Cat Bells - Christmas 2013

It was a quick get away in-between christmas and new years that led us up to the lake district with the family. It was an over indulgent time where much eating and drinking were done. However with the weather as glorious as this it'd be rude not to walk up something.

So Cat Bells it was, nothing too strenuous, but high enough to get great views over Derwent Water, and for the mountainous breeze to blow away a few cobwebs.

Disappointingly there isn't a kern on the top for the Muffin to stand on, so he had to satisfy himself with taking panoramic photo's, and snap shots of all the other walkers who had the same ideas us this day.

Crib y Ddysgl

Once more we found ourselves a trig point, shrouded in cloud, battered by the wind and generally damp from the relentless drizzle, but it didn't deter the Muffin at all. This time we are on the top of Crib y Ddysgl, a mid point in our days scrambling adventure.  We'd started out up Snowdon in the morning and were making our way across to Crib Goch in a nice little loop back to the pub for a few drinks. Accompanied and generally encouraged by our friends Pete and Stu (the sensible* ones with their feet on the ground)*I use this word in the loosest of terms.

The jaunty angle here isn't a pose, but an indication of wind strength as the Muffin tried to stand up straight. I've heard a rumour that the views on this route are great, but they weren't anywhere to be seen this day. Maybe next time? 10th March 2012.

This adventure we also learnt the very important lesson of carrying a sensible supply of water with you. One 0.5 litre bottle of Volvic between two, certainly falls under the error category.

On top of things - Coniston Old Man 2012

Here's more of the Muffin, on top of things again. 

We hadn't planned on climbing mountains this day, we started off the morning lazily drinking hot chocolate and coffee in the van, enjoying the unexpected good weather, and the beautiful views at the foot of the Old Man. We'd arrived at a little known wild camping spot well after dark the previous evening, and had no real bearing on where we were. But, one thing, as it usually does, lead to another, and before we knew it the summit was in sight, and it would have been foolish not to pop up for a photo opportunity.

This time the moutain top is The Old Man of Coniston in the Lakedistrict. 

See more stuff on top of things here.

Skiddaw 2011

This picture was taken on top of Skiddaw, in the Lake District National park mid March 2011.

It looks cloudy, damp and generally unpleasant up there on the top of the 931 ft peak. That's because it was!!! What the picture does fail to portray is the relentless wind, which expertly cut straight to the bone. It was a sharp contrast to the rest of the Lake District below us (somewhere through all that cloud), which was of course bathed in sunshine.

There was one cloud in the sky that day, and it decided to sit on top of skiddaw with us. Still - undeterred the Muffin clambered to the very top, and we had a celebratory picnic of mini Mars bars and Ribena cartons before heading back down.

As many of us are aware mountains can be difficult and challenging places. On this windswept foray up Skiddaw we discovered a completely new and unanticipated challenge – mountain vs. hair. As you can see the mountain won.

This look has since been called “Mountain Hair” and it’s a very common problem for the unicorn.

Mountain Hair. (noun) colloquial.

A phrase used to explain the dishevelled and excessively rebellious appearance of a persons hair after they have been on, up or anywhere near a mountain.

Knowl Moor

It was mid Movember 2012 (as you can tell by the fine growth of facial hair on display) and one of those clear winter days that leave your extremities at severe risk of getting frost bite.

We went exploring the moors on bike near our current residence, a fine mix of disused quarries, peat bogs, wind farms and chossy footpaths.

We made our way up to the highest visible point, which happened to be Knowl Moor (which was a challenge with the bikes) but worth it for the view, and more importantly the descent.

Welcome to on top of things . . .

Due to the nature of our hobbies we often find ourselves at the very top of things (weather by intent or mistake), and more often than not are greeted by the most rewarding views (or at least a trig point to stand on). So it was decided to dedicate this corner of our blog to those conquests.

No matter how big or small.

Where there’s anything on top of something, we pay homage to it here . . .

All contributions welcome!!!