Harwood Ski

The winter continues and the snow still lays deep on the northern Pennines. Having skied at Yad Moss on four occasions I felt a change was in order. The recent purchase of a snowboard meant a new sport to learn and Harwood seemed the ideal place. It is only about a mile and a half away from Yad and is at a similar altitude, the tow is rather more archaic though! I seemed to make good progress and I look forward to the next trip

Dubbs Road

A short walk along the Dubbs road to try out some snowblades which were great. Snow again about 2-3ins at 1000' and more forecast for the week ahead. more scope for snowsports this winter. Saw this little chap on our travels.

Yad Moss

Another day skiing at Yad Moss, I met my sister there and we both enjoyed the day. The queues were only very short and the snow conditions excellent. Chatting to one of the ski club members they have had 35 days which is amazing. there is still lots of snow and indeed it snowed for much of the day hence a poor photo!

Stribers Allotment

A dull day weather wise, low misty cloud and a bit raw. A continuation of our walk on thursday, along the Cumbria Coastal Way. Only a short walk but enough really as we were both tired. The term allotment is nothing to with growing veg, and is a term for a parcel of land in Cumbria and Yorkshire.

Stribers Ridge

A beautiful day saw us back in the low fells west of Cartmel, we parked beside the road to Speel Bank and made our way by footpaths and bridleways through to Burns Farm and onto the ridge. The view from the ridge was excellent across the Leven estuary and north to the lakes hills still streaked with snow. Lunch was eaten on the high point bathed in the sun with no wind. Our route took us past a Badgers sett and a herd of farmed red deer. It would seem that a wind farm is planned for this ridge, what a tragedy it would be if this peaceful part of lakeland was to be disturbed.

Micro Tarp

The short walk near Cartmel gave me chance to see what my homemade micro tarp looked like up. Basically 120cm square and weighing 129grams including the 4 pegs needed. I erected it with 2 sections of a damaged Akto pole, which seemed to work perfectly. The space seems adequate, and I'm looking forward to using it with the recently purchased Gelert bivibag giving a total weight of 438grams (exc pole).

Howbarrow

A short walk round Howbarrow near Cartmel. A raw day with fog and mist lingering throughout the day. This is a quiet area and as usual very few people were seen, and all the better for that! Part of our route included a section of the Cumbria Coastal Way, although the sea is a good 2 miles away, even at high tide.

Gurnal Dubs

On the way back from Coniston yesterday the weather was so good I decided to make the best of the afternoon with a walk up to the man made tarn of Gurnal Dubs. The tarn was almost frozen completely, but the sun was warm. I was surprised by the number of people I saw.