update from phone

i haven't posted anything for a few days. So decided to do a quick
post from bed while listening to DMX.

I was going to go ice skating last night with victoria, as friends.
Why does that always happen, anyway it didn't happen because her
daughter had been ill. Instead kev came along for a while and we had a
bit talk and some alcohol.

Tonight i did some more work in the garden. Then rang a mate and spoke
to her for an hour. Hope things get better for her soon.

This weekend i had been planning to go walking for 2 days in the lakes
but i've decided to stay at home and do more work in the garden. I
will do my adopt a path walk as well. I intend to do a long run on
sunday as well of over 7 miles.

Weekend Planning

I am going to the lakes this weekend for an overnight wildcamp again. This time I'm not following anyone elses route. I am looking at walking the Greater Kentmere Horseshoe with some extras thrown in. The whole route is about 24 miles and would take in 16 Wainwrights.

It's only in the early draft planning stage at the moment but I have drawn a route out in Memory-Map and it looks do-able with hopefully plenty of possible camp sites. I walked the area last year and have looked back at my photos and from the various shots from High Street I can see almost every hill I plan to cover.

I may post the route on here before I go, but it could change as the weekend unfolds anyway.

WHW Planning

I booked my train tickets to the start of the West Highland Way in Milngavie. The train leaves Darlington at 11:34 on Friday 11th May. It was the only train I could get direct to Glasgow, wasn't any from Durham. Otherwise I had to switch trains at Edinburgh.

Once I get to Glasgow I have a ticket booked to take me to the starting point (Milngavie). I'm not setting off on the Friday but intend to stop in a hotel or B&B before setting off the following morning. I emailed one B&B but they haven't got any rooms spare. I am very tempted just to book into the Premier Inn because its just around the corner from the station and the start of the WHW.

I looked at booking tickets back from Fort William but I don't know what day I will be coming back. I will probably do the walk in 6 days, but haven't planned it out yet. I may walk Ben Nevis again, but it depends how I am feeling. I quite fancy doing the down hill mountain biking as well but after 6 days of walking I might just want to go home.

5K Base Run

Distance: 5K
Time: 29 minutes

That's close enough to 9:30 miles which is what I was aiming for. I could certainly run the 5K faster than that, although I did step up the pace a bit more that normal. It's harder runner when you first jump out of bed and there is nothing to race against.

The hardest part of this was I wasn't sure exactly where the end of 5K would be, so had to constantly keep an eye on the GPS and adjust the route to where I thought 5K would end.

The 5K ended above the woods, actually just before it, but I didn't stop running until I reached the steps down through the wood. I walked down the steps, then had a steady run back to the start to cool down.

The speed profile below the map has a few blips on it where the GPS lost the signal which I can see the same wrong places recorded on the map. There is no way I ran 10.5 mph half a mile in or 17.5 mph near the end of the 5K.

the 9.5 minutes miles gives me a base that I can work out a training program from. I'm fairly certain I could get that down to 9 or 8.5 minute miles without totally killing myself!

Testing phone GPS and Viewranger

I just went for a walk to the shop to test out Viewranger using my phones in-built GPS. It worked really well and showed correctly exactly where I was on the map. It produced the tracks above of the route. There are some slight glitches but they are more to do with errors in the map and me messing about with the phone.

Happy with it so far anyway :-)

Deerstalker Update

I finally found a couple of pictures from the Deerstalker run I did last month, although there is only 1 picture with me on. I have included the picture below along with a few others of some of the obstacles.

(Above) Me in black with the white stripe down the arm, Helen jumping over the bails in the background with the Deerstalker hat on.

(Above) A runner crawling through the Reborn tunnel

(Above) Runners clambering up the stairway to heaven

(Above) The Treehugging obstacle

(Above) One of the many water obstacles (The Sump?)

(Above) The First Obstacle of the race, the pond!

Langdale Pikes

Distance: 7 miles
Time: 5 hours (3:32 moving)
Wainwrights: Sergeant Man, High Raise, Thunacar Knott, Pavey Ark, Harrison Stickle, Pike of Stickle, Loft Crag.

A couple of months ago I persuaded Mandy who I work with to go to the lakes to walk up a fell/hill/mountain whatever you would like to call them. She had been to the lakes but never walked up any of the fells.

I quickly decided to go to the Langdales, its probably my favourite place in the lakes and you can cover several tops in a short distance. So you feel like you've achieved quite a lot.

The weather was quite kind to us, it was overcast with a slight breeze, bit more breeze on the tops but still quite light. The rain just held off, so a fairly perfect day for walking although not for pictures.

The walk was quite easy, the hardest part for me is coming down what is almost a stair case back to the car. My nearly pretty much help out though (didn't take my poles).

We covered 7 Wainwrights, so a few more to mark off my countdown on the right.

There's a few pictures below from the walk.

(Above) Stickle Tarn with Harrison Stickle and Pavey Ark

(Above) Back towards Stickle Tarn

(Above) High Raise, with dog following and Mandys foot

(Above) Looking down at Stickle Tarn from Pavey Ark

(Above) Harrison Stickle cairn with High Raise in distance, Sergeant Man to the right and Thuncar Knott behind cairn

(Above) Pavey Ark from Harrison Stickle

(Above) From Harrison Stickle with Loft Crag and Pike of Stickle. Then Crinkle Crags top right, Bow Fell to its right then in very distance it looks like Scafell Pike.

(Above) Pike of Stickle from Harrison Stickle with Bow Fell and even Scafell Pike in the very distance.

(Above) Harrison Stickle from Pike of Stickle

(Above) Loft crag from Pike of Stickle

(Above) Harrison Stickle and Loft Crag from Pike of Stickle.

Beatles - Yesterday

Yesterday,
All my troubles seemed so far away,
Now it looks as though they're here to stay,
Oh, I believe in yesterday.

Suddenly,
I'm not half the man I used to be,
There's a shadow hanging over me,
Oh, yesterday came suddenly.

Why she
Had to go I don't know, she wouldn't say.
I said,
Something wrong, now I long for yesterday.

Yesterday,
Love was such an easy game to play,
Now I need a place to hide away,
Oh, I believe in yesterday.

Why she
Had to go I don't know, she wouldn't say.
I said,
Something wrong, now I long for yesterday.

Yesterday,
Love was such an easy game to play,
Now I need a place to hide away,
Oh, I believe in yesterday.

Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm.

dating

I had a conversation about dating tonight. I know where my problems lie.

I am useless at asking anyone out. It was always shyness, then i guess
fear of getting hurt again. Now i'm just so used to being rubbish that
i hide behind the same excuses rather than just saying what i think
and feel. What's the worst that can happen they say no. My problems
are usually because i'm already friends with the person and don't want
to lose that, if they're are not interested. If you don't take a
chance though you're always left wondering.

Hmm..

From the n95

This is my first blog post from my new phone. I have lost most of the
day because i have spent so long trying everything out.
The only thing that i thought was crap was that no memory card was
provided. So i've ordered a 2gb microsd for £20.

The gps looks quite good for free and using the wifi is fantastic.

There are loads of things to learn and get used to after 2 years of
windows mobile phones's. I have installed a trial of viewranger but
will buy it. The trial map only shows a huge map of the uk or a small
area around Keswick. I am going to the lakes at the weekend but was
intending to avoid keswick.

Well the bath is run so i will stop writing for a few minutes!

Wainwright Guides

I have finally succumbed and ordered the Wainwright Guides Anniversary set. I have looked at the books in the library and book shops. I've also often looked at them on Ebay but never bought them.

The box set has been on special offer for a while, so after watching a BBC programme all about Wainwright I decided that I finally had to buy them.

They are unlike any other walking books I've seen and I intend to take the relevant book with me when I'm walking. I just hope the delivery estimation is wrong (4-6 weeks)

Nokia N95

I finally have my new phone on the way. I've been wanting the Nokia N95 since I first read about it in January. It has pretty much everything you could want in a phone, bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, 5MP camera, music and video player, expandable memory.

The phone came out at the beginning of April. I had been into Carphonewarehouse and the Orange shop to see the phone and speak about getting one. In the Orange shop because I wanted to keep my number they said I had to pay £250 for the phone and go with £35 18 month contract. If I scrapped my number and got a new contract I could have it for £80, I said that was stupid and left.

On Friday I decided I would have a look at getting the phone on another network and transfering my number. Both O2 and T-Mobile had the phone for under £100, with better deals than I was on.
So I rang Orange and went straight through to disconnections and expected to be offered something. If they didn't, then I would get my PAC code and leave. With very little effort I was offered the phone for free, £30 a month contract with £180 a month worth of texts and voice.

The phone is being delivered on Tuesday :-)

Early Run

Distance: 3.6 miles

I went for an early run today at 6am, it was probably just after by the time I got ready. It always good to be out at that time in the morning when there is hardly anyone around. I never saw anyone on foot until I got to Billy Row and that was only 1 person. There wasn't many in cars either.

The run wasn't the easiest when I'd had nothing to eat since 7 last night, A couple of times I was seeing swirly things (a bit like seeing stars) while I as running and more so at the very end.

The run itself was actually quite easy once I woke up, I never pushed myself at all which is why it took about 38 minutes.

Shed

I have ordered a shed tonight from GardenCentreDirect.co.uk, its 6' x 4' and costing me £189 delivered. I needed a shed so I could put some garden tools in and a bike. I intend to sort my garden out over the next 2 weeks. Putting a patio down, getting my veg sowed and some more plants in. I will also have to build a fence. It will be a lot of work and I suppose I better get off my arse each night this week and finish turning it all over.

On my way home from Middlesbrough tomorrow I will call in and have a look at how cheap I can get some paving stones to put down as a base for the shed. I wouldn't care but I had a load which I smashed up last year when I cleared the garden.

Ennerdale Walk Day 2

Distance: 16.9 miles

Wainwrights: 9
Brandreth, Green Gable, Great Gable, Kirk Fell, Pillar, Scoat Fell, Steeple, Haycock, Caw Fell.

I didn't have the best nights sleep, mainly because of condensation. I had read that you should keep all the vents open on my tent and should of taken notice, because I got bad condensation and water droplets kept landing on me and waking me up.

I woke up at 4 and waited for my alarm to go off at 5. Once the alarm went off I put on my headtorch and made some tea and Weetabix. It was still dark outside, but I started packing my stuff and as it started to get a bit lighter, I packed the tent away and set off.

I had decided overnight that I was going to walk the next 2 planned days all in 1 day. Which was going to be a big, hence the early start. Setting off towards Brandreth, the route I had downloaded didn't go to the summit but as I want to walk every Wainwright I diverted to walk the summit. On my way I passed 3 tents, one on the top of Brandreth. The first two tents, there was no sign of anyone but the other tent, 2 people where making breakfast.

Then headed on to Green Gable and on up to Great Gable. I thought I would be the first person up there, but as I neared the top I saw some guy sitting there. I ended up spending 20 minutes or so talking and totally forgot about taking pictures on the top.

The route off Great Gable was steep with quite a bit of shale, hard going. There was a couple of tents down here too. Just before the climb up to Kirk Fell. On way up, I was stopped and asked if there was a route up this side of Great Gable . "Yes, I'd just walked down it" and pointed the route out.

It was quite hard going up Kirk Fell and the sun was now totally out and beating down. Time for the sun cream. After Kirk Fell it was down and then up to Pillar which I'd been looking at the day before from the other side of the valley.

Pillar is one of those tops that keeps eluding you, when you think your at the top, there is more. It was hard going and the weight was starting to take its tole. The planned route for today ended before going up Pillar.

Again I better cut this short. After Pillar I ran out of water and things started to get hard in the heat. Walking off the top of Haycock, I followed the iron posts and didn't look at the GPS or the map. The route I took was very steep and looking now I can see it was the wrong route, it was more like rock climbing at times, lol

I had to keep stopping and trying to get out of the sun, but I was becoming dehydrated and getting slower. I scanned the map for somewhere to get water but there wasn't any on route and started looking at easy ways off the top. I noticed a beck after Haycock on the map and made a detour to it. I got to the top and it was dry but further down there was running water. It was the best water I'd ever tasted.

I was still very tired and decided to cut out the last top and supposedly take a short cut. The shortcut ended up being a difficult steep walk down the side of a beck and then I followed the lake back to the car.

The whole day had been 12 hours of walking in what seemed more like a summers day. I still really enjoyed the walk and learned quite a lot. I'm hoping to get a couple of more over night wildcamps in before I do the West Highland Way.

Here's some pictures from the 2nd day:

(Above) Inominate Tarn on Haystacks

(Above) Buttermere and Crummock Water

(Above) Green Gable and Great Gable ahead

(Above) Looking up the Ennerdale valley

(Above) Pillar & Scoat Fell

(Above) Looking over at High Stile and High Crag from Day 1

(Above) Summit of Pillar

(Above) Ennerdale Water in distance

(Above) Steeple

Ennerdale Walk Day 1

Distance: 10 miles
Wainwrights: 6
Great Borne, Starling Dodd, Red Pike, High Stile, High Crag, Haystacks

The day started off fairly early getting out of bed by 5:30 and picking up all my gear I'd packed the night before, eating a quick breakfast then heading off to the start at the top of Ennerdale water at the Bleach Green car park.

As I was driving along the road towards the car park the road was just wide enough for 2 cars but there was a bull walking down the middle of the road, heading the same direction as me. It wasn't going to move and I hide to follow the bull slowly walking along the road until I eventually got to a corner where it walked to the side.

The weather was good, sunny with a bit of cloud and a very slight breeze. I threw the bag on the back, well maybe not quite threw, it felt heavy.

I set off following the shore of Ennerdale water which was a nice flat start to the walk and gave me a chance to actually learn how to use my pacerpoles properly.

I'm not going to describe the whole day or it will take me a day to write it all, so will shorten it.

I started off using the GPS quite a bit, not that I really needed it, but as the day wore on I began to use it less and less and just looking at the map now and again at times when I wanted to check I was on the correct path. When following a ridge line its not exactly hard in good weather.

I quite quickly managed to cover the tops once I had reached the first of Great Borne after that there wasn't too much ascent or descent to cover Starling Dodd, Red Pike, High Stile and High Crag. The biggest ascent once on the top was probably up to Red Pike, then another short but steep ascent to High Stile. It was taking some getting used to carrying a full pack over the hills, when normally I walk with a very light day pack.

I tried to spend a bit of time sitting and admiring the view but I find it hard to sit for too long especially when the paths were like a motorway (easter weekend) with lots of people. I spent quite a while sitting on the top of High Stile the highest point of the day, admiring the view and waiting for some of the day to pass. I knew it wouldn't be long before I would be at my camp for the night. I watched a fell runner run up the top, touch the cairn with his toe and run off, saying hello as he passed, I would love to be able to do that (a target for next year, maybe?)

I pushed on to High Crag and looked down at Haystacks, I could see why Wainwright likes Haystacks so much. It's like a mini perfect mountain, there seems to be so many places to explore on it. Many hills just have a boring top but there are so many little hidden places on Haystacks, you could probably spend the day exploring it. Not today though, my pack was now feeling very heavy on my shoulders after 6 hours. I spent a few minute trying to find the camp spot that I was looking for, I began too worry slightly when everywhere I looked seemed unsuitable for my tent then I suddenly rounded a rock and saw the view what I was looking for with a fantastic view of Great Gable.

I decided I would go and collect some water from Inominate Tarn (Wainwrights resting place), sorry if I drank any of you :-O

Normally I would prefer to of collected running water but there didn't appear to be any, without descending even further down towards Black Beck. The tarn water was crystal clear and tasted damn good after a full days walking. After collecting the water I headed back up to my camping spot for the night, worrying all the way up that someone else would of stolen it while I was getting the water. Luckily they hadn't :-)

I took my bag off my back for the final time that day (thank god) and pulled out the tent and quickly got the tent up with the door looking out towards Great Gable. Why would anyone want to pay for a pitch on the valley floor looking straight at dozens of other tents when you can have a spot like this for free.

View of Great Gable from tent

I was looking out my tent towards some of the targets of tomorrow walk, they looked very imposing when my shoulders were already tired from day 1.

Once the tent was up and I'd inflated my sleeping mat and unrolled my sleeping bag, I decided to get the stove on and made a Cappuccino (a bit of luxury), it was the best I'd every tasted. A hard days does that to food and drink. I then got one of my Wayfarer meals out (Sausage & Beans), put the foil packet in the kettle filled with water and heated the water. The Sausage & Beans tasted fantastic too, I used the water for a cup of tea :-)

It was still quite early (before 6). I sat looking out at the fantastic view for quite a while, I had a little wander near the tent looking down on Black Sail Youth Hostel (most remote in England) and sent a text to my mam just to let her know I was OK and having a good time.

I then settled down for the night and listened to some music because it was still very early.

Here's some of the picture from day 1:

(Above) Looking down Ennerdale Water

(Above) Cairn on way up to Great Borne, Crag Fell Behind cairn

(Above) Great Borne

(Above) Starling Dodd with Pillar behind and the Gables to the left.

(Above) Looking towards Red Pike

(Above) Crummock Water with Mellbreak to the left and Grasmoor to the right

(Above) Red Pike

(Above) Crummock Water with Grasm0or on right and Mellbreak to the left

(Above) High Stile

(Above) From Haystacks looking at Pillar opposite

(Above) Tent pitched, with stuff thrown in

(Above) view from behind tent

(Above) Looking down from tent towards Black Sail Youth Hostel