A Wet Walk Above Dowthwaite Head

Today was one of those days when many would question my sanity!.....But I needed to be out in the elements, without disturbance from anyone else. I certainly picked a wild spot. As I left the car at High Row above Dockray it was pouring with rain. It didn't let up all the time I was out ......

I walked along the valley floor to Dowthwaite Head, the becks were running high.

This is the top of Brown Hills, I've been here before a long time ago...and it wasn't as wet!

Ridge walking but not as we'd like it, it was a lot worse than this for much of the way as well

And this is Swineside...nothing to see here as they say!
From here it was back to Dowthwaite Head with the wind and rain on my back.
Once back at the car I was handily placed for a visit to Penrith where I had a bit of business to sort, with a clear head. The correct decisions were taken and will be noted on the blog over the next couple of months.

Carn a Chlamain

I'd fully intended to drive home today just bagging a couple of easy Marilyns on the way. However having woken early at the SYHA in Aviemore I thought I'd make better use of my time. So drove South to Blair Atholl and parked at the Old Bridge of Tilt. It would be a long walk up Glen Tilt to the foot of Carn a Chlamain...Infact I'd planned in my own mind that this hill would be done by mountain bike but.....

I was past Marble Lodge at this point and the Beinn a Ghlo hills where starting to become clear of cloud.

The River Tilt

There's an excellent track up the ridge which according to the map leads almost to the summit 

However the track was full of snow, so I followed a narrower path...although eventually that to was covered with snow. here at about 800m the clag was down...

...and it stayed that way all the way to the summit. No view today.

I dropped back out of the low cloud again at about 800m and unfortunately it the stated raining as well. It didn't rain all the way back thankfully but the showers were heavy. 6hrs out and back and no one seen on the hill.

Meall a Bhuachaille

Today's hill was Meall a Bhuachaille, which I climbed from Glenmore. I walked on the old logging road past Glenmore Lodge towards Lochan Uaine....

Lochan Uaine, last time I was here it was dusk I was on the bike and I was knackered! Today there was no one about, even on a weekend.

Looking back through the Ryvoan Pass to the Cairngorm hills

Ryvoan bothy, remarkablely clean and tidy considering how many people must pass by.

The summit of Meall a Bhuachaille, it was thronged with folk. It took some judicious positioning to keep them out of the frame!
There's not much snow in the Northern Corries as you can see.

It was to early to drop straight back down to the car so continued on the ridge to Creagan Form. It's another great viewpoint... and I had it to myself. After butties in the shelter of the cairn I returned to the col and started to descend.

I met lots of people with huge packs.... Parapente guys. It was an easy walk back through the trees and down to the car.

Seana Mheallan

Seana Mheallan is a Marilyn located in the Torriden valley. Overlooked...And perhaps looked down on by mighty Liatach. But as many Marilyn's an excellent viewpoint, particularly Westwards to Upper Loch Torriden. It nicely filled a couple of hours in the afternoon.

Seana Mheallan ahead from the valley floor.

Impressive falls on the Abhainn Thrail, fortunately a little further up there was a bridge.

There were a number of low rock bands to negotiate, interspersed by boggy shelves.

The summit arrived eventually... Although this is the Western top which is a few metres lower. A great view Westwards as I said earlier.
Hopefully this post is successful as I've posted it from my tablet tethered to my mobile on 4G!

Bink Moss From Bowlees, Teesdale

Bink Moss....sounds like things could be wet underfoot! And so it proved! A reasonably early start (for me) saw me parked up at Bowlees for 10am. The drive over great as always...although this would be the last time for a while...I'll be back on the motorbike mind.
The forecast promised heavy rain for early/mid afternoon, and with little shelter up on Bink Moss I hoped to be back at the car for 3ish....

First a visit to Low Force, impressive today with the volume of water in the River Tees

Across Wynch Bridge and another view of Low Force

As I left the river the view Westwards to Upper Teesdale opened up.

Typical upper Teesdale scenery...what the photo can't convey is the bird calls, Curlew, Lapwing and Snipe. High above me the Skylarks were out....Spring must be nearly here!

In the distance are Cross Fell, Great and Little Dun Fells and  over to the left on this picture Mickle Fell. Just behind me is the summit of Bink Moss, this was my last Pennine Nuttall...I shall be driving a good deal further to climb new hills for a while.

Varying my route back I benefited from these duckboards for a while as I followed the fence.

Eventually I had to cut across the heather, bog and moss to visit this cairn on Millstone How Hill. 

I found a good shelter for my lunch on the way back down

The forecast was wrong thankfully so I extended my walk to pick up the Pennine Way. descending to the trail via Bleabeck Force.

Bleabeck Force was just the aperitif for the main course of High Force. Very impressive today.
From here it was just a case of following he Pennine Way back beside the River Tees to Wynch Bridge, Bowlees and the car.
I'll be a bit sad not to be walking the wide open expanses of the Northern Pennines for a while as I head to pastures new....