Stone Valley

I have climbed more this last fortnight than I have all summer and it's been great.  I love climbing in the Autumn - the crisp skies, the rock still holding onto any summer warmth and the breeze keeping the midgies at arms length.  Yesterday, we headed up to Stone Valley and never saw a soul all day.  The wind certainly kept any biting things away and when the sun disappeared we were grateful of down jackets and multiple layers.

I was sad to see that the Poca Buidhe Bothy is now closed to all visitors.  How many people actually know what the Bothy Code is?  Actually, thinking about it how many people know what the Countryside Code is?  Yes, we could probably take a pretty good educated guess but ....

The little adventures

Sometimes I think that there is too much emphasis on the big adventures.  Realistically if I can do one big adventure every year I am happy with that, so the question is what do you do the rest of the time?

Little adventures.   Lots of little adventures.  Preferably lots of little adventures with lots of variety.

As the summer starts to draw to a close (oh yes, it will nearly be that time of year to get uber excited again) it's all about cramming it in.

We done lots on our latest little adventure, but the one that will stick in the mind is the Breamish Behemoth.

For me, it was simply about getting to go riding over some amazing terrain without having to look at maps, decide where to go and tapping into local knowledge.  It was awesome.  What was more awesome was stopping half way around for the best cake that I have ever had - and from me that is a very big statement.

I haven't done much riding in Englandshire before but it comes highly rated and recommended :)

To the Alps and back

Oh my goodness, I have discovered that Alpine Mountaineering is now predominately a rich persons game.

We had lots of plans for our mini break but with the conversation rate as it is, we embraced Alpine Mountaineering as it should be.  Long walk ins, cold bivi's and good old student food. 

Now it's not that I'm adverse to spending money, but let's keep it real.  We managed to survive a week in Switzerland before finally bailing back to good old France where we didn't actually mind buying bread, cheese and wine.

As much as I love the Alps, it is very very good to be back home.  The garden has been completely neglected - actually this isn't entirely true since Derek has been very productive in the vegetable patch (more strawberry wine on the go, carrots coming along perfectly and courgettes the size of marrows) but the piece de resistance is without doubt the tree lilies whose aroma are filling the whole of the village.