Parhelion

Dry days- 11
Days of rain- 18

Yesterday I had a spare hour so went to Duxon Hill Quarry for a look at R-Man's new thing, Shed Seven. It was late on and the Sun was low and I was treated to a good clear Sun Dog, shimmering rainbow colours at the level of the Sun but no real ring. Stunning nonetheless. As I wandered to the rocks I managed to startle a deer, so a day of seeing things that should be appreciated.

I managed all the moves bar one on Shed Seven, despite it being quite wet. Damn, the holds are sharp and my skin was battered. I may head back when there's been a dry spell, good problem.


R-Man on the FA:

PPPPPP

Dry days- 9
Days of rain- 17

Ah yes, Proper Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance. As ably demonsatrated yesterday, by the lack thereof.

The forecast wasn't great, so I had a look at MWIS which also said gales in the Lakes with wet weather and "significant" windchill. So obviously I opted to go there to walk up some hills. I settled on Kirkstone Pass, plotting to walk over Red Screes, Middle Dodd, Little Hart Crag and High Hartsopp Dodd- a good way forward to the 10 Wainwrights in 2012 aim.


Lovely day for it:




I arrived at Kirkstone Pass in the pissing rain. Cloud base was at around 500m (ie not much above the pass) and the cloud was whizzing by at a rate of knotts. Now, being Summer (?!) I had brought my light waterproofs and forgotten my gloves. Luckily I had some old motorbike gloves in the car boot. I stomped up Red Screes pretty quickly, although the path is nicely rocky and had water pouring down it. This made going interesting as the path was steep and slippery and the wind didn't help. You'd be unlucky to die from a slip, but you'd certainly be likely to injure yourself enough to be a bit Joe Simpsoned.

The summit of Red Screes appears out of nowhere, or at least it did yesterday since visibility was consistently below 10 metres. I then headed off towards Middle Dodd. After five minutes I absent mindedly added my location as a waypoint on the GPS- which later turned out to be fortuitous.

From Middle Dodd, I contoured around to try to get to Scandale Pass. This proved to be interesting as I couldn't see a thing. I finally arrived at a wall and a path which I presumed was the path down to the Pass. I headed down, scrubbing off height, for ten minutes. Before getting to the col I realised I was cold, and rather wet as the waterproofs and boots were leaking. I made the executive decision to turn for home, something unusual for a stubborn bugger like me. So, I turned around and headed up the hill towards red Screes, now needing to walk a kilometer and gain 300m of height.

Where the hill levelled off near the summit, one path went straight on, and another left. Not wanting to go back to Middle Dodd I went straight on. I didn't bother looking at the map as the wind and rain was so bad I couldn't be arsed stopping to get it out. After another 10 minutes of going downhill I realised the wind was in my face and I hadn't come to the craggy path yet. So I bit the bullet and checked my position. Needless to say I was half way down Snarker Pike on my way to Ambleside. Fuck it.

So another about turn and another kilometer and 300m ascent. I was annoyed now, which diffused the beginnings of a feeling that I couldn't be arsed walking. Heading towards my waypoint I kept passing small tarns, which all looked the same in a Scooby Doo running scene where the background keeps repeating. I think the cloud and mist banks were messing with my brain. I found the correct path and stumbled my way back to the car. 2:30 round trip in some pretty challenging conditions.

Last night we made a Jamie Oliver home made Haggis and drank a dram to Rabbie. I was so tired I could hardly wait for sleep!!

Brief Update

Dry days- 8
Days of rain- 16

We seem to have shifted back to wet weather after a few lovely crisp days. I'm off tomorrow but the forecast is gash, so I think I'll start on my Aims for 2012 by walking in the Lakes.

I went to the wall tonight. My skin was very sore, even after five minutes. I did most of the things I've done before, but nothing any harder. I saw Serpico which is always nice. Maybe it's me but i think wet poo is getting busier in the evenings, which doesn't help.

Two Down

Today is the one day off that I have this week, and it's pissing down again. Someone is having a laugh.

On the up side I managed to finish Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in my quest to complete the BBC Big Read top 100. I'd already read a number of these, but a year ago I thought I'd try to expand my mind by reading them all. In that 12 months I've managed to get through War and Peace, Anna Karenina, Pride and Prejudice, Catch 22 and three Harry Potter books. Lots more to go at, and one of my aims this yea was to read ten of these. He's the current position books in bold are ones that I have read:

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie


Right, back to Harry Potter and the Gobshite of Fire then off for a run.

Less crap than last time

Dry days- 6
Days of rain- 10

I finished work a little late today so didn't have time to make much of another cold and crisp day, so I went back for another Wet Poo session. I was only there an hour as my skin was sore and the place filled up with children and beginners back clipping their way up the lead walls. Today I manged to flash three of the V5s I hadn't tried last time, feeling a little better than last time. After the hour I was on my way out when I bumped into Weak Sam, so ended up chatting for half an hour. Interesting projects and links!

Minty Weather

Dry days- 6
Days of rain- 9

The Doc and I went to chez Beast yesterday to drop presents off. It's been cold (frosty) and dry the last few days, grit season has finally arrived. Today dawned the same, cold and icy. I did the local run 2 minutes quicker than last time. Need to start upping the distance now.

First wall visit of the year

Dry days- 3
Days of rain- 9

After work I decided to go to Wet Poo for an attempt at a session. I arrived just after four to find the Milky Bar Kid had reset everything today. There was no list of grades so I warmed up on the easiest looking problems. After a while I had a look at the steeper stuff on the left walls, but after a while some graded lists arrived. I found I'd flashed quite a few V4s which was nice.

I managed a few of the V5s and a V5/6, which was one of the weird Vickers problems with only five holds and lots of drop knees and bridging. After a couple of hours it was super busy and getting hot, so I opted to leave.

It's been a while of rubbish weather and a while since I've managed to get to any dry rock. I'm getting keen to get out and get doing stuff, and maybe get some aims ticked. Hopefully 2012 will be better weather.

2012- The Ideal Start

Dry days- 0
Days of rain- 5
Alcohol free days- 12

What a start. Five consecutive days of shite weather. Yesterday I did the local short run in the freezing rain and wind, 27 minutes of misery despite the thermals.

I've been buying a few things from Amazon recently (other on line stores are available). Today I got Die Hard DVD and the Bible in the same package, ironic or what? I'm awaiting Kill List, a film that sounds interesting to say the least.

The forecast looks crap for a few more days, so little hope of any dry rock. Here's to 2012!!!!