Buchaille Etive Beag

Stob Dubh summit, B E M behind

Buchaille Etive Beag

Tuesday, 10 December 2024

Ascent:       1006metres
Distance:    11 kilometres
Time:          4 hours 56 minutes

Stob Dubh                    958m.     2hrs 41mins
Stob Coire Raineach.   925m.     3hrs 37mins

Some days just happen. Keith had messaged me on Sunday evening saying the aftermath of Storm Darragh might yield a few days of freezing but sunny weather. I suggested we climb Buchaille Etive Beag, Glencoe had been glazed with snow during the storm. It suited us both, neither of us had climbed it on our unintended sixth rounds, but we were no longer into Munro bagging!! I picked him up at Crianlarich at 8:30 a.m., having driven through the morning fog on empty icy roads. Crossing Rannoch Moor, it was -7°C and much the same when we parked at the newish car park by the bridge before the descent into Glencoe. A dozen cars were parked already and the visibility was no more than a few hundred metres. 

During the usual exasperation of preparing for the first winter walk: fitting boots and gaiters, fixing ice axes on the rucksack, packing crampons and easing ourselves into jackets, hats and gloves, I was chatting to the man in the next car who was ready to set out. He was dressed as the hillwalker equivalent of a mamil (middle-aged man in lycra) but with pricey mountain gear instead of Rapha, Castelli and Oakleys. He told me he had recently completed a Munro round and was starting on his ninth round. I was impressed and mentioned this to Keith who had been deliberating which of his many jackets and items of equipment to wear or pack for the outing. 

We started on the well-made path of large stones and small gravel. It had become a strip of black ice making it necessary to walk on the adjoining ground or perform a hiking on-ice routine. We caught up with the Mamil at 550 metres, he was fixing some step-in crampons onto his high-end boots. Keith congratulated him on being on his ninth round of Munros but discovered it was only on his ninth Munro in his second round. The kudos was immediately reversed when he heard that Keith was on his sixth round, he had never met anyone who had done more than three. Keith, who is instinctively modest, didn't bother to mention his 4 Munro Top rounds, 3 Corbett rounds, his rounds of the Grahams (Fionas), Firths,  and Wainwrights,  not to mention all his other walks. 

I decided given we had stopped to put on my crampons and Keith fitted his microspikes as the path was getting steeper and icier. My pace slackened as I kicked in my crampons to ratchet myself up the slopes. I ascribed it to the boots, the crampons and the fully loaded rucksack but it was probably a winter and age fitness syndrome. Keith was charging on in his micro spikes, his fitness permanently hardened by hillwalking three or four times a week.

At 700 metres, we emerged from the grey cloud and freezing temperature to gawp at the sheer beauty of Bidean nam Bian,  the Aonach Eagach ridge with Ben Nevis looming big and near over its smaller siblings. Suddenly the ungainly crampons that had squeezed my boots and started blistering my feet no longer seemed to bother me. Even more so when we reached the bealach at 748 metres. We were treated to a balcony view of Buchaille Etive Mor and all the mountains stretching to Schiehallion. It was overwhelming as we had 360° of peaks surrounding us. (see video). They looked like a spikey meringue and were spectacularly delicious. Two young women arrived, they were equally mesmerised and asked if we knew of the App that gave you the names of all the mountains. We did but didn't know its name, we are old school and like to mentally exercise our mountain memories as we put together the jigsaw of peaks. We decided to climb Stob Dubh first, it is the higher and further away of the two Munros and would allow us to walk towards the midday sun and top up our vitamin D.

We drifted along, taking photos, the sun had warmed us, and our gloves were off as we reached the 906-metre top. We watched another walker set off to the summit with his drone following his progress. It was another kilometre along the ridge, and we lolled about en route goggling at the stupendous views to the south aware that days like this are the reason for hillwalking. We pottered around the summit before finding a couple of boulders to sit and enjoy the moment. It was the first time I had brought a flask of coffee in a couple of years and it was warm enough to eat a sandwich, We both sent photos to friends and family stuck in cold foggy urban Britain. We spent 30 minutes chilling over an extended lunch, it was ecstatic at the Cafe del Dubh.

We began the return before 1pm, dropping down to the bealach which was easygoing in the snow that had softened in the midday sun. The climb up to the second Munro, Stob Coire Raineach, was a slog and the crampons were probably unnecessary in the deep snow. We made it in under an hour and were gifted another set of views to drool over. We could see from Ardgour through Glencoe and back to the Breadalbane mountains. I removed my crampons before we galloped down the soft snow to the bealach. 

The sun was dipping behind Bidean nam Bian as we began the trek down the path. Initially, the snow and ice had softened but lower down and in the shadow cast by Bidean, it was refreezing and we found it easier to walk on the softer snow, it certainly exercised the quads. There were exceptional close-up views of the Aonach Eagach ridge as its crenellated summit was etched against the cobalt blue sky. We were down by 3:30 pm, it was still light but the car was frozen. After dropping Keith at Crianlarich, I made it home by 5pm. Now that was what I call a magic day.

Bidean nam Bian

I 💙 Bidean

Towards Ben Nevis with bonus Brocken Spectre

Bidean and me

Keith on Stob Dubh

Cafe del Dubh - Keith sending photos

Bidean nam Bian again

Bidean and Aonach Eagach

Looking back to Stob Dubh as the sun begins to dip at 2pm

Summit of Ston Coire Raineach

Aonach Eagach and Ardgour

Aonach Eagach

Big Boy

Treasury Rules

HM Treasury

As Keir Starmer's government settles down to business, one change that would make a difference would be to loosen the tentacles of Treasury rules and control that have been such a strait jacket on innovation and growth over the last few decades. 

Undoubtedly, the new government's inherited financial situation did not augur well for setting their first budget as the Institute for Fiscal Studies Paul Johnson's article on the black-hole explains. Funding was not set aside for many of the inquiries into serial mistakes by the government and its agencies, including the post office horizon scandal, the infected blood scandal, and Grenfell Tower. Other commitments of the outgoing government such as the pay review body recommendations were not funded even though they are normally accepted by the government. The conservative opposition and mainstream press have wasted no time trying to lay the blame on the new government castigating them for making payments to the trade unions when pay settlements had been held down for years by austerity. This was the reason behind the rail, nurse and doctor's strikes. This must be seen in the context of public sector awards falling well behind inflation over the past 13 years because of their fundamental disdain for public services,  These have continued since COVID-19 as shown in the graph below.

This means that Rachel Reeves was left with the requirement to make significant savings from existing budgets or from finding new forms of taxation. This is where the treasury began to dominate the proposals put forward. She has swallowed many of the treasury maxims that have not translated well into her budget. They are macro-level solutions that fit with the Treasury's tendency to distrust ministerial departments and local democratic bodies. They tend to operate through centralised diktat rather than evidence-based collaborative thinking. 

The outcome is entirely predictable. Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer are no longer shiny happy people and not just because their wardrobes have had to be handed back. They are macro proposals of the type that take no recognisance of the detailed ramifications of the budget changes to those services, businesses and people that are most affected. 

The cutback of winter fuel allowances for the elderly and disabled would have been more acceptable had it been limited to those paying tax. This could have been refined by allowing the Department of Work and Pensions to find ways of safeguarding the most vulnerable from the impact of this measure. Anyone not paying any tax at all should automatically continue to receive it. This would have given a lesser saving but would have avoided the understandable indignation of pensioners and damaging the most vulnerable population in the UK. The electorate rightly expected more progressive budgetary decisions from a Labour government.

The introduction of additional national insurance payments by businesses was ill-thought-out and presumably taken because the Labour Party had ruled out NI increases for employees. Reversing Jeremy Humt's reductions in NI employee contributions would have been a better way of dealing with this if growth was the prime mission of the new government. Switching the savings to employers affects not only businesses but also public services and charities and will further impinge on their ability to deliver improved public services after years of decline. This is having a major impact on many of the very services that are required to improve the quality of life of many of the most vulnerable. Additional NI contributions by health authorities, councils, charities organisations and housing associations will stall improvements in services that are responsible for the majority of public services and Rachel Reeves is now having to construct a narrative to counter this unintended consequence.

The inheritance tax on farmers has not played well but there is some merit in taxing the super-rich who have utilised this loophole in inheritance tax to secure their assets by becoming land owners. It simply requires some strategic thinking about the purpose and the consequences of introducing willy-nilly proposals that could generate a tranche of funding to cover the black holes but have been made to sound petty.

Some of these black holes relate to the scatter of government failures that have been channelled into the long grass of expensive inquiries by the government. The Post Office paid £250m to its lawyers and the post office inquiry has cost £50m. Compensation to the victims has been far less so far and Rachel Reeves has had to find £540m for the expected compensation..

The infected blood scandal goes back to the 1970s when over 30,000 people were given contaminated blood products, 10% of whom died. The findings of the inquiry did not materialise until earlier this year leaving Rachel Reeves with the the responsibility for finding £11.8bn of compensation for victims in the budget.

Grenfell Tower Inquiry has cost £173m so far and £340m has been promised for a memorial. The victims have received £42m to date as the word cloud of those responsible bustles each other to shift the blame.

The previous government had made finagling responsibility for government mistakes and compensation for victims an art form of time management. Jeremy Hunt's hasty pre-election budget sought to offer reductions in employee National Insurance payments but never identified where the consequent savings would be made other than the usual trope of departmental efficiency savings.

So Rachel Reeves was given a poor hand but has played it badly because she has fallen for the Treasury cocktail of savings that lacks a detailed understanding of how things work in the real world. She had 3 months to finesse the budget but cobbled together more of the stale menu of savings that the Treasury and Chancellors have been serving for decades. What has been particularly disturbing is that Rachel Reeves claims that she has never heard of any alternatives to her budget proposals. She has either a deaf ear or lacks the imagination or willingness to engage with ideas other than the sterile top-down solutions of the Treasury that has made central government the monopoly recipient of taxation and broken the umbilical cord of accountability between councils and their citizens and businesses. In my humble view one of the fundamental mistakes of the past 50 years.

The Treasury is dominant in the development of the budget that by its very nature is developed at the macro level.  They do not take into account the nuances that ministerial or effective political deliberation should deliver. And there is no attempt to take cognisance of regional or local knowledge where practical experience would identify less disruptive or damaging options.

At a time when the impact of climate change is accelerating and causing havoc in communities and the switch to electric vehicles is stalling, surely it would be appropriate to use the fuel price escalator which has been frozen since 2011. Yes, it would be an extra charge for households and logistics companies but our roads are overly congested and there is an imperative to generate better use of buses and trains. Electric cars are no longer selling at the rate required to meet climate change targets, so raising the cost of fuel for diesel and petrol vehicles when fuel costs have diminished would be a doubly beneficial measure. At the same time, a tax on short-haul air travel in the UK would raise income and/or reduce the need for airport expansion.

The Labour Party sold the pass on raising income tax in their manifesto but a higher taxation could kick in at a level beyond, say, £150,000 per annum. This might also be linked to one of Rachel Reeves's intentions about pensions. It could be used to pay for a government investment bond instead of her proposal to centralise local government pension schemes which have been well managed and guaranteed pensions by strong local accountability and competition between financial advisers. Shifting the control to mega pension funds serviced by the usual coterie of finance companies will penalise SME financial companies and make investment in local companies less likely.

An area that has not been considered since the 1960s is some form of land taxation. This should apply particularly to the development of land. At the moment land is bought cheaply by residential developers in particular and once the planning permission is gained the valuation of that land rises significantly. Any uplift in land values should be taxed for the benefit of the local community. Equally many landowners including farmers are reaping significant income streams from wind farms and arrays of solar panels or micro hydro schemes on their land. This could be a source of funding for local councils that have seen their funding reduced and capped over the past decade.

The UK should be following the example of other European countries who have not tied electricity prices to the cost of gas which is dictated largely by Putin's export of gas. Given that the UK has a higher percentage of electricity generated from renewables and other sources, including the remnants of nuclear, it might save considerable costs to consumers of electricity.  It would diminish the rates paid to the electricity providers who currently use gas primarily and more sustainable sources are turned off in periods of low demand. So despite the UK having the highest capacity of renewables, we are paying the highest prices in Europe because prices are pegged to the price of gas. 

Another option would be for the government to introduce an online sales tax. Many city centre town centre businesses have been badly damaged by competition from online retailers who do not have to pay town centre business rates. It would benefit existing town centres that have been severely damaged by online sales by Amazon and other retailers, out-of-town retail parks and the loss of footfall following Covid and the significant shift to working from home.  The vitality of our town and city centres could be greatly enhanced by such measures.

These are just a few of the policy options for generating more tax and rebuilding public services at the same time addressing some of the other missions that the new government made the centrepiece of their manifesto. Rachel Reeves has shown no indication that she will break the treasury rules and her reputation is one of another bean counter, whose only advantage over Jeremy Hunt is that she can count.

Autumn Days

Ben Ledi from Ben Gullipen

I have been out of commission for a few days after a minor operation but have taken the liberty of getting out and exercising on local walks. The days have been dull with mainly mist and low clouds but by chance I have happened on some periods when the sun and skies have teased us with interludes of autumnal splendour. I had loaded Snapseed, an editing app for smartphones, and this gave me scope to test the app which had been recommended. I had seen the remarkable results in the hands of a pro. I am still trying to understand all the options available but it certainly provides considerable artistic license.

Like many others, I have largely put my cameras to rest as smartphone cameras have improved. They are simple to operate and swift in use and eliminate the weight and complexity of a camera and the manipulations to transfer the shots onto the computer. The results from a smart phone are usually good in terms of exposure and focus; the rest is in the eye of the photographer. I have recently observed one of the best and realise there is still much to learn.

Ben Vane and Ben Ledi from Lime Craig

Crainlarich Munros

Campsies from Lime Craig

4pm, golden hour on Craig Mor

Braeval sunset

Morning Webcast

My path through Torrie Forrest

Ben Ledi from Torrie Forrest

Loch Venachar

Stuc a' Chroin in cloud from Ben Gullipen

Callander

Making America Lesser Again

Mount Rushmore: Space for Trump in the rubble

November the fifth is fireworks night in the UK when tradition has it that we celebrate the failure of the attempt to assassinate King James 1. This year it coincided with the American Presidential election which celebrated the failure to assassinate Donald Trump by decisively giving him a second term as the American President. The old British custom of burning effigies of hate figures would no doubt appeal to the 47th President. 

The world has reacted with a muted astonishment but it was always a strong possibility. Trump had created several populist narratives that appealed to the emotional beliefs of a significant proportion of American citizens who buy into his loathsome homilies. Despite the worldwide influence of American companies and the financial and military muscle of the USA, the majority of its citizens have an island mentality and are deeply rooted in a small-town culture, think of Ebbing, Missouri. They are cut off from the rest of the world by the two largest oceans, the American Dream is ever more elusive and most working Americans don't have long holidays. They are less worldly and globally aware than Europeans and Asians. 

Donald Trump is the master of tapping into their distrust of the educated elite who dominate the institutions of American society and who have more progressive, or woke, political instincts than the majority of the American voters. They do not want to be swamped with more immigration, resent the cost of living increases as wages stagnate, and do not want to lose their freedom to burn gas and oil or shoot guns. They have little in common with a more inclusive and progressive Europe in which the UK is far more closely aligned on social, environmental and economic issues.

The reaction to Trump's victory has more than a whiff of hypocrisy. Presidents, Prime Ministers and Oligarchs have fallen over each other to congratulate and reassure him of their desire to work alongside the USA. It is a response to their fear of economic retaliation that he has threatened to weaponise against countries and regimes unprepared to make unilateral deals with him.  Contrary to Trump's promise to make America great again, there is a lot of evidence suggesting that his direction of travel may have the opposite effect as it withdraws its trade and environmental agreements and diminishes its military involvement. This will seriously affect the wider world economy, climate change, and international cooperation. Paradoxically, it may make America lesser again as its trade declines and a new world order takes shape.

There are several main concerns about what happens next.

Climate Action requires the world's nations to work collaboratively to ensure that the targets have been set or met by all nations working together. Trump has shown by his statements that he is dismissive of climate change and has no commitment to climate action. He has given strong support to drilling for oil and gas and claims that America has more oil and gas than the rest of the world which is beautiful. His threats to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and COP will result in serious damage and give license to other non-believers to follow suit. His motorcades are a visible example of his disdain for any environmental integrity. 

The United Nations and NATO are both essential organisations to ensure peace and protect the weaker nations from poverty, provide relief from emergencies, tackle famine and disease and challenge the activities of tyrants and despots when they seek to expand their empires, carry out genocide or infringe human rights. Trump has little regard for the United Nations which he sees as competition to American hegemony and he sees NATO as an expensive tax on the USA which must be funded more fully by Europe. 

Ukraine and Gaza are wars that have resulted in thousands of unnecessary deaths and show no sign of finishing. Negotiations are difficult with unrepentant aggressors and determined defenders of sovereign territories. American arms manufacturers provide the vast majority of weapons being used by Ukraine and Israel. Trump's claim to settle the Ukraine war in 24 hours is a craven notion that would trade Ukrainian territory under the threat of cutting the supply of weapons, This would be the opposite solution than in Gaza, the further supply of American weapons will continue to enable the destruction of Gaza, where 45,000 citizens have already been killed and over 70% of buildings and infrastructure have been destroyed.. This is despite the United Nations' 1947 agreement to partition Palestine into two states, Palestine and Israel, and their support for a ceasefire. Netanyahu seeks to eliminate the possibility of a two-state solution and Trump is likely to be supportive. This would be despite a motion from 52 countries, mainly in the Middle East, to stop the supply of weapons to Israel which are largely provided by the USA. Trump's belligerence could detonate a far wider conflict in the Middle East. He has shown little respect for the United Nations and its agencies that provide humanitarian relief and medical aid.

Tariffs are his favourite word because increasing tariffs will restrict imports from other nations particularly those whom he feels damage American business. In this respect, he negotiates and behaves as a transactional businessman. Someone who always wants to win a deal rather than secure a long-term relationship or establish a new initiative which will give wider long-term benefits to all sides. Trump is for the short term and for his own interest. These align with populist opinion in the United States and he uses this as a justification for many of his policies.

Economic policy in Trump's second term. is about reducing taxes and huge reductions in federal spending. Elon Musk has inveigled his way into being the frontrunner to deliver massive savings in government departments and agencies. We know how effective he has been in downsizing Twitter into X or should that be x and in the process losing millions of users and 79% of its value according to Google AI. The savings in federal spending are assumed to be achieved by reducing the number of departments and staff employed by federal agencies. However, most federal spending is on the military, welfare payments and Medicare, and all will be protected vigorously by its adherents. This could be a revelation to Musk who will face his armageddon if he fails the antichrist.  Meanwhile, oil and gas companies will be given new licenses and the Rust Belt will be magically reinvigorated as was promised in 2016 but with little effect. A film starring Frances McDormand as a released felon reprising that day in Butler, Pennsylvania is more likely than Trump rescuing the Rust Belt. 

Russia and China relationships will be revisited by Trump. They are the two nations with the resources and military strength to challenge the USA. Trump believes that he has the acumen to make deals with them that were beyond the capacity of previous Presidents who have been controlled by the federal establishment. In the case of Russia, he sees an opportunity to allow Putin to carry out and retain land from other nations such as Ukraine and Georgia in exchange for terminating the war by the USA reducing its provision of weapons to Ukraine. Relations with China will be based on the threat of increased tariffs for imported goods and securing more beneficial trade deals. The consequence may well benefit the United States as well as Russia and China but will have repercussions across the rest of the world. He believes in bilateral transactions rather than negotiated and nuanced treaties that engage a far larger number of nations.

Immigration is the other big-ticket policy. Trump promises to significantly reduce the number of unauthorised immigrants. Under President Biden, this achieved a high in 2023 of 3.2 million according to statista. This compares with 2.6 million authorised immigrants in 2022. Mexico and Central American countries dominate both legal and illegal immigration to the United States. Trump has promised the mass deportation of 10 million or more illegal migrants and said that there is no price tag on this. The American Immigration Council has put a price of $88bn per annum to achieve this over ten years. That's over nine times the value of X(x), formerly known as Twitter, each year. Elon will have his work cut out to find the savings or cryptocurrency to pay for this. It is a reminder that Trump seldom worries about detail when making announcements, they are aimed at giving oxygen to the emotional concerns and self-interest of a third of the electorate. Remember that more Americans didn't vote than voted for Trump  The impact of losing the immigrant workforce, let alone the damage to their families and children's education is not part of his narrative but could seriously damage the  American economy.

The Department of Justice is headed by an Attorney General appointed by the President. Trump will select someone known to be supportive and loyal. He/she will be expected to suspend his 34 felony charges and criminal convictions and pursue those who have taken action against him, some of whom Trump has named already. It suggests that Justice will become a controversial issue with constitutional implications. This will extend to International agreements that stand in the way of Trump's disruptive agendas.

All of these consequences suggest that the USA could become far more insular.  The growth of gated communities in many towns and cities to protect the wealthy could be upsized to make America a gated country as it erects borders and removes itself from trade agreements and global organisations. Trump is more likely to make America a super-sized Dingley Dell than great again. Is it worth the effort of other nations to genuflect on President Trump? Trump's America will not be the UK or Europe's special or beautiful friend. It is more likely to be the End of the American Dream, particularly with the cast of disruptors that Donald Trump Jnr is advocating for key positions. As a film, it would be a cross of Dirty Dozen with Ocean's Eleven and a box office hit but without a star-spangled cast, just junketeers.

At half mast

Loadpot and Wether Hills

Wether Hill summit

Tuesday, 5 November 2024

Ascent:       624 metres
Distance:    12 kilometres
Time:          3 hours 9 minutes

Wether Hill     675m    1hr 13mins
Loadpot Hill   672m    1hr 40mins

On our final day of the November fog fest, we decided to clear some Wainwright hills east of Ullswater, I had two to climb and Keith had four. We dumped John's car at the car park east of Pooley Bridge where the High Street ridge emerges and I drove us up to Howtown where I found a parking space after the cattle grid half a kilometre beyond the hotel. We walked up to the hotel and followed a concrete track alongside Fusedale Beck, Steel Knotts to our right, Bonscale Pike to our left and our objectives for today lost in the low clouds ahead.

Beyond Cote Farm, the track gives way to a path that climbs steadily initially. Hundreds of birds took off from some rowan trees along the beck and swarmed in what would have been a murmuration had they been Starlings. My Merlin app on bird sounds confirmed that they were smaller and skittish Redwings. The incline of the grassy path increased and we entered the clouds as we reached 500 metres and began the final ascent to the ridge a few hundred metres south of the undistinguished Wether Hill. There were not even sufficient stones to rebuild a small cairn.  It was colder on the summit ridge and we began the simple trot across to Loadpot Hill which boasted a trig point and little else. We ate some food whilst waiting for Keith to search for the true summit on the plateau that serves as the high point. John and Keith continued to Bonscale Pike and Arthur's Pike whilst I returned to find the path back to Fusedale.

The descent was quicker than I had expected, after emerging from the cloud there were reasonable views of Steel Knotts and Beda Fell, which I had hoped to climb but I had assumed Keith and John would be back at his car about the same time as I would arrive in Pooley Bridge. I dawdled through Howtown recalling the beautiful summer's day when we had lunched there with Aileen after she had dropped us at the Kirkstone Pass so that Gregor and I could run the High Street ridge. My Merlin app identified both Fieldfare and Redwing above the woodland. The journey to Pooley Bridge was held up by a flock of sheep but I was still there before 2pm, an hour and a quarter before the others arrived. I could have climbed Beda Fell. 

I drove Keith back to Glasgow, pleased that I had finally fitted an adapter and holder for my phone that could be used as a satnav device in the car. I was home by 6pm, the golden hour, but I could hardly see a thing in the mix of fog and nightfall. November high pressures may keep the wind at bay and temperatures reasonable but they make you realise that visibility is the most important condition for hill walking.

Path up Fusedale

Pensioner's day on the fells

Loadpot Hill

Steel Fell and Beda Fell on descent

Fusedale

Howtown Hotel

Traffic calming

Mellbreak and Hen Comb

Mellbreak

Monday, 4 November 2024

Ascent:       789 metres
Distance:    13 kilometres
Time:          4 hours 21 minutes

Mellbreak North Top   509m    1hr 14mins
Mellbreak                     514m    1hr 38mins
Scale Knott                   338m    1hr  57mins   
Hen Comb                    506m     3hrs 09mins
Little Dodd                   362m     3hrs 27mins

It was day 2 of the November fog fest, we decided to visit Loweswater and climb the two steep peaks that Keith and I had yet to climb on our second Wainwright Round. It was mild with no wind but the fells were smothered in cloud. We parked by the Kirkstile Inn and wended our way up a splendid track leading to Mellbreak, the impressive pyramid of a hill that overlooks Crummock Water. 

There is an easy option to head along Mosedale and climb by a path to the col between the twin peaks. We took the steeper route up a path through the scree and rocks on the north face. Time was on our side so there was no pressure and despite the poor visibility the day had an autumnal calmness that was surprisingly enjoyable. We crossed to the higher southern summit before descending to Scale Knott, a Birkett, a hill of over 1000 feet in the Lake District. Keith collects hills of all denominations and we were accomplices although it was hardly difficult, a mere 200 metres away from the path with a minimal ascent and some Herdwick sheep posing on the summit.

We dropped down to the wetland between Mellbreak and Hen Comb where we had almost 2 kilometres of boggy ground to cover to reach the path up Hen Comb. John and Keith took a more direct route to the summit whilst I battered through the boggy ground to reach the path that gave a steep but reasonable route. We emerged on a summit and took some time for food and drink before an easy descent to Little Dodd, the Birkett at the northern end of Hen Comb. 

There is a good path down to Mosedale where we crossed the beck and found the excellent track back to Kirkgate Farm and the Kirkstile Inn. We took some time to look around the large churchyard, builders were working on replacing the roof slates. It was still early and we had thought about another couple of hills but returned to Keswick and spent an hour in the outdoor shops before calling in for a fish supper. 

We returned to the Youth Hostel and spent much of the evening talking to other guests including a couple of Glaswegians whom I found much in common with.

Track to Mellbreak

Whiteless Pike over Crummock Water

Scale Knott above Crummock Water and Buttermere

On Hen Comb

Mellbreak north top

Whiteside and Grasmoor

Lakeland Barn

Haweswater Wainwrights

Branstree: Artle Crag Cairn

Sunday, November 3 2024

Ascent:       963 metres

Distance:    17 kilometres

Time:          5 hours 32 minutes

Tarn Crag                  664m      1hr 43mins

Gray Crag:                638m      2hrs  9mins

Branstree NE Top     673m     3hrs 38mins

Selside Pike              655m      3hrs 56mins

Branstree                  713m      4hrs 34mins

I started early to collect Keith from Glasgow and headed for the Lakes for three days of walking. We made it to Haweswater by 11:30am after a slow 20 miles on the narrow single-track roads beyond Penrith. We jiggled our way through the remote and tranquil Lakeland villages of Askham, Butterwick and Bampton and the bucolic scenery of Mardale. It was my first visit to this remote part of the Lakes although I had always intended to visit Mardale after browsing photo books of the Lake District as a child. The villages, hotels and houses looked unchanged from the 1950s. Haweswater was flooded in 1935 by Manchester Corporation to provide a water supply for Lancashire and has a rugged wild appearance compared to the more tamed lakes elsewhere in the National Park. 

The long single track to the road end of Haweswater brought us to a crowded car park. We struggled to find a place amidst the Land Rovers and other vehicles that had gathered for the last open day for trail bikes and land rovers to have permission to test their driving skills on the Gatesgarth Pass that climbs to 582 metres as it snakes its way to Longsleddale. John had already arrived and it was almost noon as we began the long ascent up the rocky path chiselled over the Gatesgarth Pass. 

I had previously climbed these hills from Longsleddale and knew that they were amongst the boggiest hills in the Lakes. I had warned John and Keith and I wasn't wrong. We decided to paddle out to Tarn Crag and Grey Crag first and savour the higher drier hills of Braintree and Selside Pike later when we hoped the hill fog may have lifted, our optimism was unbridled. Keith took us on a shortcut from the top of the pass to the col between Braintree and Tarn Crag. The path might have been quicker and certainly easier but hill walking is not about making things easy, it is a gymnasium for nature's freeloaders.

The ascent of Tarn Crag was a walk up a slow-moving horizontal waterfall over grassland. The flat and undistinguished summit of Tarn Crag is embellished by a tall surveying pillar built by Manchester Corporation when constructing the Haweswater Dam. We continued across to Grey Crag and met a couple of other walkers, the conversation turned to the vast number of hill classification schemes that had sprung up in recent years. Keith had disappeared to bag a nearby Burkett, or was it a Nuttall but probably not a Marilyn or a Hewitt, or was that the other way round. The confusion stems from the three factors that determine hill lists. Are they random or rule-based classifications? Do they use imperial or metric measurements? What is the height drop between adjacent possible summits? All the classifications provide some excitement for the tick-box fraternity. 

We had some food and drink before beginning the long up hill and down dale squish to Branstree. Well, not quite, we traversed across to Selside Pike once we reached a suitable height and took in the North East Top of Branstree, It is higher and much closer to Selside Pike than Brantree, but Wainwright had adopted a random classification system that was imperial but took no account of height difference between whatever he sketched in his list. He was a Hill list anarchist, but what do you expect from someone from Blackburn?

The last leg was the trek back to Branstree with its two cone-shaped cairns but the true summit a couple of hundred metres away and is a stone ring in the ground that presumably once held a trig point. There were no rocks in the vicinity to erect a cairn so we began the quick descent to the Gatesgarth Pass as the November light combined with the hill fog made for an eerie descent on the rocky path back to Haweswater. It was one of those occasions when sodden shoes and socks made changing footwear and socks essential before the drive to Keswick. 

There had been a diesel spillage on the A66 and a diversion so it was well after 6pm before we were able to enjoy the splendid facilities of the Keswick Youth Hostel. A hot shower, a well-equipped kitchen, a bar and helpful staff make it a near-perfect base.  Youth hostellers nowadays are not Generation Z or even Millenials, we are mainly the generation called baby boomers but I prefer to stick with Youth as a descriptor, it has the promise of more exciting times ahead. 

Bog trotting in Mosedale towards Tarn Crag

Surveying Pillar on Tarn Crag

Selside Pike