Collected Musings of a Hill Wanderer

When I was coming home last night, rain started getting thrown down in torrents as can happen in Cheshire. It was almost as if a foretaste of Autumn was being put our way already. When you end up getting a wetting in that kind of deluge, you have to ask if reservoirs are filling up after the dry weather dominating May and June. Going for a look myself might be in order because I seem to have fallen into a rut of lessened activity exactly when the weather has fallen into a run of dampness.

In its own way, the cooler damper weather should encourage more activity and not the brace of lazy weekends that I have been having. Maybe, moving to a new job has broken my outdoors stride and I need to do a spot of restoration in order to break from the current flow. Lindow Common is not far from my new workplace so that may be a option for a spot of lunchtime exploration among trees even if the busy Wilmslow-Altrincham road may be making its presence felt. Then, there's cycling to and from work too when things are a little more settled and I did get out for a short run this afternoon.

Anything that breaks a sense of summertime slumber cannot be bad. It is tempting to blame to fatigue after a working week and unexciting weather but my outdoors mojo needs to be rekindled. There's a new month tomorrow so that might be a useful excuse. Light for outdoors photography is set to improve from now on for the remainder of the year so that may be what's need to get things going again. Then, there's a bank holiday weekend in England and Wales at the end of August that could have its uses. For those of you in Scotland and Éire, let's hope that something can be made of the one that you have this weekend. As for me, I'll be pondering the possibilities for the one that applies to me. It might be that what I see in the latest issues of Walking World Ireland (enticing articles on Scotland's Sandwood Bay and the Tour of Mont Blanc with a selection of shorter walks around West among all the usual features), Outdoor Photography and Photography Monthly might be the cause of something yet. After all, looking at forecasts for future weekends on Accuweather shows a hint of better things to come though all will become clearer as time wears onward.

Last Saturday should have seen me go further afield but another matter meant that I stayed at home. However, I didn't waste the wonderful weather that came to us entirely because I got out my bike and travelled along some of the local lanes; it's not the first time that the handy machine afforded a quick escape for a few hours and I suspect that it mightn't be the last either. Places like Prestbury, Wilmslow, Adlington, Pott Shrigley and Bollington were encountered on the way as I took in some new lanes too. Prestbury's parish church invited another photo while newly weds were being photographed on their special day elsewhere in the churchyard; I didn't disturb them and silently wished them all the best. Rhododendron bushes were in bloom and that's why I went around by Pott Shrigley. Well, there's certain view of Pott Shrigley that I have had in mind for a photo of the picturesque village so I hope to get there one morning before their time expires; my evening arrival had the sun in the wrong place while it was being engulfed by cloud so another trip is warranted. Well, having another excuse to get out in the open air never can be faulted.

Every year in the second half of April, nature does its act of greening up any bare branches with delightful hues. Some years, this change creeps up on me no matter how hard I try not to miss it until it's nearly done. This year, I seem to be catching it as it progresses. The apparent order, from my less expert observations anyway, seems to commence with hedgerows before small trees with their larger counterparts bringing up the rear. This may be a misimpression but it is how it looks to me.

What compliments all of this is the weather. While there is haze and cloud from time to time, this April has been a month with blue skies and sunshine for much of its time with us. It is true to say that yesterday and today saw temperatures that were incompatible with sunbathing but two weekend visits to Wales have seen me encounter very mild temperatures. Personally, I can cope with cooler temperatures but I tend to enjoy the countryside while on the move, therefore generating my own heat as I go. Well, it's not for nothing that the saying advises against casting a clout until May is out and there's another about keeping well covered i there's an "r" in the month (in its name, of course).

Still, this largely settled spell of bright weather only can improve one's mood and put a skip in your step. At least, it does that for me and might explain a run of walking weekends too. In fact, it might be the cause of my taking a diversion around by Nether Alderley, Alderley Edge (the geological feature and not the village of the same name) and Over Alderley while cycling home from work. Well, you shouldn't be wasting a pleasant evening, even if it feels a bit chilly. Seeing all the paths around the National Trust's property around the Edge has planted an idea in my mind of having a stroll around what's there. When I see well maintained paths, my curiosity is aroused and the prospect of a bit of exploration is very tempting. Thus, I have placed the idea of spending a few hours exploring around when time doesn't allow me to go further afield. Until now, my visits have been fleeting and mostly in fading light so its time that I did it some justice and it might reward me with some pleasing photos too. The age of daffodils may be fading but bluebells (or wild hyacinths as I was reading in a copy the The Scots Magazine on the way back from Dyffryn Ardudwy; apparently Scottish Bluebells are not what you think) are around the corner. Let's hope that whatever weather comes to us allows for some enjoyment of their splendor.

This weekend, I fitted in a overnight stay in Capel Curig and a strenuous walk walk over the top of Moel Siabod while en route from Dolwyddelan. Following that ardour, anything done today needed to be less energetic though a hike over boggy ground and through woodland conveyed me to Betws-y-Coed from where I travelled home again. Around the same time last year, I was in the same area and the one difference that stays in my mind is that there remain streaks of snow after the winter that we got. Moel Siabod had them and so had Snowdon, the Glyderau and the Carneddau too. It is small wonder that I had brought the Microspikes with me though I largely avoided any difficulty in the event. Saying that, I did manage to inadvertently scoop up some snow in my right boot (I left off the gaiters and the trousers is only fit for the washing machine now…) with a single ill-taken step.  A spot of bot removal and flicking off of the invaders from my sock was all that was needed as redress.

Last Sunday's outing was very different but the sight of flecks, patches and streaks laying on much lower hills was held in common. Normally, you wouldn't be seeing snowy remnants at this time of year while journeying along the A537 between Macclesfield and Buxton but I did this year. In fact, anytime that eyes gazed in the direction of the upper reaches of Edale, there were telltale white patches there too. If my imagination wasn't fooling me, I even think that I might have spotted a white speck on Lose Hill while on the train home. Not being accustomed to these sights, I tend to notice them but more seasoned observer mightn't pay that much heed.

This past weekend has distracted me from promised illustrated scribblings and, if the fine weather stays with us, I may be waylaid be the lure of well lit hill country next weekend too. Of course, we have what weather actually is coming our way first but a look on Metcheck reveals signs to be promising. In the meantime, I'd better be making time for some matters outstanding then. These hints of summer are a big change from what we were having…

March should start like a lion and leave like a lamb but it seems to have got that script wrong this year. You only have to hear the stories of trains being marooned in snow drifts to be reminded of the same sort of thing happening at the end of February. In its own way, it places into sharp relief the journey that I made to Aviemore a few weeks back. Then, snow seemed to be on the retreat though I was armed with my Kahtoola Microspikes in case I met anything harder than soft snow. Now, it seems that has been well replenished just in time for the Easter weekend. Of course, there's the ever present threat of avalanches (I took a quick peek at the Scottish Avalanche Information Service website and there is high risk up high in many of the hills up there) and the matter of travel too. Both of these matters are reminders of that coach crash tragedy in the south of Scotland and thoughts are the only things that I can offer to those affected.

A decade ago, the mention of the sort of conditions that have visited us more often than usual this winter would have sent anyone to their memory banks to see when they last happened. A few years back, I remember sitting in the Bridge of Orchy hotel enjoying an evening meal after a walk south along the West Highland Way from Glen Coe. What really struck me were all the photos of severe winter conditions of the sort that visited Scotland at the end of March and of February. They dated back to the 1980's and you would have been forgiven for thinking that those would never recur with the green winters that we were having and the prevailing debate on global warming. On a separate occasion, I was staying in Kettlewell and overheard a conversation at breakfast about sheep farming in much harder winters than the ones that were coming our way at that time. All the stories of deep snow covering were very far away in time and my upbringing in a more temperate maritime climate might have had something to do with it too.

In time, the wintry conditions that ended 2009 and stayed with us for so much of 2010 will be found in the same memory area as those in the 1980's and the 1960's. It is a reminder that, even with rising global temperatures (a contentious subject for some and one whose complexity is made all the more apparent when we get colder winters), we aren't going to be denied extreme winter like what came upon Scotland this week. With the milder winters that started the century, you might be forgiven for thinking that they were the start of a pattern but I have come to the conclusion that they were part of a one (El Niño and all that) that mixes mild and arctic as time goes on. We might know more about climate than we did but times like these are a reminder that there's always more to learn.

Here in Macclesfield, it isn't warm but we have no snow. Currently, it is drying up after a wintry shower that was more of rain than anything else. That's not to say that it mightn't have been sleety snow because I have been out in one of those week. April is noted for a mixture sun and showers and it cannot be said that it isn't living up to that stereotype. In fact, a quick look at the synoptic charts on the MWIS website confirm that Easter will be accompanied by a steady queue of low pressure areas. Let's see what can be done with it.