A new jacket from a January sale
9th January 2012 One thing that perplexes me about down-filled duvet jackets is that they're incompatible with rain. It was something that dawned on me over the Christmas, and I was mulling over the idea of acquiring one with a water-resistant coating. However, this winter has turned out largely mild away from Scotland and the cost of such things caused a rethink.
In fact, a look at the January sales has resulted in a different outcome: the acquisition of a Páramo Cascada jacket. Some may complain that they are too warm for them, but the combination of warmth and waterproofing sounds appealing to me. What really has surprised me after years of using jackets fashioned from eVent and Gore-Tex is the softness of the fabric used in the Cascada.
The length is generous too and a far cry from alternatives using drop tails instead, not that I have used any of these; their mere mention tends to deter me for one reason or another. For some though, the extra length may be too long, and I certainly would not consider using it for cycling and the extra warmth would work against that too. However, it is a throwback to the way things used to be, and cuts down on any run off during heavy rain.
The hood does have a wired peak though it did seem a little on the floppy side to me at first; handily, it can be folded away too, though some frown on such things. The hood may preclude its being used on hills in wild weather, yet that is not how I plan to use the jacket.
This is more for everyday use than when hill wandering: commuting to and from work, for instance. Even that will be making plenty of use of the Páramo, which will help me to get the measure of it. Only then can more considered opinions be shared.
A footer got too long
3rd January 2012 The start of a new year can set me to casting my eye over this website and one thing that I noticed was the length of the footer on here. That has been shrunk now with the lists of websites from fellow outdoors lovers and outdoors organisations finding their way into new pages under the community section of the sidebar. The remaining walking and cycling ideas links have been split up so as to make it more obvious to where they refer. Other tweaks may come too but this blog's footer has been adjusted on a day when many got storms with heavy rain or snow. Macclesfield didn't fare badly though but, apart from a few short bursts of sunshine, it wasn't a day that would draw everyone out of doors. Others may come yet.
Wasn’t expecting to see any snow
2nd January 2012 Today came as a lovely sunny if chilly day around Macclesfield so thoughts turned to a little trip out of doors. A certain lethargy meant that I couldn't muster up enthusiasm for a wander on foot through the countryside so I went by bus through the hills to Buxton instead. Looking through the bus windows, I was reminded of just how much hill country there is between Macclesfield and Buxton. It looked resplendent with the sun shining on it too so I am reminded again of what lies on my doorstep so I need to do more with it.
What surprised me was the amount of snow that remained wherever as sheltered spot could be found. The covering may have been light but there has been a green and grey Christmas and New Year for much of Britain and Ireland so I wasn't expecting to see so much. An overnight frost did whiten some of the hillsides too though much of that was gone by the time that I passed the way. Sightings of the white just proved what a little height does sometimes so it came as little surprise to learn that Scotland was getting more of the white stuff with a front passing over that country, even while I was out in dry weather around Cheshire and Derbyshire.
There were a good few folk around Buxton with some taking in the dry sunny weather and more surveying the winter sales. When the clouds obscured the sun, I must admit to doing some of the latter too. Nevertheless, I get to savouring a little of Buxton Country Park too with a short walking idea for around there collected for possible future use. A potter to Grinlow Tower or Solomon's Temple sounds tempting, as does following another part of the Dane Valley Way, and I recall one occasion when I walked from Buxton to the Cat and Fiddle Inn with part of the journey taking me through the said country park when a snow shower came the way. It was magical enough passing through snow-covered woods for the first time in my life without that so the memory gets reinforced. Beyond them the air cleared and it was patchy snow coverings that I met for the rest of the way. Maybe I need to revisit some of that again. It became a day for collecting walking ideas while still never far from humanity.
Travel Arrangements:
Bus service 58 between Macclesfield and Buxton.
And so to 2012
1st January 2012 Having had a few days to catch up with a few recent issues of TGO, a realisation has popped into my mind: maybe basing myself somewhere on a trip away might allow me to get more from it, especially for those places that take a little longer to get to them. Using Dunoon as a base for exploring Cowal worked very well in 2011, so I need to spend a little time pre-assembling some designs so that they have some hope of becoming reality. Along with the wilder parts of Scotland, Northumberland also comes to mind with the longer travel times needed for getting there and because of my whetting my appetite for its hill country during the summer of 2011. Parts of Wales, such as the countryside round about Brecon or the Heart of Wales railway line also come to mind, as do the eastern fells of the Lake District in Cumbria and the Cairngorms in Scotland. Methinks that setting aside a little time to think these over might be no bad idea, and there are others that I could list here too, but there are enough mentioned for now.
The end of one year and the beginning of another is as good a time as any to take stock of things. One of these that comes to mind pertains to numerous loose ends outstanding in my hill wandering from the last few years. The biggest of these is the Pennine Way, along which I haven't walked for a while, and it now looks like multi-day trips are need to add to the mileage already completed. The mention of the Pennine Way also reminds that unused plans exist for walking Derbyshire countryside too, both new and already frequented. Then, there's the prospect of extending what I have walked of the Rob Roy Way and the perennial desire to savour more of what my home country, Ireland, has to offer the hill wanderer. Those should mean no shortage of trip ideas like what I felt to be the case at the end of 2010, at least until I started to catch up with then unread issues of TGO anyway.
2011 has been a busy year for me and I hope that 2012 lets me outside more often, though the future will decide that when it first becomes the present and then the past. After all, there's hill country near Macclesfield that needs to be revisited and other possibilities may come my way. Unlike the end of 2010 when I felt that I had run out of ideas, a year later sees me pondering a fair few options as the blog goes into its seventh calendar year, although its actual birthday is at the start of May; 2012 will see the sixth one being reached. Any designs that I concoct may not be as grand as those of other folk, but having a few of them manage to come to pass will more than do me. Hopefully, 2012 will turn out to be a good outdoors year for you, dear reader, too.
A look back at 2011
26th December 2011 For me, 2011 will have to be seen as one when work very much got in the way of hill wandering. Even if it did, I did get out on quite a few excursions over its course and some of them took me places where I hadn't been before then. Also, there was a sense of unfinished business with a few of them and that always produces ideas for new trips into the outdoors.
January
January started out well with a few trips away. The first took me to Wales when I walked from Roman Bridge station on the Conwy Valley railway line to Pen y Pass. A grey start became a glorious afternoon and repaid the nuisance of going through a forestry plantation where the right of way felt unwanted. Slipping on a branch into the wet didn't help either, but it was soon forgotten with the pleasure granted soon afterwards. Sometimes, it is worth overcoming any ardour.
The January trip took me north to Fort William. This time, sunshine was in short supply and Fort William was so foggy that anyone would need to ask themselves why they had travelled overnight to get there as I did. Crewe was very foggy when I left it, too, so this was a general feature and not just a local Scottish one. Nevertheless, a trot down the banks of Loch Shiel was not fogbound, and I was pencilling in plans for a return that have yet to be fulfilled. Glenfinnan saw a little sun too, though it didn't last, but thoughts of explorations on a longer evening beguile. There are thoughts of a shorter stroll around Cow Hill near Fort William, that too could act as a lure yet.
The last weekend in January saw me use up a ferry booking that was a contingency for getting to Ireland during the pre-Christmas freeze of 2010 but got deferred to allow its cancellation and refund. That latter intention got set aside, and I got to have an enjoyable yomp around Howth Head, near Dublin. There again was a quota in operation regarding the amount of sunshine, yet I got enough for photos of Ireland's Eye and Lambay Island. It would have been nice to have kept it for rounding the headland itself, but there was no detraction from my enjoyment, apart from the need to return under cover of street lights before it became too dark. Finding such a quiet haven so near Dublin was a pleasure, and looking across Dublin drew my eyes to the Dublin and Wicklow Mountains. From a previous escapade, I could pick out Great Sugarloaf near Kilmacanoge in County Wicklow. Viewing twinkling street lights from a quiet corner was a contrasting experience, too. It's remarkable what Dubliners have on their doorstep.
February & March
The only trip away during these months was one that took me to Oxford at the start of February. That certainly wasn't a waste of a good day, and I might be tempted to return again. In fact, it has me wondering about more urban walking destinations now that I recall it. Cambridge certainly has come to mind, but there's more than those, with more humble destinations like Shrewsbury, Oswestry, Lancaster and Carlisle all coming to mind briefly once in a while over the last few years.
April, May & June
In another year, the good weather in February and March would have drawn me out into the countryside on a few weekends, but 2011 was to see the next chance taken to await the start of April when I walked from Bollington back home while taking in the Kerridge ridge and the White Nancy. It may have been local but became an escape into peace in its own right. This was a reminder that there are places on my doorstep that needed frequenting more often.
It was to take until the latter half of the Easter weekend for there to be another trip away from home. Then, it was a return to Llangollen after a gap of a number of years and this was to be my first trip there that involved an overnight stay in the town too. The peace of Easter Sunday evening wasn't lost on me, though it meant leaving the crowds of Llangollen after me and a commotion of bleating to die down once a large party had passed a flock of ewes and lambs. The paths that I was walking were being retraced rather than being trodden anew, but that did nothing to detract from the fact that the everyday hurly-burly felt a world away. That there was no need to rush home was a blessing too. The next day saw me wandering through countryside where I hadn't been before and part of the North Berwyn Way for part of my walk. Not planning to cover too much in the way of distance meant that it was an unhurried hike, and they are always best. Those who hang around Llangollen without exploring the surrounding countryside really are missing out, even if that leaves it quiet for those of us fancying an escape from the frenzy of our working lives.
The Mayday bank holiday weekend immediately followed Easter this year and was extended by a royal wedding too. That encouraged me to head to Cowal for the weekend, and it was a worthwhile venture too with three walks on two days. The first took me by the shores of Loch Long and Loch Goil while en route from Ardentinny to Carrick Castle. That was followed by another on the same day: a section of the Cowal Way from the shore of Loch Goil to Strachur. It was all good quiet replenishing fare for the spirit and in a part of the world that must get overlooked a lot as well.
The weather in May wasn't so encouraging and June was a busy month for me too, though it too had its interludes of sunshine. One of those drew me out early one Sunday morning on a cycle from my home around by Pott Shrigley. A January encounter from a few years back had me wondering if some photography when the rhododendron bushes were in flower might be worthwhile. However, I hadn't bargained on the obscuring power of trees when they are in leaf, so I am not so sure about the results, even if the sun was in the right part of the sky. Maybe a trot to the top of nearby Nab Head might end up being more productive.
July
July saw a bumper crop of outings, with the first taking me along sections of St. Cuthbert's Way. That weekend started with a hike from Wooler to Kirk Yetholm, whose length left me tired but with a feeling that I had made a real start on exploring the landscape through which I had passed. The next day saw me walk from St. Boswells to Melrose while taking in both Dryburgh Abbey and the Eildon Hills. Lastly, I got to spend a few hours around Melrose Abbey in the summer heat.
The Isle of Man was my next port of call, with a walk along Raad ny Foillan from Port Erin to Port St. Mary and then to Castletown. Apart from a single shower, I seemed to have managed to pick a single sunny day in the middle of an unsettled spell of weather. It was sunny weather that drew me to castles and coastline around the Menai Strait. Apart from revisiting Caernarfon and its famous castle, there was Beaumaris Castle and a section of the Isle of Anglesey Coastal Path to be savoured too. That weekend finished with a sunny crossing over the Menai Bridge. It was a contrast to the damp weekend spent in Ireland that preceded it. The last weekend in July saw me pass through mid-Wales on the way to Gower. Conditions may not have been perfect or photography either along the Heart of Wales railway or in Gower, but these first tastes may be followed later with more.
Remainder of the Year
Autumn had its sunnier interludes too, but a busy working life limited my use of them to local cycles. One Saturday, I headed to Hare Hill and Alderley Edge, and that has put an afternoon walk between the two into my mind as a future possibility. Others were similar, and there were midday walks during a stretch when I worked from home, too.
A few days booked away from work in December offered their chances too. The possibilities lined up in the form of excursions to Church Stretton, Abergavenny and even Edinburgh. In the event, only the first of these happened, and it was a pleasurable outing too, with sleet showers doing nothing to dispel any sense of reverie. The leftovers can do for other occasions, so I need not be annoyed that they didn't happen. It's better not to be greedy.
Looking to 2012
Some years can be more predictable than others, especially when it comes to working lives. There were a few for me when they came close, but unpredictability is back again for me. 2012 looks to be a largely open book after a busy 2011 and a 2010 of two halves. Life away from work is always unpredictable, so there's no point attempting to see around all the corners.
On the hill wandering front, there aren't any big plans for me in 2012, although there are a good number of ideas that are available for turning into real escapades. A little extra space is necessary for making that happen, and that perhaps is one of the main lessons of 2011. If you cannot plan for an excursion and be ready to get away, then it just won't happen. A ready supply of ideas and a ready rucksack might turn those ideas into outings and confront any desire for torpor on the way out the door.
