Cat-O-Matic says "No more snow thanks"

I set the cat-o-matic for getting up early before this weeks walks - if I leave her in, she comes and stays on the end of the bed. Wake up time for her is 05:30-ish, which is ideal for being up and away before the masses, but italways suprises me how much traffic is around at 6 in the morning. It was still snowy for the weekend walks - Wales on Friday the 13th! I walked with a couple of gents from the walking forum - Robbo who I had met the week before on Moel Eilio and Mike from Cheshire. Both work shifts which allows them to walk midweek, so I'm sure we will walk again - good company both. On Saturday it was up to Ingleborough with Stuart from walking places fame, who drove me up at break-neck speed to walk a delightful and eventful walk around the dales. Read the stories for the details - Yr Elen and Ingleborough.

I got to use my new toy and it has great potential when I get used to pressing the right buttons. The only drawback on Saturday proved to be me - I left the wrong map in from Friday, so only had a GPS map and not the OS map. But it was good enough and I couldn't get lost on either day, as Robbo led me by the nose on Friday through the clouds on high hills, and Stuart did the same on Sunday. Both however tried to commit a kamikaze trick - Robbo attempted a dive into the Afon Llafor, and with Stuart I heard a bit of an anxious cry, followed by 6ft4in of fell walker hurtling down the slope, legs in air. Excellent entertainment and he certainly reached the bottom of the slope a lot quicker than I did. My Satmap gave a distance walked at an average speed of 2mph, with a moving speed of 3.4mph - not too bad for the icy conditions. It also showed my maximum speed as 73mph - I forgot to turn it off until the motorway. Better luck next time - I'm off to Norway for some work soon and then it's the Cheltenham festival when I get home - giddy up as they say..

My gear

Every so often I have a splurge and splash out on some new gear. Always expensive, but my adage is that good quality stuff will last that bit longer and will be good value over the years. My first real pair of boots were Brasher Hillmaster and they served me well for over 10 years - they are still ok but a little worn and now they have retired to gardening duties. I replaced these with a pair of Meindl Burma Pro, which fit very well straight from the box - the only downside of these boots were the very thin insoles, but this was rectified with some thicker replacements. I keep them well dubbined and they will last me for the next 10 years or more. My waterproofs are Berghaus Paclite (goretex) and I chose these because they pack down to a very small pack which is ideal for my long distance walks. Like all waterproof jackets they will get a little moist inside when you are working hard, as it cannot wick away sweat fast enough. These are no different to any other material as far as I can see, but they dry out quick enough and are completely windproof.

My latest purchase is Icebreaker merino wool base layers - the most important thing about these is to keep anyone else away from washing them, or they may end up looking like something from mothercare. They are a fantastic buy, really comfortable and warm. Most importantly they are bacterially treated and absorb everything I can throw at them - very nice for those windy days! As for socks I use more than most, as I take mine to work as well. I swear by Bridgedale, as in 'feck' there goes another pair - no they do last pretty well, and unlike ordinary socks they come out oif the washer in pairs, not in singles.

And last but not least, after my escapades last year I have finally bought a GPS - a big splurge, but one that will save me from any future grief. I will of course be mainly using map and compass, but it will be interesting to monitor my progress with the GPS. I already have the memory map, and I can plan routes and download to the Satmap. It also means that I can download all my routes for my LDP's and use in conjunction with my guidebooks. It was a very expensive piece of kit but I decided it would pay for itself over the years. For general maps I print off from memory map and then laminate them - ideal for walking and no worries if they get wet or lost. More on this next week after my first walk with it.

Winter walking

Well a week has gone by and there have been a few walking tragedies in this wintry weather. Two in the lakes and three on Snowdon - it does make you rethink your strategy for winter walking. Because I got lost on a mountain once, some people think that somethings going to happen to me every time I go out walking, but I am extra careful in these conditions. I use Metcheck to monitor the weather, and compare it to the BBC forecasts and make my decisions based on these.

I had two walks this week and as I sit here typing up this, my legs are reminding me of my weekend exertions. The first was down to the Snowdon area and a walk to Moel Eilio from Llanberis. This route was chosen by Derek and we were accompanied by Paul. He had to carry an ice axe around with him all the way - better safe than sorry in this weather. The entire route was snow covered, but we all felt safe and only fell over once or twice. The path took in some lovely rounded hills (rounded on the parts we walked) and had fabulous views to all points of the compass. A great walk and many thanks to Derek, as well as apologies for murdering the pronunciation of the Welsh place names - sorry.

My second walk was selected by Stuart and was up in the Howgills to the east of the Lake District. A big group of rounded hills that always look very gloomy when viewed from the M6. The route was again chosen for it's rounded hills, but that didn't stop it from being a very tiring walk, as we had to walk like the flowerpot men - high stepping from out of the snow drifts. We were only at 2100ft and the wind was bitter cold, and the ground icy in patches. We pondered what it would be like on the high fells of the lakes - a step too far for us - brrrrr.

I'm in the third week of my slimming world diet and have now lost about 10lbs. But after the two walks my weight is the same despite all the exertions - it just goes to show you are what you eat, but also muscle weighs heavier than fat - so don't be discouraged. Put that pie down now!! I also took delivery of my Satman GPS and will have a play with it today, and maybe go on a little walk around the water park to check out the mileage!

Snow - likes and dislikes

The start of February and we have a real winter for a change, with real snow - for some parts of the country, but not really where I live. We just have a dusting, and over the last 20 odd years we haven't had many years that I can remember making huge snowmen. When my girls were young we went out towards Buxton so that they could have a play in the snow. I had to stop the car at the first sight of it, and they hopped out and built a 6" high snowman each. But there are a few things that I love about the snow, that make up for all the cold and disruption.

I love the silence we have when the snowfall is really heavy - no cars around. That crunch of snow under your boots, even better when you're up on the hills. Clear blue skies above a white blanket - brilliant. But there is a downside - too much snow and the higher fells become restricted to all but a well equipped experienced few. The roads clog up, it can cover boggy holes, cover boulders and hide ankle snapping holes, then it turns to mush - ok for walking, but not so good on the pavements.

We can all wrap up well and enjoy it though. Last year I had a fantastic day on the Coniston Fells, walking through a winter wonderland. I got back from Norway last night, after being delayed for a bizarre reason. The rig I was on had orange helideck lights and helicopters had been landing there for years without a problem. But the powers that be decided that they were the wrong colour, so the helicopters wouldn't land after dark! Needless to say, the flight I was due to leave on was delayed and didn't fly out to us because it was dark - but every cloud and all that - I got some overtime, and managed to catch my flight home the next day....with 5 minutes to spare...phew.

Now for some walking - hopefully

Welcome

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