The rain stayed away today unlike yesterday's bike ride across the Birker Fell Road. Well, almost stayed away as the strong winds did whip in very heavy hail storms which thankfully were short lived.

The problem today was the gale.  The weather forecasters said the winds reached storm force. They did making walking a major struggle especially along the ridges. Despite this I managed 3 new hills including the ones on the left and right in the picture above, taken in a brief interlude when the sun was out.

Yet again the weather was poor with strong winds and heavy rain.

I did a pre dawn raid on a small hill near to the inn and was out and back before the rai, before daylight and in time for a well earned breakfast.

Later I cycled over the exposed Birker Fell Road which reaches 238 meters as I transferred accommodation from Eskdale to Dunnerdale. A wild wet and windy cycle ride.

The weather improved and , maybe for just one day, the rain stayed away. Well it did so apart from a couple of violent hail storms and a strong wind.

I used the Ravenglass & Eskdale heritage railway to get me to Boot village.

A couple of low hills were ticked off.  England's highest mountains are nearby and were snow capped.  Sadly the highest points remained in low cloud but despite this the views from Boat Howe and Great Howe, were stunning.

It has rained a lot and the ground was sodden.  This caused the paths to be like streams, the streams (becks) to be like rivers, while the rivers were actual torrents.   Wet feet were inevitable!

 I hurried along( well hurried by my standards) and managed to catch the 15.40 return train thereby saving a 5 mile walk. The forecast is poor so it feels a real success to have had at least one good day on this trip.

Drigg Station is quite a contrast to Euston . It wasn't raining at Euston. Unlike Drigg where it was pouring. I biked from Drigg to Eskdale and got wet.  Checked into my room and then walked up Irton Pike and got wetter. But it was satisfying despite the rain, wind and thick mist. Some will question my sanity but I enoyed the feeling of winning something from a bad day.

Hill walking is what I do come rain or shine.

Philippa is flashpacking

Philippa is away on a 4 week trip flash packing through Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.  The first week has seen her facing numerous hurdles, all of which she has managed to overcome, and now she is in Singapore, hopefully she can really start to enjoy the trip.

https://philippaisflashpacking.blogspot.com

Today I start my next series of adventures. Initially I will be in the south west part of the Lake District. Next month I have a mad cap day trip planned, and in late April and the first half of May I will be in the wilds of Galloway in South West Scotland.

Scotland in August 2019

Fiona and Graeme had spent the previous weekend in the Cairngorms. 

  

Sadly Graeme had to return to work in London so I joined Fiona for her second successive weekend in the Scottish hills.

It was good to be back on Scottish Hills.  Initially I spent a couple of days collecting Marilyns and Donalds helped by Graham Nash.  Then I joined Fiona and we climbed Ben Vorlich and Stuc a'Chroin, 2 Munros above Lochearnhead.  These are straightforward and enjoyable hills apart from the very boggy path back to Loch Earn from Stuc a'Chroin.

The next day reverted to rain.  We had a challenging 3 hours on Schiehallion in the morning.  Challenging as the rocky ridge was quite slippery due to the conditions.  

Our afternoon was spent bagging tops on lower hills to avoid the mist and before doing so there was time for an excellent bowl of Cullen Skink soup at the Fortingall Hotel after which we tackled Drummond Hill, a Marilyn above Kenmore on Loch Tay.

The approach to Drummond Hill was on easy forest trails.  The kick came at the end as the final part was really tough, crashing through pathless forest in wet, boggy conditions and negotiating some steep slopes while clambering over fallen trees. Oddly all this was very satisfying especially as after a real struggle, we found both tops.

Our final day was in brilliant sunshine picking off a couple of Marilyns above Crieff and Perth and rounding off a five day trip in mixed weather with 16 hills climbed including 11 new ones for me.

This was a trip to dream about. Nearly 4 weeks in the Scottish Hills, mostly in the far north of the country.  All my targets were met.  The weather was mainly very good. I had excellent company for parts of the trip.  I saw amazing wildlife.  On the whole I was in remote places by UK standards, and I loved it.

I write this nearly a week since after returning to London and I am surprised by how tired I am.  The trip obviously took more out of me than I realised.  There were some big days.  On most days the underfoot conditions were rough, and I kept going day after day.  All these factors have combined leaving me physically drained but very satisfied.

And what next?

Well I have a few ideas.  Watch this space....

Thank you everyone who has supported me or followed my progress.

The picture shows me approaching the summit of Ben Stack.

And for my final picture I choose this with Graeme as we survey the Beinn a'Ghlo ridges.