February 2007

Cold and snow don't stop us walking! Ilkley Moor and the Lake District were great trips - read about them below...

If you want to tell your version of events, please e-mail your Blog to lynne@leedsmetwalkingclub.co.uk

23rd February - Ice Skating & Pub Crawl

The rain meant that most people gave the skating a miss and went straight to the pub (except poor Dan, who was left to skate alone). Despite the attempts to start the pub crawl in a different pub (officially the night started in the Angel), the crawl unofficially began earlier than plan in...you've guessed it, O'Neills.

By 9pm, however, everyone had moved on to the Angel, where a couple of cheap rounds were got in. The lack of space meant that it was soon on to the Pack Horse, and then the Hog's Head - quite a different selection from previous crawls. A couple more joined us in the Hogs Head, then it was on to a Chinese pub...Despite being told the nameof it no less than 100 times I still can't remember it, all I know is that it was open damn late, and unlike last semester we were able to drink till the early hours of the morning. The drinking was still underway at 4am, and it's anybody's guess what time the last of the revellers finally made it to bed!

Airedale Day Walk - 18th February

A late start for us all gave a good turn out of 15 people for the day walk from Silsden to Saltaire. It was an absolutly beautiful day, and after only a mile some of the walk members had been reduced to wearing shorts and T – Shirts! (Yes in February) It was a gradual but very long incline that led us to the top of the ‘Nab’ where we all sat to eat dinner and enjoy the clear views.

When we all set off again it was time for the forest part of the walk – however this turned out to be more of an obstacle course in the dark! The trees were very dense, and some of the trees had fallen blocking the path – so everyone made there own way through the trees and onto the open moor beyond. After the two walk leaders made an executive decision to make the walk shorter – and finish in cross flats instead. So we walked through a beautiful wooded glen, and down in to the town, where we had time for a quick pint (in a very questionable pub) before the train back to Leeds.

Lake District Weekend - 9th-11th February 2007

Friday Night (and it was long!)
It was already snowing as we left Leeds, and there was a bit of indecision as to which route to take to the Lakes. Two of the vehicles headed up to the A66, with one risking the A65 and the van taking the easy route via the M62.

By the time we reached the Lakes, there was no snow at all. Those on the A66 continued towards Penrith, approaching Hartsop from the north, reaching the bunkhouse in fairly good time (although Will did over-shoot the bunkhouse by a couple of miles (who moved the phone box?), only turning back after hitting the snow line!). The A65-ers and M62-ers came from the south, and despite Chris’s wise words of “whatever you do, avoid the Kirkstone Pass” took the road through Windermere and headed up. A couple of miles from the top of the pass, the snow began to fall, and by the top quite a layer had formed on the road. At the start of the descent, the transit skidded into the bank, at which point the decision was made to reverse back up to the pub and come up with a Plan B…But what of the minibus which had headed down the hill ahead of the van?

We met with an RAC van coming up the pass. Had he seen a minibus? “Oh yes, it went flying past me, all over the road…”

A 4x4 then came past – had they seen the minibus? “The one that was ping-ponging off the walls?” AAAARRRRRGGGHHHH!

Back in the pub, wondering what to do next, in came a couple who’d crashed their car on the pass. Luckily they were able to confirm that the bus had managed to stop and pull over, and we were able to relax and concentrate on getting ourselves to the bunkhouse. Luis, on his first trip, had to abandon his car on the pass after hitting a wall, but had found the minibus and been rescued with them by the local publican. Two hours and a rather long detour round the M6 later, the transit arrived at the bunkhouse. The time was close to 1am, but everyone had finally arrived safely at their destination and it was time for some beer. Everyone settled down for a calming (?) game of Spoons, followed by Knockout Whist. We’d worry about the danage in the morning.

Saturday
After the escapades of the previous night, we got up slightly later than an average Saturday. The group split into three groups. The hard walkers were to brave the weather (it was still snowing) head up to High Street, but not before they'd gone up to the pass on a rescue mission for Luis's car. Even with the enthuasiasm and kit of the hard walkers, the weather was too much, and the route had to be changed to a slightly lower altitude.

The easy walkers headed up between the peaks above the bunkhouse. The snow came down and by the time they reached the pass the wind was blowing causing blizzard-like conditions. We soon headed across the pass and started the descent into the next valley. The path was icy, but the views were beautiful. There was a brief stop on the way down, just long enough for Lynne to build her snowman. Beci chose to go down the iciest section of the path one her bum - better to sit than fall, apparently!

Luckily as we came out of the valley and started round the lake the mountain provided shelter from the wind. As we neared the end of the walk, the snow became rain, and it was a quick march to the pub to escape the downpour and dry off in the pub.

The medium walkers were to head up onto the tops with Mark. not long into the walk, it became apparent that those without very good equipment should not be up there. So Karen led most of the group down, and followed the same route that the easy walkers had taken just half an hour previous. The remainder of the group headed on up, but after a couple of hours at the risk of whiteout it was time to turn round. Four of the six headed back down into the valley and on to the pub for a couple of games of cards. Mark and Steve carried on up until even they couldn't carry on, so it was back to the pub.

All dried off and warmed up, everyone gathered in the bunkhouse for a couple of beers whilst Mark cooked a curry far beyond our usual standards of weekend food. Unfortunately it took rather a long time to prepare, so it was 10.15pm when everyone finally got off to the pub - just in time for a couple of pints before last orders.

Back at the bunkhouse the night continued with a few games of Jenga, some cards, then a rather surreal game of Blockbusters... with buzzers of Oooo's, Eeee's and Aaaahhh's (but who's was which?) and answers such as "namby pamby", it's hard to know who won, if anyone, and it was again past 4am when the last people headed to bed.

Sunday
Sunday morning was another relatively late one, but eventually everyone was up and the bunkhouse clean and tidy. A small group of hard walkers headed up to conquer High Street, to make up for the previous day's failure. Everyone else was to head off towards Ambleside, to do an easy walk with Chris, or just a bit of shopping.

Everyone got into the buses and headed off, except for Lynne and Luis, who were to travel in Luis's car. Unfortunately the weather and crash had taken its toll on the poor little Micra, and it no longer wanted to start. So whilst everybodt else walked (see the photos for details) Lynne and Luis walked up to the pub to call the AA and wait for recovery. At about midday, and still waiting for breakdown, Luis tries his car just one last time...and it started! So we cancelled the AA call, and headed to Ambleside. After a much deserved coffee, Lynne & Luis headed out to the waterfalls - at least some kind of walking was done, if only 1km! After a bit of shopping, everyone met up again and heade back to Leeds.

The journey back to Leeds was decidedly uneventful compared to Friday, and we were soon back in Leeds. We decided to give Nazams a miss, instead switching to Jino's in Headingley for a bit of traditional Thai cuisine. It was a great meal and will no doubt not be the last time we go there!

Everybody got on well, seemed to have a good weekend despite the traumatic journey and poor weather, but only time will tell whether they choose to come on another trip - let's hope so!

Sunday 4th February - Ilkley Moor Day Walk

It was a large group of 22 that headed up the hill across the back of Ilkley for the first day walk of semester 2. The weather was incredible - bright blue skies and sunshine - is it really February?

It wasn't long before we began the ascent of Heber's Ghyll, a well defined but steep path along the water's edge. A bit of a shock to the system so early in the morning, but well worth it! We continued onto the moor, where the damage from last summer's fires was apparent - 70% of the moor was black. Stopping at the Swastika Stone, we found one of Ben's famous GeoCaches. We signed the log book and left a few dog biscuits for the next Geo-Cacher to find....

We stopped for lunch on some rocks overlooking the moor, before heading up towards the summit. After a change of plan, we bypassed the summit, instead heading for the Twelve Apostles rocks. Nobody felt inclined to walk backwards round the circle, so the walk continued through the mud, past the reservoir and down past the Cow & Calf back into Ilkley.

A stop off at The Star proved smokey and rugby-less, so it was down to the pub by the river for a beer or two before getting the train back to Leeds. By 7pm a large group of us we tucking into a traditional curry at Nazam's - a fitting end to a great day!