Some thoughts on Routes

If you havn't read Rambling: Open Post - Private Invitation then read it now.

The idea is to travel over probably by boat and car on the fast ferry to Holyhead and drive up to the western side of the lakes. We will probably need 2 good sized cars. If we get a morning ferry at 8.45 we could be at Wasdale Youth Hostel at about 2.30pm. Its about a four and a half hour drive. We could leave the cars at Wasdale Youth Hostel and walk to Black Sail.

The challenge will be getting all of us into the small remote hostel that is Black Sail. The walk is about 7 miles along the bottom of the screes along Wastwater – very dramatic and not too strenuous for a first day. The second day is a bit of a step up with a choice between the route (which we did last time) of Piller - Steeple and Haycock returning to Wasdale or we could do Great Gable. The final day would be more ambitious and if we were fit enough then we would take on Scafell and/or Scafell Pike. The key would be to travel light on the big days.

It may be simpler to base ourselves in one place and travel light every day - a little different from travelling with the world on your back but more sensible maybe. The limiting factor anyway is going to be the size of the group and getting accomidation. There are other configurations and locations. Black Sail may be impossible as it only takes 16 people. In that case we would try Ennerdale which makes for a longer walk on the first day.

In any event a little advance training is important - there is no point is finding your climbing legs just as we are going home. There are a couple of good warm-up walks in Wicklow I have in mind. Some are short enough to do in a an evening after work.

Dates are the next challenge - the sooner we settle on dates the sooner we can tie down locations. If we could settle on a number of feasible dates I could start investigations. I am going to suggest Thursday to Sunday though it could end up being Friday to Monday.

The following work for me: 24 July to 27 July 21 August to 24 August 28 August to 31 August I'm open to other suggestions - June would be better - but there will be a challenge getting accomodation.

Open Post - Private Invitation

Sister and Brothers

Next month it will be 30 years since most of us embarked on a small adventure together. As I recall it was my present to Sheila Barney and Paul the previous Christmas. The present was not something tangible (I was just a poor trainee accountant at the time) - but it was an idea and a half formed plan to spend about 2 weeks walking from youth hostel to youth hostel via mountain paths and tops in the Lake District, Cumbria.

The Lake District was a place I was very familiar with through Auntie Sheila. I had done a similar holiday with a college friend the previous summer. The plan involved booking each youth hostel on a route which was carefully chosen to avoid close days - each hostel had a day each week when it was closed. (I suppose that it was the warden's day off.) You may not have realised that this was quite a challenging logistical task. The challenge was increased by the limits of available technology. In those primitive unthinkable pre-internet days the hostels didn't publish telephone numbers, so the bookings were all by snail-mail. The challenge increased when 7 of the hostels were fully booked and as the others had confirmed a re-routing was not an option. (all so hard to comprehend in these days of near instant communications).

So we had to develop plan B which involved introducing camping into the mix. This increased the size of the packs on our back but also increased the sense of adventure. There are no photographs of the adventure but it is all recorded in a day by day diary together with a hand drawn map of the route and a list of peaks conquered. I still have this - maybe I should publish it!

So here's my Invitation: What about a return visit - say a long week-end - 3 nights plus some travel either end. My suggestion would be to include those too young to participate at the time and to include some of the next generation. I guess the younger ones would need to be 11 or 12 and of course "up for it". I would rule out camping but would suggest hostels I have 2 in mind. I also have an itinerary in mind and some route options - but I going to publish that on this site to-morrow.

Do I have any takers? We might be a biggish group of 10 to 12 so there may be some challenges about timing and dates but that's for later and is certainly much easier to sort out with today's technology! Let me know with a comment on the blog or an e-mail or phone call. Talk to you. Big Brother

Leeds do it - one step from Heaven If Heaven is the Championship!

Technology is amazing. I have been travelling back from Istanbul for the past 5 hours and was in the air while Leeds were playing the return semi-final leg in Carlisle. Paul Mc sent me a report about flash floods in Glasgow (caused by Celtic fans p***ing themselves laughing - very non PC! - Rangers lost 2-0 in the UEFA cup final.). I made some response and he sent me an "up Leeds" reply. So reminded (I had forgot the time) I went online to see that they won 2-0. So now they play Doncaster or Southend for the last promotion place. And now I am testing the marvels of technology by trying to post this from by cell phone!

Leeds suffer a set-back at home.

Over 36,000 fans watched Leeds go down 2 - 1 in the first leg of the League One play-off semi-final against Carlisle last night. The return leg is on Thursday. It doesn't look good for Leeds who may have to spend another year in exile in League One. They really need to put on a Championship performance if they are to reach the play-off finals. The loss of 15 points at the start of the season for going into administration may just have been too much of a burden to carry. Without that penalty they would have finished second and been promoted automatically. Well let's see what Thursday will bring.