring, and a skin graft the full length of my forearm I’m unfortunate to find myself, like many other people, in a high skin cancer risk group. So although bright sunny weather is great for walks, it has it’s risks. This requires that throughout the summer I have to always carry factor 50 sunscreen, and apply it when necessary. The problem with these creams and sprays is they don’t last all day, perhaps up to 8 hours. And a consistent coverage all over is not guaranteed.  And when you have a high skin cancer risk, it’s a perhaps too far. I have to know for certain, because forgetting to reapply could be potentially life threatening. And missing a spot is not an option.

My favorite sunscreen is the TOG24 spray on type (http://www.tog24.com/nuage-dry-spray-sunscreen-sp50-one.html). It’s easy to apply and quite resilient, but at £7.95 for a tiny tin that may last me a few days, it’s an expensive option. Lifesystems produce a nice SPF50 cream that works well, but it’s greasy. And at £8.50, is again expensive for the period of time it will offer protection (https://www.lifesystems.co.uk/product/sun-protection/mountain-suncream-spf-50).

These creams and sprays are great, but I think you start to become too dependent on them, and for me I tend to prefer other ways that are more consistent. In my case I have tended to wear long sleeve shirts in the hot weather which results in me getting quite hot, avoiding t-shirts. I go for shirts that are made of materials with at least a value of SPF30, but shirts with SPF50 are available. The problem with long sleeved shirts is that if I find some shelter, I can only roll the sleeves up so far. So how about if I could remove the sleeves, enter the Outdoor Research Spectrum Sun Sleeves.

Dovestone Reservoir Visit Three: A scramble and a lot of planes

If you ‘Google’ the word ‘scramble’ the first site that appears is a website about aircraft. Considering Dovestone Reservoir seems to site directly under the flight path of Manchester Airport, a scramble at Dovestone seems appropriate. After my reccy a couple of weeks ago I headed there in the early hours of the morning, straight from work. I chose Charnel Clough as my first scramble challenge there.

Dovestone Reservoir Visit Two: Chew Reservoir and the South Edge

I was back, and not alone………. Okay, not quite the way to start a post about a walk, but I was back at Dovestone Reservoir, and I was with a friend of mine. It was a little over a year since I was last here and the weather was better. The parking was still really cheap, £1.30 for the day. And I had a couple of reasons for being here. One was to walk the edge to the south of Dovestone Resevoir, Hoarstone Edge, and the other was to reccy the scrambles at Charnel Clough and along Chew Hurdles up from Chew Brook.

Aira Force Waterfall

Nestled in the Gowbarrow Park, an area said to have been popular for the poet William Wordsworth, the Aira Force Waterfall is a feature of the Ullswater area that is definitely worth a view. The Waterfall is situated next to Ullswater, on it’s western shore, very close to the T-junction where the A5091 comes down to meet the A592. There is a short walk up to the waterfall that will certainly pass on an hour or two. And because of my National Trust membership, parking was free. The car park is reasonably sized with a public convenience, a café and a National Trust shop. There is also a map of the area at the top end of the car park.

Glenridding to Howtown on water, Howtown to Glenridding on foot.

Nestled amongst fantastic scenery, Ullswater is the second largest of the Lakeland Lakes. It is the home to some of the most popular walks in the Lakes and I believe has one of the most picturesque drives in the area.

Green Gable, Great Gable and Fantastic Weather

Standing 899 metres high Great Gable, along with it’s 801 metre sister Green Gable are a couple of the better known Lakeland Fells. Seen from it’s more southerly or westerly slopes, Great Gable has a definite mountain look to it with a strong pyramid form giving it it’s name.

(http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/gable)

I’d taken quite a few photographs of Great Gable on past walks with some of the best from the Corridor Route returning from a walk up Scafell. It was these photographs that inspired me to make a return trip and head up Great Gable this year.