Indoor Climbing

Another day and another weather warning! All those glorious bright autumn days back at the start of the month seem like a distant memory given the last few weeks. On the plus side, we have many fantastic indoor climbing walls around here to keep the climbing psych high and the fingers strong. I had hoped to run a trip to the wall in Liverpool, but given the Met Office warnings about conditions on the road, we thought it prudent to stay a little closer to home. The Boardroom at Deeside was our best option and once again, we had a great day out.

One of the 'features' at The Boardroom is the huge overhanging bouldering wall. No ropes on this, just some gymnastic mats below you to cushion the fall should you slip or your arms give up! Even doing a practice fall was pretty scary to be honest, so when the chance came to give it a try, I was keen to make it safely to the top (successful ascents end by topping out and walking down a stair case). Deep breathing and steady progress (without looking down or hesitation!) saw me to the top twice during the day. 

We also did plenty of roped climbs and started to look at the skills required for lead climbing with some of the older students in the group. It was a good lively place to be, while a gale was blowing outside.

Village Funk

Another Met Office weather warning for gale force winds ended my high ropes course session before it had even started today. Instead I've been doing some kit maintanace and given the grimness of the weather, it's probably been best to be tucked up inside.

Things picked up in the evening though, when we found out that a ten piece funk band were playing in Bethesda (of all places!). After some slight hesitation, we decided to head on down - after all, there's not often much on around these parts normally. Our efforts of leaving the warmth of The Cottage were well rewarded! The band ('Drumbago'? I think) were excellent! And the venue was packed! All this, just a few minutes from the solitude of The Cottage; it actually felt a little surreal! Great music and a non-stop dance work out. Perfect.

Expedition Planning

Today started with a morning run from The Cottage along the track and into the Ogwen valley. There was a bit of drizzle in the air which gave a fabulous rainbow over Anglesey on my way back. By lunch, the main weather event had arrived; 25mm of rain in just a few hours! 

The roads were beginning to flood as we headed over to the shelter of the Beacon Climbing Centre in the afternoon. It's been over a year since we last went climbing there; partly due to us being away travelling last winter; partly due to the good autumn weather. On a dark, wet Welsh afternoon, it provides some great climbing in a nice friendly and bright atmosphere. We bouldered to warm up then led some routes until our arms were nicely pumped. Good training for some steep volcanic Canary Islands rock.

Back at The Cottage, we've been busy planning our next climbing trip to Tenerife in December. There looks to be enough climbing to keep us occupied as well and some decent surf beaches for when our fingers need a rest. I've been trying to scope out the potential for a ski tour on Mt Teide in the centre of the Island, but this is looking less and less likely now.

I've also added a new button on the blog called 'buy me a coffee' - feel free to try it out if you've enjoyed the blog so far and let's hook up some time so I can return the favour!

Pool Kayaking

This was the grim outlook at the lake today. Windchill putting the temperature around zero. Bleak. After packing away the sailing boats for the winter, we retreated to the comparative warmth of the 'heated' kayaking pool at Plas y Brenin for a lesson in kayak rolling.

Conservation work at Bodnant

There was a slight respite in the wind and rain this afternoon, down in the Conwy Valley. Been 'grafting' today with some volunteers at the National Trust's 'Bodnant Gardens'. Nothing glamorous, just raking up leaves for composting, but a necessary job to keep it all looking good.

Woodland Wanderings

Glynllifon Country Park. A little gem of a lost world! An overgrown jungle of plants and trees, collected from all over the world about a hundred years ago. Californian giant redwoods, Chinese bamboo thickets and Tibetan cherry trees all muddled together in an enchanting little dell.

A great place to explore on a wintery day...

And a few places that remain a mystery...

Boyz in da wood!

I've been working 'off the grid' for the past few days with a group of students and have been based in this cabin in the depths of the woods! No phone, electricity, running water or showers; just a whole lot of wood smoke, some simple living and some questionable hygiene standards.

Half of the excitement was arriving in the dark and waking up to a cold frosty morning to see where we were! It was only a short drive from St Asaph, but having never been to this area before, all was new! On waking up, my nose (the only exposed part of my body)- the rest was cocooned in my down sleeping bag - felt bitterly cold. It was a tough job extracting myself from its warm confines!

First job was to get the fire going and get busy with a breakfast session of bacon and eggs - flame grilled? You got it!

Meanwhile, back at The Cottage, Clare was enjoying the first 'proper' snowfall of the winter! What a beautiful sight!

We spent our time, not leaving the woods. We were right down in a sleepy hollow by the river Elwy. Living out of doors requires a lot of organisation and everything takes a long time to do. By the time we'd finished breakfast, it was time to start lunch! After a firelighting master class, the next thing on the menu was camp bread 'twists' - Ken Marlow would have been proud!

These delicious little things, once removed from the cooking stick can be stuffed with a variety of fillings... 

The camp pizzza (cheese and ragu sauce) was a firm favourite amongst the team...

Although, having a sweet tooth, I was rather partial to the particularly messy, yet delicious, maple syrup version...

The days passed so quickly! Whittling sticks, collecting wood and water, cooking and eating took up all of our time! At dusk, we explored the woods and discovered an unbelievable cave system! The land owner had given us a rough map, so we took torches and were amazed at what we found!

Then it was back to the campfire, for much singing and guitar playing..

Despite the distance from civilisation, we still ate well! Pan fried Salmon steaks for dinners!

All in all, a great few days of fun away from the world. It was interesting how many of the group (unprompted) thanked us for the weekend and commented how surprised they were that they'd not missed their phones, laptops and computer games and that they all enjoyed just 'playing' in the woods. And of course, it helps having a cool (and clearly very fashion conscious team to work with!

I've managed to clean the mud from my clothes and smoke from my hair and hopefully my lungs will clear soon from all the wood smoke!

Ogwen White Water

Felt like a Spitefire pilot scrambling to the run way on an incoming attack this morning. I'd loosely made an agreement with Aled to go for a morning kayak on our local river, the Afon Ogwen, but given his tight schedule, didn't think he'd be able to make it. I was just putting my feet up, with a post breakfast brew in hand; book ready to open, when his text arrived. "We're on. Leaving now".

This gave me precisely ten minutes to collect my kayaking kit, load my boat into the van, find a paddle and climb into my drysuit. I managed it in eleven, and drove to the river with my helmet already on! Leaving his car at the 'get out', a cool thirty minutes from getting his text, we were pulling on spray decks and setting off!

This time I was paddling my 'Dagger Vertigo' - a timeless classic of a kayak, although (some might say), a little small for the river. Although a few waves and eddies threatened to up end me, the advantage of a small, custom fitting boat is that it's really easy to move on the river. I was able to use the boat to navigate tight rapids, just with subtle movements like lifting a knee.

Having paddled the river last week, we were both feeling a bit more 'on it' and enjoyed stopping to surf on various waves on the way down. Last weeks spectating geese were also still there on the bank and honked us past.

After delighting our way down through the rapids, we almost had a dampener put on the trip when we got a bit of agro from a fisherman when we got out. There is a long history of dispute between different river users all over the UK, but this was the first time in ages that we'd experienced any hassle here. The guy was not up for any 'conversation' and clearly gunning for a fight, but eventually left us alone before he ruptured a blood vessel in his forehead. 

The day finished with a very social bonus! I'd arranged to meet up for a climb at Plas y Brenin, where Clare had been working. There was a conference on and we ended up bumping into some brilliant old friends (old as in not seen for a long long time!) and having some good reminisces as well as a good work out. 

The Chancer - On Y Garn between the Showers

An ascent of Y Garn in the tail end of Hurricane Barney seemed an unlikely choice of activity first thing this morning. Rain continued to bombard The Cottage with flower pots and leaves doing circuits of the garden. Needless to say, the rivers were in full effect - this is Ogwen Falls by Ogwen Cottage:

Up in Cwm Idwal, late in the afternoon, the rain had stopped, but the wind was far from finished! Huge sheets of spray were being picked up from Llyn Idwal, blown the length of the lake, up into the air and across the mountain side, causing me to time a run past the shore to avoid a soaking.

The weather forecast had indicated that there might be a break in the precipitation just before dusk, so I took my chances, wrapped up and hoped for the best. The gamble paid off. It was still incredibly windy; I got stopped dead in my tracks, blown off course, but never off my feet. Still, the curiosity to push on kept me pounding upwards. Just before the final ridge, a beam of sun light broke through the otherwise very dark sky and illuminated the mountain of Pen yr Ole Wen on the other side of the valley. It was a moment to stop and appreciate.

By now I was close to the top and clouds were charging over the ridge and down towards me. In anticipation of a struggle I increased my layers and pulled on my gloves before going for the summit push. Crossing over a ridge line and seeing the other side of the valley is usually a rewarding moment for mountaineers and today I really struck gold. I was now walking full-on into a headwind of about 60mph, which was exhilarating enough, but in the distance, the skies were clearing in preparation for what looked to be a fabulous sunset.

I took shelter behind the summit cairn, kicked back and enjoyed a hot drink from my flask, while the wind rushed on overhead.

I had to stick my head out above the shelter of the cairn to enjoy the sunset views, which, due to the wind was quite literally breath taking.

Safely tucked in my little shelter, stayed up there over twenty minutes watching the show...

The recent rains had really cleared the air, so although clouds were still touching down over Snowdon, but I could clearly see right over to the Lleyn and Angelsey.

Even though, I've been up this mountain many, many times, I'm yet to get tired of it, or not notice something new. Just over an hour later, I was back in The Cottage showing the fireside some appreciation when the heavens opened again! Talk about jammy!

Out and about in Hurricane Barney

Sub prime conditions in Llanberis today...

Nevermind the weather though! The psych was still high for some orienteering, despite the wind and the rain! As is often the case, the thought of getting out in bad weather is always much worse than once you're actually outside. I had my work work cut out today though, convincing a group of students that it would be fun to leave the warm, dry mini bus and go chasing around with maps amidst a storm. All credit to them though, as they went all out, sprinting around the course that I set. We all agreed that we'd had a great time - although some of the markers were tricky to get to as the lake was covering some of the pathways!...

By mid afternoon, we were all soaked to the pants, but warm at least and pleased with our efforts. A Met office weather warning was given during the morning, so we were called back to base early, which was a sensible precaution as it got windier and windier! Just before we left, we came across these funky little guys! No sign of any pixies though...

By nightfall, the Britannia Bridge across to Anglesey had been closed as Hurricane Barney made landfall. By this point, Clare and I were already on the Island at Indy Climbing Wall, Inside, in the warmth of the climbing center, there was a buzz of activity and we both enjoyed the climbing as much as the social scene. When we left, we found that there was traffic chaos outside, but luckily for us, not the way we were headed. All traffic was being sent over the small (and more sheltered) Menai Bridge, which was clearly not designed for big lorries! The drivers must have been sweating as they folded in their wing mirrors and slowly inched through the arches!

Canoeing between the storms

It was a little disorientating today. Having been partying in the busy city of London yesterday, today (essentially, only a few hours later) I was canoeing by the considerably less busy village of Llanberis, in North Wales.

When we arrived back at The Cottage last night, the wind was howling and rain was battering the skylights. Thankfully, there was a 'window of calm' during daylight hours today. Not the mirror calm weather of recent canoe trips, but much less than last nights 80mph gales. Despite last nights concerns, we managed to have a really good trip out across the lake and up towards it's northern end.

We even managed to get a little campfire going to warm up by at lunch. The temperature never got into double figures and our fingers were feeling the cold a bit. Still, it was nice to be out enjoying the fresh air and views, huddled around the fire. It felt like the polar opposite of city life! Did yesterday really happen?!...

The Centurion - Great Uncle Fred

Great Uncle Fred! Head of the Martin Family is 100 years old and The Martin Clan have all assembled to celebrate with him in London! What a legend!

Having finished yesterdays session in the climbing wall I drove directly to London. One of the things that I like about little 'mini-missions' such as this, is that quite often fun things happen along the journey. And on arrival in Surrey, I wasn't disappointed! I'd barely peeled myself off the drivers seat, when I was whisked into a Rod Stewart Concert at Blackmoor Golf Club! Dancing the remaining hours of the night away was the perfectly bonkers (if somewhat surreal) way to finish the journey! We stayed right through to the last dance and I even to to meet the man himself (who turned out to be a very convincing tribute singer and a lovely guy). We made it back to Dockenfield at midnight and to bed an hour or so later.

In the morning, we enjoyed a good stretch out with Lloyd and JoJo, before changing into some smarter attire and heading off to meet up with The Martins.

Great Uncle Fred was in fine form and everyone from this side of my family had travelled over to celebrate with him. It's been a great day of celebration, catching up, eating, speeches and toasts.

We also got to see his telegram from the Queen!

And needless to say, there were plenty of photo calls.

Great Uncle Fred said in his speech that this had been the fourth party celebration at which he had been guest of honour this week. I can only hope that my social calendar is a well packed as his when I'm 100!

Sarah had made an amazing cake that depicted various part of Fred's life as well as catering for three different dietary requirements!

Given the historic nature of the occasion and the fact that everyone was present in the same room at the same time, there were more mug shots to go down in the annuals of history...

A simply wonderful day, with wonderful family and one particularly inspiring gentleman.