The Road goes ever on and on; Down from the door where it began;
Now far ahead the Road has gone; And I must follow, if I can;
Pursuing it with eager feet; Until it joins some larger way;
Where many paths and errands met; And whither then? I cannot say.

[JRR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings]

Friday 14 March 2014

Ingleborough

With a big area of high pressure sitting above the UK this week, we were looking forward to a fine day today for a walk up Ingleborough (approaching from Clapham – a path we’ve not before taken). Based on the last weather forecast I saw (yesterday morning), which showed a foggy start giving way to sunny intervals in the afternoon, and without the hint of a rain drop, I had opted to bring my not-proofed pair of Paramo trousers with me. Mick very nearly went out without a waterproof jacket at all.

As you may guess, from that preamble, we didn’t enjoy good weather today. Visibility was 100 yards or so when we set out, but at least it was dry.

By the time we were out the other side of Clapham, and starting to gain a little height, visibility was down to less than 80 yards, and the clouds were mizzling upon us.

By the time we were climbing steeply up Ingleborough, that mizzle became a persistent, wind-blown, heavy drizzle. The type that makes you really wet. We still couldn’t see anything.

By the time we got to the top, visibility was so bad that we were taken entirely by surprise to find ourselves on the top. We only saw the (sizeable) summit shelter 18 paces before we reached it.

The only other person we saw on the top was a mountain-biker who joined us in the shelter. He wasn’t looking forward to the terrain of his descent, even without appreciating that he was going to get the freezing, wind-blown drizzle straight in the face on his way down to Ingleton.

Towards Ingleton was the direction in which I had intended us to head, except that the prospect of: 1) not being able to see anything no matter which way we went; 2) having the rain hitting us head-on; and 3) having to trudge across fields to get back to our start point, without the advantage of being able to see the stile/gate on the other side; made me conclude that a better plan would be just to head back the way we’d come.

It wasn’t an exact repetition. At Clapham Bottoms we deviated from out outward route and by doing so we passed some geological features which it would be good to revisit in better conditions.

It was definitely one of the most miserable days I’ve been out walking this year, only surpassed by the day in the Cairngorms when we turned back because it was so horrible.

Unsurprisingly, the cameras stayed mainly in pockets (not that they stayed dry even there), but I did take this one snap early in the day:

IMG_6077

The stats for the day were 12.2 miles walked with 2500’ of ascent.

(As I sit here typing this, Colin is being rocked by the wind. I do hope some nice weather is going magically to materialise by morning!)

12 comments:

  1. As I was reading this I was predicting to myself it would be a tale of disorientation on the summit of Ingleborough. Even in good weather it is easy to walk off that plateau in the wrong direction, so well done for keeping on track.

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    1. I'm pleased to say that, compass in hand, we managed to find the summit shelter, and via the same means we managed to find our way back off again.

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  2. The wind is cold and quite gusty in north Cheshire, a good few miles south of you. I've had the woodburner running since early afternoon. The better news is that, unlike where you are, it's quite dry.
    Your use of Colin has prompted me to go and check out my van. We're going to have a good summer you know. That nice Michael Fish sez so.
    ;-s

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    1. It's going to be particularly sunny in May, apparently. Especially in the north. ;-)

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  3. Miserable day and freezing cold here too. Well done for continuing especially with having the luxury of Colin and warm sleeping bags. Has the Lands End start to the challenge been shelved?

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    1. The Land's End start got scuppered by me working through January. However, we will be carrying out the original plan, to walk from home.

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  4. Have you had Colin's burnt bits fixed yet and does he smell better?

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    1. Burnt bits fixed, and (as of this weekend, well over a month since the burning occurred) the smell has finally gone away.

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  5. It's been gorgeous down here in the Land of Milk & Hunny.
    :-)

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    1. You could have lied! This weekend we had the worst walking weather of the year so far (and I've walked on every day of the year bar five), yet everyone else seems to have been enjoying fine spring days.

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  6. Not to make you too jealous, but it was glorious on Wednesday!

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    1. Harrumph! May I refer you to the response I've given Mr. Sloman above?

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