Archive for March, 2007
March 25th, 2007
Walk Stats
Length: 19.2 km
Ascent: 1500 m
Highest point: 952m
Time: 8:30 hrs
Condition: Bright sunshine, turning a bit windy in the late afternoon
Maps: Explorer OL5 and Landranger 90
Difficulty: 4/5
Route download: GPX
Summary:
‘I thought we where just going for a short bimble,’ 8:30hrs and 19km later we finally get back. Against all of that, it was a nice walk & the day started fantastic, bright and warm. Started in Patterdale, up the side of Birks and along the ridge to Fairfield for a snack. By this point i wanted to go home but was forced up Helvellyn & back down Swirral Edge… the swines!
Description:
We started off from a Pub carpark in Patterdale (NY 39751580) headed W from the back of the carpark and missed the first path up the near Oxford Crag, as we started to follow the fence by accident, and headed up to rejoin the path. As we wanted to get up Fairfield & Helvellyn we decided to miss out the short section to the top of Birks even though it looked like fun as the path was covered in Snow. The Cape was our first snack stop and provided some spectacular views of the surrounding area including the climbs to come.
From the Cape we headed up Fairfield and had a now traditional half way Haribo stop, a small breeze started to develop which kept us cool but as we stopped for the Haribo we felt the chill. But i really didn’t like the descent to Grizedale Tarn as it was a mix of damp mud and a fine scree….. a wee bit painful on the knees.
A steady plod up to Dollywag pike, left me pretty much knackered, however Martin felt the need to divert from the path and run full pelt along the edge of the Crag. The path then followed the ridge up to the top of Helvellyn where we had our last snack of the day, and put on coats etc as the wind started to pick up.
Due to the wind & because i was knackered we decided to take the slightly easier descent of Swirral Edge rather than Striding Edge, and followed the path around Red Tarn and over the ridge. From here we followed the paths back to the carpark & walked round the carpark 3 times just so we could get the GPS track from 19.7km to over the 20km. Trust me it seemed sensible at the time.
All in all its the first walk we’ve been on this year with such good weather and had plenty of scope for variation.
March 25th, 2007
During the Outdoor Show i had a play with a few GPS devices, with the entry level Garmin eTrek & GPS60 appearing the best combination of value and features. I ended up spending the extra money and bought the GPS60 because i found it much more versatile & it had an extended battery life (28hrs). The USB cable is standard with the box, along with the Trip and Waypoint manager, belt clip and hand strap, i also got a Garmin neoprene case & how to use GPS book free as a bundle offer at the show.
I found this more versatile due to more easy to use buttons and a customisable display which can show upto 8 Data Fields from a selection of over 30 trip details. Although it isn’t one of the all singing all dancing GPS units it does exactly what i want, which is to record the track & give us bearing and map location if we ever needed it, and to be rugged enough to sustain the odd drop & be atleast splash proof. Mainly because i would rather use a map to navigate than the GPS itself.
Well down to the proper test, we used it on ‘Patterdale to Fairfield, Helvellyn & Swirral Edge‘ walk, and it did exactly what we wanted. Compared to Nige’s Magellan eXplorist the interface was very fast and just as easy to use, when we got used to it.
The belt clip which comes in the box works out really well clipped to the shoulder strap of a rucksack and i found if you used the hand strap to secure it the was enough maneuverability to use the GPS safe in the knowledge it wont fall down a cliff.
As expected the Garmin interfaces easily with Memory Map, with all the expected features, also there are are plenty of accessories available for attaching to bikes etc which make this unit quite versatile.
All in all i really like this GPS, and prefer it to Nige’s, but its horses for courses, and in the words of some bloke at the Outdoor Show, ‘I’ts like trying to suggest a car, what suits me wont suit everyone else’. If you want entry level GPS for around £150 i can recommend this unit.
March 25th, 2007
Outdoors Show bargain, Montane Terra Pants under £50, Nige & Martin & almost eveyone else we know swears by Montane gear. So i decided to join the band wagon.
Only used them once so far but, excellent! Well made, look like they will be pretty hard wearing and the ventling down the sides really helps you self regulate your temperature…. A really good piece of kit.
A short review, but how many times can you say excellent!
March 11th, 2007
Walk Stats
Length: 10.8 km
Ascent: 851 m
Highest point: 858m
Time: 5:00 hrs
Condition: Low lying mist & 40 to 50mph gusts
Maps: Explorer OL6 and Landranger 90
Difficulty: 3/5
Route download: KMZ; Go4aWalk similar route C108; GPX
Summary:
A typical walk in the Langdales, starting at the Old Dungeon Gill (ODG) through Stool End Farm, up Crinkle Crags and back down the Band. Plenty of opportunity to extend the walk, however due to the wind and the visibility we decided to come down the band for a hot chocolate at the ODG.
Description:
We started off from the Old Dungeon Gill (parking NY 28600610) headed WSW through Stool End Farm, and took the left fork, enjoying the view ahead of The Band. Crossing the river over the wooden bridge took us to the start of the ascent, which was mainly stepped and was approximately half of the days ascent.
Unfortunately the visibility at this point dropped to around 50 yards, but the path reached a clear ‘t-junction’ from which we took the sharp right & headed up Hard Knott with the incline easing prior to the ascent of Crinkle Crags.
The ascent of Crinkle Crags was relatively easy walking, and occasionally we required a hand to steady ourselves, due to the poor visibility we can’t say much about the view, but we could make out the odd silhouette of a mountain behind the curtain of mist. Any ascent of Crinkle Crags has got to cover the infamous ‘Bad Step,’ which looks worse than it actually is, however if your short like me it takes a bit more skill. In-fact while we where waiting to climb the step, a couple decided to miss out the step and took a different path around which took a little longer but was a little easier. After the step we thought it was an opportune time to have a pitta pocket & a pork pie, with a nice cup of tea (well we try to be civilised occasionally).
We followed the path which disappeared at times and bimbled up and down the Crag until we reached Three Tarns, the gusts of wind made it a little hairy at times, but enjoyable none the less. From here we followed the path down The Band, there was meant to be a path down the valley, but we assume due to the lack of visibility we couldn’t see it.
The descent from here is relatively quick and easy, and when we descended below the mist there was a nice view of the Langdale valley & the ODG. The Band returns you to Stool End Farm and the same path we took to get there.
All in all a good walk despite the wind and mist.