Thursday 12 December 2019

The Lawley near Church Stretton (Shropshire Hills) 10k Walk


10k approx 500m of ascent

A beautiful and usually windy walk over The Lawley near Church Stretton (Shropshire Hills). Commanding views of the Wrekin and all outlying hills. Final stretch over the little walked The Wilderness a real treat.

https://osmaps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/route/4211655/The-Lawley-Circular-via-Willstone



Recommend the Royal Oak pub in Cardington, circa 15th Century free house. Great for Sunday Lunch but check opening times for the rest of the week. You can extend this walk buy continuing up Caer Caradoc to the Three Fingers Rock at the southern end and the returning via the drovers road. 




Also an option to carry on to the Gaer Stone and return Willstone Hill via Battle Stones rocks. This is not marked as a green ROW but the path is obvious.
Suggest in the afternoons North to South over hills is best so you are walking  towards the sun.

Tuesday 10 December 2019

Yes OK, i read 'The Old Straight Track' by Alfred Watkins some Forty Years ago

Out for a blustery walk today over The Lawley near Church Stretton and i came across a couple unusual features in the landscape. There are two dominating hillforts in Shropshire, The Wrekin and Caer Caradoc, The objects of interest fell in a direct line of site between the two locations. The large stone has been incorporated as a field gate post, the smaller object possibly a marker stone some stands hundred meters away.

Yes OK, i read 'The Old Straight Track' by Alfred Watkins some Forty Years ago, and my interest in old track ways is regularly rekindled every time by Robert Macfarlane brings a new book out.

The low sun in winter months betrays the underlying bones of the land, and in this part of Shropshire the bones are close to the surface. OK two waymarked points over 20k are pretty slim evidence for a track but their particular location was enough to spark some interest.
Walking roughly south west up the shallow valley between Enchmarsh village and Hoar Edge, Caer Caradoc hillfort disappears from view, the large stone, currently an exceedingly functional gate post, is sited right on a col and if used as a guide on the horizon would bring any traveller precisely in the right position to view the gentle descent to Caer Caradoc. The smaller marker stone in a field some visible distance away would bring you on course to The Wrekin. On the OS Map the alignment does seem to go through a few a few key points that would pass the 'Watkins' test, an ancient Medieval religious site, several small natural sighting ponds, a ford in a small river, and several place names ending in 'stone' etc. There is no written information of the OS maps for both these points, that was why i found it of interest, and no published information on the Internet, so its all pure amateur speculation, and the big stone may just turn out be an old gate post...but hey you never know.




Thursday 10 January 2019

Kicking off Jan 2019 nicely spicily icily on the cold side of Crib Goch, a glorious day traversing the Yr Wyddfa horseshoe, slipping betwixt the thin inversion layer.


A glorious day traversing the Yr Wyddfa horseshoe, slipping betwixt the thin inversion layer.

Route – Snowdon Horeshoe 04.01.2019
From Pen y Pass via Pyg Track as far as Bwlch y Moch then path to Crib Goch, summit pinnacles ad drop to down to Bwlch Goch, then onto Garnedd Ugan. Deecsend to Bwlch Glass finger post and then follow path to Snowdon Summit. Descend to Fingerpost on Watkin Path and descend to Bwlch Ciliau, ascend to Liiwedd West then East Peak. Descend to Lliwedd Bach and follow path to Miners, return to Pen y Pass

Weather
Clear Cold winters day -2 degrees start, clear skies. Cloud inversion at  approx. 950m

Ground conditions
Some frozen turf and ice on path in remaining all day on sections out of the sun.

Time
Length: 16.1k approx, Height gain: 1158m approx Highest point Snowdon (1085m) Time: 7hrs 45min hrs approx. 1 ½ hrs stopped for food and taking pictures.



Group -

4 Person (plus 2 persons picked up on route!)

Description
Weather conditions reported as good. Light wind. Excellent visibility in all directions. A cracking days winter ridge walk. Cloud inversion and Broken Spectre seen. Due to available daylight decision made to save time by take the upper balcony route missing out Ridge and Garnedd Ugain. This saved approx 20mins. Below the summit of Lliwedd we met up with 2 Chineese students who asked if we could help them get back to Pen y Pass. They accompanied us from Llewedd to Pen y Pass, very grateful the students offered us their cookies which would have been their emergency rations had they been benighted!

A reflection on last years trip to the Canadian Rockies

Ok so how do you get the best out of a limited 2 weeks annual leave (16 days) trekking holiday in the Canadian Rockies? 

Mount Rundle
Takakkaw Falls
Well if you don't have friends over there to steer you in the right direction or have never been there before, you basically have two options, either sort it yourself (as i would normally do) or make use of a reputable trekking company. The likes of Edward Whymper would happily 'engage the services of a local guide' so was Whymper a tourist or an explorer?

Planning the visit yourself can be as much a part of the holiday as the actual trip, and it does engage the 'pioneer spirit' but, however well you pre plan it, your still probably going to loose some precious time getting things wrong. Of course these 'lost days' can on reflection be the most memorable, but its all about finding the right balance.
Saskatchewan River Crossing

Whistlers Peak trek to Indian Peak - Jasper
Path to the Stanley Glacier
Classic shot of Bow Lake
The key benefit of using a good trekking company is that they maximise your time in the area, they make use of local guides who know the best trails, and have an in depth knowledge of the Flora & Fauna. Ok it takes a bit of the fun out of finding things out for yourself and you may not want to feel like occasionally being in a tourist bubble but if you choose the right company they will endeavour to embed you into the 'local scene' as much as possible. As in the UK the local Canadian guides have their reputation to maintain, and with the ambiguities of social media, 'word of mouth and referrals' are still a very powerful marketing tool. 


Five lakes hike - Jasper
For this trip we chose HF Holidays https://www.hfholidays.co.uk I think I can guarantee in the two weeks, we met more of the local community, and were shown more of the unfrequented best bits of the Rockies than we could have possibly managed by planning it ourselves. 

For our Rockies adventure we were lucky to have local guides Dave Honeyman from http://canadianrockiesalpine.com/about_us.html and Ward Cameron from 
http://www.wardcameron.com both with tons of experience and a burgeoning plethora of local knowledge.

With a small group the guides have the flexibility to re arrange treks on the spot due to adverse weather conditions or local environmental conditions i.e. Bear and Wolf issues. Quite often decisions and options have to be made the day before or even on the day itself. During our trip we had to reschedule a number of days due to forest fires in British Columbia, and subsequent road closures.
Most of us have experienced the nightmare problems of parking in the Lake District during high season, the key benefit of an organised trekking holiday is having the transport provided.


Five lakes hike - Jasper
Front Country & Back Country?
The explanation of either of theres terms is I think where the vastness of the Rockies comes into play and makes the experience somewhat different to that of hiking in the European Alps. 
Most of the day trails in the Rockies are regarded as 'Front Country', due to the terrain a lot of these tend to be out and back along the same route. If you want to do a circuit then it usually means heading into 'Back Country' often requiring a permit for hiking over and into a different mountain range. Typically 'Back Country' trails can only be reached by foot or boat, and often require several hours of trekking, meaning you are some 10 miles plus or a days walk from the nearest road or developed area. 

I guess you need to consider how much of the Rockies you want to see in your given time. Most of the well known adventure trekking companies offer linear routes through the Rockies with some limited Back Country camping. Remember the Canadian Rockies are vast, and each of the main National Parks, Yoho, Kootenay, Jasper & Banff, are distinctly different. 
View from Whistlers Peak - Jasper
A linear trek can be a great idea if you're staying for longer than 2 weeks. So consider the options of a multi centre visit first and then a linear route after, this will give you a more informed idea of your preferred linear trekking area. Conversely a linear trek first then a multi centre break, will allow you to wind down and recover in some of the very convivial Front Country accommodation, but you might find that you wished you had spent more time in just one of the National Parks.

The mightly Athabasca Falls

Highlights
Almost too many to mention, you will get AVS (Awesome View Syndrome).

Banff - A great centre to start from, with some splendid coffee shops and pubs, a good few short riverside walks to Bow Falls & Cave & Basin National historic Site, just to break you in on the first day.

Icefield Parkway - Just for the drive...Bow Valley lake and the view from the Saskatchewan River Crossing

Yoho NP - The towering Takakkaw Falls, and the turquoise-coloured Emerald Lake trail.

Johnson Canyon - Hike up the canyon to the Inkpots, and meadows, a beautiful introduction to the Rockies. 

Athabasca Falls & Glacier - Try and hire a local guide to walk on the glacier from the base

Jasper - Take the Sky Tram to Whistlers Peak and trek to Indian Peak, plus visit The Other Paw Bakery and Cafe. Stay at Becker's Chalets, If you can get in?

Kananaskis - Burstall Pass Trail, almost into Back Country

Do's & Don't
Bow River from BeckerS Chalets
-Do set off very early as it gets busy and car parks fill up quickly.
-Do visit the Nat Parks website to check the latest trail conditions and restrictions. banff
-Do pack, and more importantly, learn how to use Bear Spray.
-Do read the Rules of the National Parks i.e. fires warning/cooking/camping restrictions.
-Do take a polarising or grad filter for your camera.
-If your there for the photography, do think about the time of day and the direction the sun will rise and fall, look at some of the best images you have seen of the Rockies and try and evaluate what time of day they were taken before you set off.
-Do pack a good hat and a spare.
-Do take midge repellent, I can highly reccomend Smidge but take more than 1 can for 2 weeks. https://www.smidgeup.com
-Do get a decent map for each area, Gem Maps are pretty good recreation_maps.html

Not many but
-Don't underestimate the distance to be travel.
-Don't go to Lake Louise mid afternoon.




Ogwen - Y Garn, Elidir Fawr & Y Llymllwyd Ridge

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