Barcelona - 7 night trip starts

I'm deep inside Edinburgh airport. Not got much energy right now, the place is too hot. Boarding commences in approx. 30 mins.

After almost 5 hours at work, went home and got stuck in gridlocked traffic for 20 mins. Abandoned car several streets away, walked went home, called taxi, waited 20 mins for it to make it through the traffic carnage. Jumped in cab eventually, the driver never checked who I was. Turned out I was in a cab to Haymarket station for a guy named Sean next door to me. My cab turned up 5 mins later apparently! Sean wasn't fast enough. Got calls on the mobile from the despatcher guy, don't think they he was happy! Didn't care. Had a good chat with the driver, he didn't care. He got a better fare out of me than he would from the other guy!

Eventually got to airport. Check-in queue opened right as I got there, so I speant a pleasant 30 mins talking to a Glaswegian couple in front of me. Went up to the 1st JD Wetherspoon's for a customary Heineken. Took it over to the comfy sofas I like at the Cornish Pasty Company, attracted attention of staff as I was in an unlicensed area. Had to leave. They never bothered enforcing these regulations before!

Back into JD's with beer, this did me a favour as decided it was time for food. Fish and chips. Superb feast. Expensive, but I drowned the chips in mayo as a bonus!

On the way to security bought F1 Racing magazine. Took ages to get through. I was picked for the random patdown despite having no metal left on me!

Now in the Walter Scott JD Wetherspoon's. Time to leave the country! Maybe the flight shall be delayed and I can get another Heineken. It's a long way to Spain...

Cheers,

Stu B

Back in the UK - Back in Scotland. The Ochills

It's been almost 2 weeks since I returned home after the “vacation”. I went back to work too soon after T5 at Heathrow then Edimbourg, Ecosse on my return from Colorado etc. Suffered from jet-lag and general fatigue. It doesn't get any easier when you get older, but I have to preserve my holidays so rest days are not an option!

Straight into work related mayhem and pressure. However, no-one's interested in these tales of woe. We've all had it bad or better at one point or another, right?

I skipped hiking last weekend as I had to unwind. I also missed one of my sister’s birthday’s midweek before that as I literally did not have enough energy to make it through to Glasgow on a Wednesday night! I’m still embarrassed about that. She’ll get a card, present and dinner eventually. Honest.

This weekend was different. I had to do something this Saturday. I had a vague plan regardless of the weather. Woke up relatively early and saw the tail-end of the F1 Qualifying from Suzuka, Vettel grabbed it from MacLaren in a shocker. McD's for Breakfast (terrible). I can't digest that stuff anymore, or maybe the quality is nose-diving? Then Tesco for replenishment of my hiking beverages. They now have 6 packs of 400ml bottles of Mtn Dew. My main credit card got turned down, had to use another. Same one got turned down yesterday near work. I'll have to look into this as there’s no lack of credit.

Up across single lane of the Forth Road Bridge (weekend roadworks). Then into the 40mph average speed camera situation that is the M90 at the moment. Preparation for the eventual 2nd Forth Bridge, but it makes me paranoid. I was the slowest guy on the road for miles!

Turned off for Dollar. Overtaken by a couple of motorcyclists within a mile or so of the motorway on the narrower roads, which were definitely slippery in the damp conditions. Probably weekend warriors. Kill yourself with your risk-taking behaviour if you wish, but don’t take anyone else with you. My sympathies for you when it goes wrong are limited. Too be fair to these 2 guys, they probably just about knew what they were doing, but you still feel a bit responsible for them as they close in and overtake you on some of our roads...

Made to Dollar. Followed signs to top car park at Castle Campbell. First one there after the steep final 1st gear section. Damp. Went walking for what turned out to be 7.11 miles. Approx 4 hours. Got wetter and wetter. Quite enjoyed it in a perverse sense. Followed an ancient right of way/drovers road down to the Glenquey reservoir. I was essentially doing a random loop around the edges of the Ochills.

Went up top in the mist afterward from the head/dam of the reservoir. I was using the Garmin as a compass, although it only confirmed my natural sense of direction. I’d set off with an OS map that morning, but I didn’t want to get it out of the bag in the mist/wet and damage it. Wandered a bit on top. Crossed a dear fence. Didn’t want to fall from that ladder. The dampness made it more precarious. Kept going in the mist. In retrospect I should have got the OS map out and extended this damp hike for another mile or two.

The highest point (minor cairn was approx. 2125 feet according to the Garmin).

Followed a “path” down. Didn’t know exactly where I was, but I trusted the Garmin, my instincts and the traffic noise below. Biggest risk at this point was walking too fast on the steep, sodden path and breaking part of myself! Therefore I was very cautious.

Back to the car at Castle Campbell after 4 hours and 7.11 miles. Pathetic. I got to 2125 feet on something, then followed by instincts and the Garmin back down hillsides where only sheep go. I could hear traffic noise etc. far below to the south. Even an idiot like me knew that was Dollar or Tillicoutry.

I knew I wasn’t on the King’s Seat, but frankly in the mist did it matter? I could have stretched it out a bit for more miles/hours if I’d taken out the map, but today it really didn’t matter. Looked at the OS map when I got home, and confirmed I was near the King’s Seat if I’d headed a bit more west before coming down. Although I knew that already...

In the car I flew. 1st gear for engine braking initially down from Castle Campbell. I was nervous in case I met another vehicle coming up. It was pedestrians on the way down that caused an interruption. They split into separate sides of the narrow lane. Makes it impossible to pass at even 1st gear speed. Then of course there was an unmistakeable gesture of looking for some sort of help or advice. Got the window down to the talk to the middle-aged chap at my driver’s side. He was asking directions to Castle Campbell itself! I was quite co-operative and tried to explain that you drove to the top and walked the final bit. From what he said it then became apparent they’d probably parked further down and had now stopped me to ask the obvious! Can’t say I blame them. The signs never make it crystal clear, although the “clues” are always there. Maybe I should ask for a commission from the NTS? He said they were going to go back for their car and drive up. Couldn't quite understand this, as they were most of the way already? Go figure. I said "Cheers" and headed on downhill in 1st gear.

Whiteout conditions on the M9 after crossing the Forth by the newer bridge near Kincardine. I was flying past blundering (and possibly lost) people on the outside lane entry into the M9 due to my car’s current (and maybe driver’s) superior handling/skill and anticipation. Edinburgh was much the same. Many a blundering motorist. Are they all tourists or was it just the rain? Maybe a lot of drivers nowadays are paying more attention to their smartphones etc. than actually driving and staying in the right lane? Who knows? I drove right around some idiots, and almost felt it got back to normal when I let someone faster than me past on the M9. He was the only one, and believe me I wasn't trying. Maybe life is dumbing down? Of course, it wasn't workday (Mon-Fri) driving conditions. I acknowledge that too. Scary if that’s true, as there’s a whole bunch of developing countries that shall take us apart.

Now back at home. Trying to fill in the missing blog entries from Sept 2011. I’m going to enjoy recollecting bits of it!

Return to the Alamo and the Long Way Home

Content to go here. Maybe. Eventually. Hopefully before the next "vacation".

Manitou Springs and her Incline

Content to go here. Maybe. Eventually. Hopefully before the next "vacation".

Pikes Peak by SUV

Content to go here. Maybe. Eventually. Hopefully before the next "vacation".

#16 Mt Elbert's

Content to go here. Maybe. Eventually. Hopefully before the next "vacation".

Gunnison and it's Black Canyon

Content to go here. Maybe. Eventually. Hopefully before the next "vacation".

Colorado National Monument and Ouray

Content to go here. Maybe. Eventually. Hopefully before the next "vacation".

The Leaving of Moab (14.9.2011)

Went I left Moab after 3 nights I was still a touch upset over the loss of my camera. Can’t really analyse why, it was just a piece of metal after all. However it had some “memory” enhancing properties I guess. And it’d had it for almost 30 months since I “retired” the previous one by giving it back to my father.

On the final night of Moab I went back into a place called Eddie McStiff’s I’d frequented over the last 2 nights. I was immediately recognised from the previous night by the cute female bartender when more than a couple of $11 Margueritas had been necessary to celebrate my solo ascent of Mt Peale. However, unlike the previous night I was out of steam! Told her my tale of woe about the camera, as I showed her the new one which I had no idea how to use yet. She’d seen me the night before with the old one while looking at my pictures. I’d probably shown her a few shots from Mt Peale back then before my relationship with the old camera went bad. She was sincere in her sympathy, she initially thought I’d lost all the pictures too. Ordered Fish and Chips (their style) with a beer. Drank another beer afterwards, then left. I probably ruined her night, last night I’d tipped her 16% and she was probably looking forward to me drinking more Margueritas. However I maintained the percentage, it was simply a lesser overall amount.

Talked to an English couple at the bar next to me for a bit before I left. They laughed about the camera. They’d had a similar experience in Vermont on a previous vacation. They drowned the camera in a canoe, bought another one, and then on returning home the drowned one eventually started working fine again. Like them, I’d had to make a decision, which resulted in buying another one. I also did something incredibly dumb with the Gatorade’d camera back in the hotel room however at 4pm, which I’m too embarrassed to recount here. Let’s just say I did something completely dumb and stupid to it. I should have known better! For the moment I’m keeping quiet.

The next morning I went back for breakfast at the Jailhouse Cafe again, checked out of the motel, filled the SUV up with gas then headed for the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands National Park. Weather was black and cloudy. The La Sals were shrouded in cloud, and they looked ominous. The Park Ranger at the entrance told me there was a 30% chance of precipitation. Went down the first mile or so of the Shafer Trail Road in the SUV. Scary, turned around as I’d had enough after the 1st couple of narrow corners in the dirt with fairly unforgiving falls into the canyon to the side! Went to the Grand View Point Overlook and wandered around a bit there taking pictures with the new camera. Had a look at the Mesa Arch on the way back out. Could have walked right over it if I’d really wanted to, but the several thousand feet of abrupt descent on a misstep due to panic may have killed me. By now it looked like rain up in the distant La Sals. Looks like I got my timing right when I did that 2 days ago!

Headed back in the direction of Moab and picked up the 128 Scenic Route again on the other side of the Colorado River to leave the area. On the way out I did a hike up Negro Bill Canyon to see the Morning Glory Natural Bridge (6th largest arch in the world). I was going to make a joke of what the original name of this Canyon might have been (clue starts with “N” and has two “g”s), but the Internet revealed that the gag was in fact the original name. Political Correctness, right? I guess any old signs got destroyed at some point or went into a museum!

The downpour, which I saw from higher up above the La Sals, hit as I drove into the trailhead parking lot. Couldn’t even get out of the SUV for a bit. Wind and rain were blasting. Cold and wet. Eventually got out when it let up a touch and stuck on the anorak I’d brought over. Stuck to the shorts as an act of defiance. Rain was still piling down as I headed onto the start of the trail. These conditions actually cheered me up! Maybe I was back in my element and was reminded of home. More than one bunch of people I encountered had turned back well before the Arch. I was told by one concerned person “Be careful” etc. etc. “Are you really going to keep going?”. Probably tourists or something, afraid of flash-floods. I pushed on. It dried up a bit. New camera was my main concern. It had gone onto a single bar in Canyonlands. I deliberately didn’t charge it overnight after buying it. Had to wade through a stream/small river at one point. I think I was still on the trail at this point as I walked up it, probably it’s normally a trickle with a couple of stepping stones! I bet this is where the amateurs all turned back.

Got to the Arch after a couple of miles, I was the only one there at the time. Vast area at end of a canyon. Looks perfect for lunch on a hike, lots of space, various spots to congegrate. Quite a bit of shelter. Can’t believe I had it to myself. Must be the rain, right? Got a couple of pictures from underneath it before the battery in the Sony died. Went back to the SUV by the same route, saw a hiker/runner with a dog a couple of times as she came past and then back. She was fast! She (like me) didn’t care about flash-floods or whatever the next “threat” was.

Decided I needed food, but wasn’t interested in taking the approx. 10 mile detour back to the tourist Mecca of Moab, so I turned right in the SUV and headed in the direction of the places I’d seen on the way in 3 days ago. The ranches from the old movies. If I failed to get nourishment there I would just have to wait for Colorado, as there was nothing else on the way out of Utah! They are now upmarket spa resort places. I forget the name of the first one I went into. It was the first one east of Moab on 128 so that’ll narrow it down if you care, I’m going to treat them with contempt by not even finding/recalling their name again from my vast sources of info. “Red Cliffs” rings a bell, but I could be wrong. It was obvious that some movies had been filmed here way back, a clue was in the fact it had a movie museum. I parked a distance away as “advised” by the numerous signs on the wide dirt roads, walked into the main reception, was pretty much ignored by all the women behind the counter. Tried to figure out which direction the restaurant was in. Gave up, asked them at reception and was told it was closed for the afternoon, but I could purchase a packed lunch if I wanted. Thanked them and headed out. When I got back to the main highway, U-turned a few times as I was considering going back to check out the Movie Museum which they advertised too from the highway. However I eventually decided to push on as no doubt that was closed too! Couldn’t be bothered asking them any more “dumb” questions to be honest. I’m sure it would be different in you walked in and established yourself as a “guest”. Hope they go bankrupt.

Sorrel River Ranch at Mile 17 from Moab provided the goods. I’ll have to go on the Internet at a future point to research it. Had to park quite a bit away as advised by signs yet again, but I got a warm welcome from the woman I encountered at reception. She showed me the way down to the bar/restaurant. Only 2 other customers, overweight, obnoxious women that I believe may have been Mexican Americans. There was a patio outside with a view of the higher than normal Colorado River flowing past. The Mexicans (I think) went out for a bit for photos. I went out for a bit onto it to watch it flow past, but the camera remained dead.

My service from the single bartender/waiter was a bit indifferent at first. I think he was pre-occupied with other things he had to do. My drink order got forgotten. I eventually got a small bottle of Zion Canyon Ale or something whose name/brewery I forget, after reminding him I’d ordered something. If I’d had a working camera that label would have been captured! Everything connects, Zion couldn’t make it into this trip, maybe a planning mistake! Poulet Burger et Frites did the job for lunch. Talked to the chap for a bit afterwards. He told me that bits of 127 Hours were filmed in this area, and other stuff about the ranch and the old movies. Nice guy, he probably took a dislike to the Mexicans and decided to treat me the same way initially!

Paid and left. Sincerely thanked the woman at reception while the "Mexican" women were sitting there and being advised about “Moab” and transport arrangements like it was a distant foreign country from the travel advisor/concierge. She’d made the effort to show me down there, although I could have found it myself, and I appreciated her attention and professionalism. She’s probably one of the owners or has equity. Outside on the “long” walk back to the car I had the experience of saying “Hi” by a Native American too who obviously looked after the grounds. This ranch/resort is obviously a start-up operation, they’re trying hard but the cracks are not filled in yet, plus it’s off-season. However my overall impression was favourable. I’m sure my experience in the previous place I refuse to name would have been better if I’d claimed to be a friend of Zuckerberg, Jobs or Gates!

The rest of Utah 128 on the way up to I-70 was incredibly atmospheric. Black clouds, rain etc. You can see why (even in bad weather) John Ford filmed a whole bunch of movies here before he discovered Monument Valley further south in Utah. The sort of scenery that would normally deserve to be captured by camera, but that option was gone until battery recharge. Joined I-70. Back across the border into Colorado.

Found the Motel 6 in Grand Junction, Colorado in the rain extremely easily. It was right beside the airport a couple of miles north of I-70. You’d have to a complete idiot to get lost finding these places from the Interstate when it’s all sign-posted well in advance. When I-70 narrowed in the rain and became congested with local traffic, I almost felt like I was back in Europe. Two lanes, wall-to-wall traffic in the spray. I’m driving along at, or below, the speed limit in the inside lane and everybody is cutting in front of me to get to their exit! I wonder if they have full appreciation of stopping distances in the wet on this worn-out section of (probably) original Eisenhower Interstate Highway? Oh well, I was in no rush...

Motel 6 was quite funny. Well to me anyway. Three Germans in front of me checking in. A middle aged woman at the front took ages. Mostly her fault, language issues, although to be fair my German is never very good when I go to Deutschland. The younger two (probably separate couple) after that were faster through, the guy asked as a joke what there was too do in Grand Junction when it rained. I think they were told “Go to the Mall” or such. I joined in with that answer and said “Watch movies in your room” or go to a movie theatre. He kind of half smiled at me at that point, but didn’t engage. He was probably trying to reconcile a weird Scottish type accent with Colorado in the rain. Maybe it was his first time in America.

When they all dispersed to unpack their vehicles I had the full attention of the young girl on check-in. She was great! Southern accent, she expressed concern about my rate. I said I’d booked it on the Internet a while back, she adjusted it in the negative direction for them, positive for me. Paid extra for Wifi as you have to at Motel 6. I joked as I paid with my credit card and signed, about the signature capture panel with electronic pen from my former employer (clue French and begins with “In”) where you’d be better off just signing with a “X” (Cross) as it’s so useless and slow. She agreed, and said that you could sign with anything, you could sign “President Obama” according to her and nobody would care. She was right, nobody would care which is maybe why sometimes my cards get cut off over here...

Unloaded the bags etc. A couple of middle-aged people were lying on their beds fully clothed with the curtains wide-open every time I walked past from my room back to the car! Intently reading books or travel literature. They were probably hacked off at the weather, maybe they’d just driven from Denver Airport along I-70 and were already panicking about what was yet to come. Or maybe they were religious lunatics. I’d prefer it if they closed the curtains as I walked past twice and couldn’t help looking in given the close proximity! Maybe they were German too, part of the gang at check-in. Maybe a massive convention downtown or something?

When I settled in my room, the phone rang after 20 mins or so. It was a courtesy call to ask if I was happy with the room. She still had that breathy Southern Accent! This is the first time I’ve ever had a courtesy call (which I personally hate) in a Motel 6. I said it was great. Can’t remember if I had the Wifi working at this point. Maybe she had appreciated my attempts at engaging the Germans with humour. Even worse, unlike the Motel 6 at Rock Springs, Wyoming the Wifi code had worked so I had no genuine excuse to go down again and ask for something! She looked like she was half my age however, so I wasn’t going to act like a stereotype, although maybe she liked my accent as much as I liked hers!

Can’t remember much about the night in the Motel 6 in Grand Junction apart from these recollections. Slept mainly. Never went out for dinner, I wasn’t hungry. I can’t recall anything of significance. I must have web-surfed for a bit and watched TV. Next day I would head into the mountains again.

(StuB - recalled Sat 8.10.2011)

The Most Expensive Gatorade of All-time

I drank my most expensive bottle of Gatorade ever today.

Got up late the next day after Mount Peale. The Jailhouse Cafe was closed on Tuesday, so I ended up in a place called for Peace Cafe. Outside seating was full so I ended up inside where I sat in an area where I was ignored for quite a while due to the waitress looking after that area being busy sorting out some emergency elsewhere. Eventually got served, wasn’t happy with the service. Was given the option of not tipping, but ended up tipping anyway just in case I had to go back.

Went down in the direct of the south bits of Canyonlands. Went to the Needles Overlook to check that out and then was heading for the next entrance down, when I decided to drink a one quart bottle of Orange Gatorade. Drank a bit, stuck the cap on it, the bottle was too big to slide into one of the cup holder so I lay it on to at an angle. It turned out the top wasn’t on properly, so some liquid spilled out and filled up a little bit of the cup holders and a tray section. Wasn’t fully aware of all this as I drove. The camera then managed to end up in part of the liquid. Fished it out and drove onto the next part of Canyonlands. Eventually stopped at Newspaper Rock to look at the ancient artwork. Managed to squeeze a few pictures out of the camera by pulling out the battery a few times, but it was acting erratic. Eventually it stopped taking pictures although the lens would open. On trying to shut it down something was spinning away inside, although pulling the battery out stopped that. The sticky substances in the Gatorade liquid had probably jammed something crucial in this tiny camera.

Went into Canyonlands, stopped at a picnic table with a bottle of water and tried to flush it out by pouring water into various bits of it. This was a desperate measure, but a calculated risk. This had no success, no better or worse afterwards.

Went on a hike on a slickrock trail for about 2 miles. Left the camera on the seat with the lens out to in an attempt to dry it out in the hot car. Still no luck when I got back. Decided to go back to Moab, camera got worse on the way back. Display started flickering with interference, and then it also went back to 00:00:00 and 00:00 as the date and time. Decided it was history, would probably never work again. Went into the only electronics store in Moab, Arches Electronics and ended up buying one of the few cameras they had. A Sony Cybershot. Could have almost certainly got a cheaper one and more choice in Grand Junction or a town with all the stores, but I wasn’t there. The shop owner must have loved me, he then tried to sell me the $20 official case. I turned him down, the first thing I tried with this one was sticking it into my existing case.

Should have buried the old camera in the desert. That bottle of Gatorade cost me just over $323, and I didn’t even get to drink all of it. My preference would been to get a more recent Canon IXUS, but as noted I would have had to wait for that option! I would now struggle to figure out this new camera for a day or so.

Strange forces were at work here however. This was the sixth anniversary of the day when I broke my elbow but saved the previous camera. It’s a mystical place the SW. The ancients must have been involved! Looks like I have another thing to add it to the list for future trips, bring a spare camera!

The Mother of them all in La Sals - Mount Peale

Today’s target was the highest point in the La Sal Mountains, Mount Peale. The previous evening’s advice from the $1.50 guide from way back indicated only general stuff. I needed to source some additional information.

After retiring early the night before, I looked at and saved some info, primarily from summitpost.org regarding tomorrow. They had some accurate directions.

On the day I transferred the basic guidance instructions from Moab onto a bit of paper. Took that, and the netbook (just in case) into the SUV. Set off for breakfast, turned up 7 mins early to the Jailhouse Cafe on the way for breakfast before 7am. I’d haunted this place before, this time I was the first customer of the day for a fantastic one. Told them I’d be back over the next couple of days.

Legged it away, down Route 191 for approx 20 miles, off it to La Sal, then after it into forest dirt trails that eventually led me to top of the La Sal Pass. I had to ram the SUV through a Ford at one point (note that this of was of the stream variation). Got at a bit lost at the top of the pass trying to make sure I had the trailhead (or one) of them according to the vague notes. I eventually abandoned the SUV next to a Mt Peale sign at approx. 10000 feet next to a meadow.

Anyway, to cut to the chase there was no official trail to follow, a narrow trail went across a meadow from the dirt trail which had an old sign with Mount Peale’s name and altitude. There was a fork after the meadow, I picked the branch that started going downhill around the side of the mountain, then across a narrow old track. I took it so far before turning back and then went up the old track which became steep. After a bit a narrow track went off on the right, it was marked with rocks on either side of it. I started going up this steep and sometimes non-existent path through rocky woods. Little cairns marked the worn path. It was a bit of effort this path, broke out through the treeline into rocks. The “path” went up rocks in a trench. Each step was close to another foot in altitude. Most of them were loose but you could pick your way up. There were incredible views of Canyonlands etc. appearing. The trench went on and on.

Got to the top of the ridge, it fell away steeply. Patches of snow far below in a bowl. The path went around the side of various rocky sections on the ridge. By now I could see Moab far below me in the distance, the mobile phone signal came back. Clouds came in and out. If it wasn’t for them I might have been able to see as far south as Monument Valley! Got to the top, the Garmin said it was 12689 feet. There was a little shelter up here, but no sign. Took loads of pictures, tried to send a text message but Cingular wouldn’t deliver it for some reason. My fingers were starting to go numb in the cold and wind. I’d found a good pair of gloves on Mt Washburn the other day, but I’d forgotten to bring them. Started back down slowly. Deviated from the path over the rocks a few times, there wasn’t much of it and inched my way back down. I had to be careful and avoid a fall on the rocks. Realised that I’d forgotten to attempt a picture of myself on the summit.

Felt a bit queasy in the woods, must be the altitude changes. Eventually got back to the SUV. I’d been able to see her a lot of the time on the way up. I had taken approx. 6 hours there and back, less than 6 miles total according to the Garmin, but one step at a time. Drove back down the same way in 1st gear on the dirt trails through the forest. Luckily I didn’t meet any other vehicles on the narrow bits. Met a girl in a car who looked terrified as she inched past me, there was a massive gap between us. Realised afterwards that she was probably more nervous of stone chips. I didn’t care, wasn’t my SUV. Met some dirt bikers, the first one was a bit out of control and appreciated that I was tucked out of his way. Back to Moab, looked at where I’d been from Route 191. That was quite a mountain. Not many people climb up there! Almost 9000 feet in altitude gain from Moab.

Sunday 9/11 2011 - Into Mormon Territory

Not much to report today compared to some of my other posts, but just for the purposes of verifying that people are reading I’ll attempt to stretch it out anyway.

Woke up at the Motel 6. Watched a bit of Obama and Dubya at the Ground Zero memorial events. Could have been watching F1 live from Monza if I’d paid for a more expensive hotel tonight, but this was a budget night. Followed the early laps on the BBC website’s live Twitter or whatever feed.

Went out for breakfast at a Village Inn a mile or so away. Saw members of the American Legion outside the restaurant. As I left a whole bunch of bikers, cops and a fire engine were arriving. There was a big pole with a Stars and Stripes on top of it next to the parking lot. Must be the Rock Springs 9/11 ceremony.

Back to the motel. F1 race over, Vettel won followed by Button. Schumi and Hamilton got involved in some fun. Shall have to see clips of it later.

Onto I-80 for 3 miles west and then down south on empty roads with spectacular scenery in the direction of Utah. It was cloudy, but you could still take in the scale of it all. Went across the border and crossed the Green River at the massive Flaming Gorge Dam. Went into the visitor center for a bit, that was across the dam. Local cops were at the end of the parking lot for some reason. I’d expected a security check before driving over the dam in case I was packing a nuke, especially on this 9/11 anniversary. Maybe they didn’t start the checks until they’d finished their donuts or whatever.

Went into Dinosaur National Monument. Went into the Utah side’s temporary visitor center to figure out a hike. “Sound of Silence” 3 mile loop was one of the one’s recommended. I should have asked the cute park ranger if there was a named Beatle’s tune hiking loop. Found the trailhead and went on it. It was quite good, hot and a little bit of elevation change. Could see some impressive rock formations including stuff over towards the Green River. Didn’t fully enjoy the hike however, like a few others, because my left boot’s cap was cutting in and rubbing against my toe. Tough when you’re going up and down steep bits.

After leaving Dinosaur went into Colorado for the direct route into Utah. Drove through a place called Rangeley where the main street was lined with American flags. Turned right and headed down a road towards a place called Loma on I-70. Stopped at a rest stop to change out of the boots which were hurting even when I drove. There were a couple of beaten up cars there with people that looked like economic migrants, tough times all around. One of the cars left just before me.

30 miles later the road headed up a steep mountain pass. I was behind the beaten up car which was going slower than my normal speed when a deer came bounding off the hillside and contacted with the car. The deer kept on going down the hillside, but it must have been hurt. The car’s occupants were probably in shock, I don’t know if their car was damaged. They pulled to the side, I kept going, wasn’t interested in getting involved. Went up and over the steep pass. Stopped at a hairpin bend. There was a girl in a jeep with golf clubs, I think she was about to practice some shots down off the pass! You keep coming across mad things like that over here...

Eventually joined I-70 and headed west back into Utah. Black clouds around, lightening storms above Grand Junction, Colorado. Took the scenic 128 route alongside the Colorado River into Moab, a road I’d never used before. There was some spectacular scenery in the canyons alongside the river, massive Mesas, almost like Monument Valley. There was a ranch which I recognised from old movies. The Denny’s I pulled into for food outside Moab had a free newspaper which confirmed the ranch as being used for old movies such as Rio Grande etc.

Checked into a Days Inn in Moab that I’ve used twice before. Different staff, wasn’t recognised. Settled in. Went down downtown for a bit, the place was full of various nationalities. A load of English folk. They all looked miserable, ruined the atmosphere for me, they just gave off a negative vibe. Maybe I was tired and irritable. Mostly tour bus prisoners I suspect, the weather hadn’t been great today, they’d probably just come up from Monument Valley in the rain and were hacked off. A guy from Pennsylvania I talked to said that he couldn’t mountain bike much today because of the weather. He wasn’t much happier than the rest of the place, I guess the weather affects everybody. After 2 beers, I tried an $11 Margueriata. The salt tasted good, but I still wasn't quite into Moab. This is generally a good sign on my vacations. The next day is generally awesome when I'm in a slightly off mood.

Went back to the motel pretty early, before 10pm. Got the boots in from the car and soaked them in the bath to loosen them up. I had a target for the next day. I’d planned this for a long time. There’s a famous movie from the end of the 1980’s that both Harrison Ford and Sean Connery starred in. However they’re nowhere to be seen in the opening sequence which features the late River Phoenix playing a younger version of Harrison’s character. He’s in Arches National Park with a shot of some spectacular mountains in the background. It occurred to me after previous visits that a trip into these mountains high above the desert would be interesting. In Sept 2006, almost exactly 5 years ago, I invested $1.50 in a leaflet about these mountains at the downtown visitor center. It’s been in storage ever since. Time to leverage that investment.

I’m currently 24 hours behind on typing up this blog, I’ll catch up eventually. Anyone have any idea what Monday’s target might have been. Clue, it wasn’t one of the lesser peaks in the range...

Cheers,

Stu B

Grand Teton Village and Rendezvous Peak

Got up, packed the car and checked out of the motel. Drove up to Bubba’s for breakfast. Was OK but not as great as yesterday’s at the Virginian. It did the job however. Drove up to Grand Teton Village. Parked the SUV. This place looked familiar. I’d never been here before, but I suspect it featured in that Clint Eastwood movie too. I’ll find out when I get back.

Wandered up to the ticket office for the aerial tramway. $29.50 and the first of the day was at 9am in 10 minutes. I’d decided yesterday that this would be a worthwhile diversion on the way out of town. The tram filled up quickly with people and equipment. The equipment was large bags with paragliding equipment. Various people were going to glide back down. The tram climbed over 4000 feet rapidly above the ski slopes to a few feet short of the summit of Rendezvous Peak. I paced around a bit and took in the views. Watched various paragliders take off in the wind currents. Bought a Mountain Dew in the cafe. They had a full bar service there too, but 0930 is a bit early although they were serving believe it or not. I guess in the winter the skiers have a couple before they head back down.

Went back down. Sat at the front looking out the window in a more empty tram and got shocked at the drop.

Into the SUV and south. I forgot to take a 5 mile detour into Victor, Idaho to check out the Grand Teton Brewing Company. I fancied getting a T-shirt, it couldn’t have been that important. Went south listening to a chart rundown from 1987 on the 80s Hits channel on the radio. All classics were there including Whitesnake, U2, Suzeanne Vega etc. Remembered quite a few of them from the time.

Didin’t take the direct route to I-80. Chopped over a road which paralleled the old Oregon and Mormon Trails. Checked out some of the exhibits at a historic junction of trails stop and hiked about 0.25 miles of an old trail with the ruts in it. Those pioneers were tough. Crossed the Green River and looked at a old ferry crossing with a recreation of one of the old boats.

Down to Green River itself. Powell started his trip which led him into the Grand Canyon down in Arizona here. Didn’t look for anything related to him. Went into a diner beside the Interstate for lunch. Took half of it away for the motel.

Found the Motel 6 in Rock Springs, Wyoming real easy. A sprawl of a place with all the commercial premises. Paid for Wifi, code didn’t work so I went to reception to find out which bit of the handwritten code was wrong. Hot down here. Lay back in the room and eventually caught up on my blog entries. Watched the news on CNN for a bit. 127 hours came on HBO. Watched it. I’ll be near the area that Canyon is located soon. However I have no intention of getting trapped in a situation where I need to cut off my own arm!

Today was a bit of a random day which I quite enjoyed. Over the last 2 days I got a good introduction to the Grand Tetons. The aerial tramway could have been used for a massive hike, although what I did the day before was still impressive.

Next time...

Grand Teton National Park

Got up later than usual and headed for breakfast. Last night a place called Bubba’s was recommended, but I ended up in the Virginian just up the road. Famous old place. I’d walked past here in the dark last night and rejected going into the bar. If I had the cops would probably have missed me! Fantastic chicken steak breakfast country style with gravy etc. Just like back east I’m sure.

Went up into the park. Flashed my pass and ID, got the maps etc. and drove to the Visitor Center. Went up to a ranger and said I was looking for a good 5-6 hour hike to keep me out of the bars downtown in Jackson Hole. The ranger laughed and recommended driving 2 miles up to the Taggart Lake trailhead and doing whatever I felt like up there. Good plan.

Loaded up with drinks, reset the Garmin and headed out. Awesome views of the main peaks high above. Blue skies. South Teton and Grand Teton thousands of feet above. No way I was making it anywhere near these summits on this trip. Got to Taggart Lake, then Bradley Lake and climbed a bit. Grand Teton was still 5500 feet above my highest point. It would be miles and many switchbacks to get anywhere near that summit. Got to a strategic point where the trail headed down to the start of steep switchbacks and turned back. By the time I reached the SUV I’d done 6.5 miles and gone up and down a fair bit. On the way back clouds had appeared to give a contrast in the view.

Drove back to Jackson Hole. Went into Wendy’s for food. Had managed to avoid McDonald’s and Burger King so far, this chain was generally better. Staff however were completely indifferent. They didn’t care. They’ve probably got a chip on their shoulder because they’re not making tips in the fancy places downtown.

Back to motel for siesta. Headed back into Jackson Hole by taxi while it was still light. Took a wander through the square, no sign of the cops. Went into the Cowboy Bar again. Could ride the saddle this time. Avoided the Sierra Nevada. Took a while to find a free one with all the customers on a busy Friday night. Went into the Silver Dollar Saloon again. Talked to a guy from Denver who was quite interesting. Then into the Town Tavern again where they remembered me from last night. Exchanged tales with a retired guy from Penrith who came over here often to tour around. He was from the Sydney, Oz version. He’d done reciprocal visits to the English one with a rugby club in the past. Bought him a beer, he bought me one back, then the bartender bought us both one back! The cops may not like me much, but the rest of the place was no issue.

I told various people all day about the cops, and most people laughed their heads off. The locals didn’t have a high opinion of their officials. I was asked by different locals if they'd acted like jerks towards me. I guess they have a difficult job to do in a party town like this with all the drunken behaviour. It’s probably even more insane during skiing season. One guy said that he’d seen people drinking wine out of glasses in the street as they toured from gallery to gallery on an organised tour. I guess it the Sierra that was the issue, and I wasn’t putting serious money into the local economy! Only in America.

Took a taxi back to the motel. I was heading south tomorrow, but I had an idea for a slight detour early on.

Yellowstone Day Four - Avalanche Peak and into Jackson

Got up early on Thursday, packed up and checked out of the Lodge. Headed for breakfast. Was back on form this morning. Two plates again. The server confirmed the difficulty and steepness of Avalanche Peak. She confirmed that another one I’d been considering before rejecting it because of it’s distance from the road, Mt Sheridan, was an overnight camping trip.

Drove down in the early morning mist alongside the Yellowstone River. Photographers were out to catch classic shots of the sunrise. Bison all over the place too. Headed up to the trailhead at Eleanor Lake. Managed to drive right past it as there no obvious sign for the small lake for another mile and down the first part of the epic Sylvan Pass road. Did a U-turn and went back to find it. Quite obvious now, parked in the parking lot. I was the first of the day.

Changed into the hiking boots on a picnic table. There were signs up on the tables saying that the area was closed due to Grizzly presence, no food allowed. Maybe I would get lucky and see a Grizzly today. The peak behind here was named Grizzly.

Went across road and into the woods on the trail. Steep up. Realised that this would be perfect for a bear encounter. Was terrified for a bit, but pushed on. Got out of the woods and across a clearing into the scree. Kept going on the trail up through the rocks and to the long summit. Still no mobile phone signal. The foothills block everything out. Paced around and took it in from different directions. Couldn’t see much of Yellowstone Lake. It was buried under forest fire smoke. The views all around were incredible. I can see why this is described as one of the best hike’s in the park. Still no sign of anyone else. No bears either, of course they don’t appreciate the views and wouldn’t leave the woods.

Spent quite a while up there. Clouds started appearing after I started down the same way. Met some people in the woods on the way down. The first group of overnight hikers said that the bears had gone from down below weeks ago. They tried to kid on that they’d met one of the way up, but I didn’t fall for it. One of them joked “Better to get killed by a Grizzly than stabbed in an alley in New York City”!

Back to the SUV. 4.5 miles on the Garmin. I’d done some extra pacing around on the summit, the trail was 2.1 miles according to all the info. Still no bears at the picnic area. Headed out of the park through the south entrance. Ignored the bison. That animal was getting old after over-exposure. Onto the John D. Rockefeller, Jr Memorial Parkway. The Grand Tetons started to appear. Stopped at a few viewpoints, spectacular views of the range. Real mountain climbers stuff up top. Headed for Jackson Hole. The mobile phone signal came back. Went through the heavily commercialised downtown. You may have seen this town in a movie. The second of the 2 movies that Clint Eastwood made with that ape. The second part of the movie and the big fight was filmed here. I’ll look at the movie when I go home to confirm it was a more quaint place back then. I was last here in 1981, but don’t remember much apart from the ski slopes above it. Traffic was heavy, took a wrong turn trying to find the Super 8. Had to wait a while before I could safely turn around with the traffic. Went back and found it. It was further out than I expected it to be.

Checked in and got the netbook going. Spent quite a while working on the stacked up Yellowstone entries and posting them. Drank some the Grand Teton beers whilst doing this. It was dark outside when I finished. Decided to head into town. Couldn’t figure out where the free bus stop across the road was in the dark and couldn’t be bothered waiting, so I got reception to call a taxi. Went into the Silver Dollar Saloon for a bit. Smart. TVs were showing sports. Across the road and into the Town Tavern. More of a normal place with a rowdier crowd. Got some instructions from the bartender for breakfast the next day. Then I went to the famous Million Dollar Cowboy Bar where I sat at the bar in one of the saddles. Ordered a bottle of Sierra Nevada which was a mistake, too strong. I also didn’t yet have my sea legs for the saddle, so I decided I was done for the night, but that I wasn’t going to leave the bottle unfinished so I smuggled it out under my cardigan to the town square where I tried to leisurely finish it. This however attracted the attention of the local law enforcement officials who insisted I had to dispose of it. Can’t remember what statutes they told me I was violating, I co-operated fully! Several dollars worth of prime California beer wasted. There was a bit of an edge to them, but I wasn’t looking for trouble! I think they were pushing me a bit however to see if they could really nail me.

Decided to walk back to the motel in the dark. Not much traffic around this late. I was careful when cars approached. In the final section before the motel the cops came up behind me. I got stopped and asked to cross over to what they regarded as a more safe walking area. I think they’re more concerned about your personal safety, but again there was a bit of an edge to them. Plus they knew me already from the town square. Had to tell them my room number at the motel. Maybe this was a sobriety test! They told me that they were concerned in case I got run down by one of the numerous drunk drivers at this time of night. I guess they were happy I wasn’t drinking and driving like the rest of the place. I may be dumb, but I ain’t stupid!

Back to the room. Fell asleep. Tomorrow I would drive back to the park and pick a more gently hike then the one’s in Yellowstone. Did no research. I was going to wing it.

Yellowstone Day Three - Bunsen Peak

Slept in a bit on Wednesday morning. Made it to the breakfast buffet at the Canyon Lodge 5 minutes behind schedule. Only managed a single well packed plate. Headed north up the Dunraven Pass again. This time I pushed for the top and went for the North Entrance. There was the historic old entrance just off the “center” of Gardiner, Montana that I wanted to see. When Teddy Roosevelt did a speech there way back, the entire town turned out.

Realised that I may have been able to get mobile signal up here in Montana, sadly I’d left the phone back at the room in the lodge.

Went back into the park through the North Entrance. Flashed my pass and ID to get back in. Saw loads of animals across the river from the main road. Went up to the south part of Mammoth Hot Springs. Wandered around on the boardwalk for just over a mile. Didn’t recognise any of this from previous visits! Got back in the SUV and headed south towards the day’s hike. The Upper Terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs was on the way. That looked more familiar, maybe that’s where I’d been before? Didn’t care, never lifted.

Got to the day’s target just over the hill. Golden Gate trailhead which supplied a 2.1 trail to the summit of Bunsen Peak. I went for it and made the summit. It was less of a hike, the same altitude ascent at a lower height than Washburn, but it got steeper and stepper towards the rocky summit. Lesser altitude, but still exhausting. I lost interest before the summit, but pushed on regardless. Views from the top were OK, they gave me another corner of Yellowstone but it didn’t have the same impact as yesterday. Of course it would still blow views in the rest of the world out of the park! Approx 4.3 miles on the Garmin by the time I got back to the SUV.

Went back to the SUV. Took a detour to near the Upper Falls of Yellowstone’s Grand Canyon. A brief hike along the North Rim Trail took me to the Red Rock Trail which led downhill to another viewpoint. Got my picture taken down there before heading back up and then back to the room for a siesta.

Went out for dinner at the lodge just after 5pm. Murdered my chosen starter of Black and Tan Onion Rings to the extent that I almost lost interest in the main course of Burger and Fries again. Forced it all down. The waiter was the same chap as this morning, nice guy. I couldn’t finish the pint of Old Faithful at the table, paid up and took it through to the bar. Andrea was there in the distance working flat out to serve the evening’s many customers. I grabbed a table as my body attempted to digest all the food. Unlike last night I could only sip the beer.

Had to force down the beer and leave for the room. The altitude must be having an effect on me. I was nervous on the way back to the room as I felt that I was on the edge of being sick.

Held it down luckily, was clutching my stomach for a bit back at the room. Feel asleep for most of the night. Woke up again early, started typing in draft e-mails of the early days in Yellowstone in anticipation of getting the Internet back on leaving the park.

I had a good hike in mind for the way out. It had been recommended by a couple on Bunsen earlier today. Avalanche Peak. A couple of miles, and more than 2000 feet straight up. Sounds like a laugh, kill or cure time if I’ve got altitude sickness...

Cheers,

Stu B

Yellowstone Day Two - Bison, Black Bear and Deer on Mount Washburn

Woke up ridiculously early, approx. 4am. Should have had that 2nd beer last night. Started using the Keurig coffee making machine. It had Green Mountain Breakfast Blend Decaff from Vermont with it, along with a full octane brand. I’d seen their products in Vermont last year. Got the netbook out and started going through all the saved PDFs about the park that I had downloaded months ago. I’d decided yesterday and months ago that the day’s target was Mount Washburn, one of the highest in the park and the most popular hiking trail. I’d looked at a book last night in the gift shop to get the instructions, but it turned out that I had a better trailhead description in one of the park hiking PDF guides for it on the netbook. There were actually 2 trails from the Dunraven Pass. I could take the closer trail from the south, 4.5 miles up the road.

Went for breakfast in the lodge minutes before it officially started at 7am. It was a buffet. I was a disgrace. Loaded up twice. The second time I even ended up with watermelon. Didn’t even sit down at first when they took me to my table. Straight for the hot stuff before the vast party further up the room and around the corner realised where the hot stuff was! After the 2nd plate I headed out at approx. 0730. Made the comment to one the server’s that they’d see me drinking beer in the adjacent lounge at approx. 12 after conquering Washburn. This was a useful comment to make as she then told me that the bar didn’t open until 3pm. I would have to keep this in mind!

Drove up the road. 4.5 miles. The sun was gradually coming up. Stopped at a viewpoint before the top of the pass to get a picture to the east. Then noticed that there was bison (buffalo) in the middle of the road just up the hill. Got in the SUV and slowly drove past, taking pictures. I’d read early this morning that they can run at up to 30mph! I’d seen a couple yesterday from the road, but this was really up close! I got a blurred photograph from 2 feet or less out of my window. After I got past he/she turned, and blocked the road so no-one could get past for a few minutes. Mischevious creatures, or they just don't care. One guy in a car coming down the hill towards me started reversing, probably in a panic. The parking lot for the trailhead to Washburn was just ahead at the summit crest, 8859 feet. I parked there, 2nd vehicle of the day. Started getting the boots on and loading up the hiking backpack with the drinks. Could see the bison behind me still coming up the middle of the road. It came through the first entrance into the parking lot between the stop signs, I wasn’t going to let it get too close to me. It was too early in the trip to be Buffalo Kill, although I’m sure it would guarantee me a certain infamy back home and worldwide in the newspapers.

I hurriedly finished my preparations and walked purposely to the trailhead and got around it’s fence in case it decided to make a charge at me. It didn’t. Walked right past the vehicles and out the exit, then down the other side of the pass. Got some more pictures with my vehicle in the background.

Set off on the trail and realised straight away that I’d left the Garmin in the car due to the bison panic, went back for it and got it setup. Resumed the trail. A constant steep trail with switchbacks. Very wide and well constructed. Occasional traces of tarmac from years ago. I wonder if this was the old road.

After about 25 minutes I went around a corner and saw a backpack sitting at the side of the trail. Something is up I thought. Must be the guy from the other vehicle. He was sitting down the hillside in a steep clearing with a massive camera out. Quite a distance down the hillside clearing was a tree. The unmistakeable figure of a black bear was at the top of the tree. Never talked to the guy as I didn’t want to disturb the bear or the moment. I guess he/she was either having breakfast, or knocking breakfast to the ground for later. Maybe for the cubs. The light wasn’t great but I got some shots. The flash went off, but the bear didn’t seem to care, or didn't notice. It turned out that my camera had a 12x zoom! Took too many shots, it started to stand up at one point. Heard voices coming up the trail. It was a couple from Colorado that set off just behind me. I figured that the bear might get out of the tree when they appeared, but I’d lost patience/interest.

I kept on going up the trail. Many a switchback and some spectacular views. Eventually made the fire lookout on the summit. 1400 feet of ascent. All sorts of signs to tell you what you were looking at inside the viewing platform. This helped me as I was getting my NE etc. and N etc. mixed up due to lack of familiarity with the numerous mountain ranges. I could see all sorts of stuff from up here, incredible vantage point. The Central Plateau was south, the Grand Canyon (of the Yellowstone) to the east, could eventually pick out Yellowstone Lake when the light improved a bit more. For a while I was looking in the wrong direction for it.

Received an intermittent Emergency Signal on the mobile phone at the summit. Typed in a text message to my mother to reassure them all back home that the lack of Yellowstone blog entries were due to factors beyond my control, no joy on “Sending”. Emergency meant emergency up here. Must be run by the Park Service.

I hung around for quite a while and eventually went back down. Talked to the couple from Colorado at the top. She asked about Andy Murray and the US Open. She said they were normally in the UK at this time of year or such. I said I had no idea how he was doing, didn’t really care and that he’d become a joke back home. British when he wins, Scottish when he loses. She’d heard that too, she laughed. They said that when they saw the backpack at the hillside clearing, they joked that the owner had been dragged off by a Grizzly. I thought of the same gag 30 mins after the black bear. I guess coming from Colorado their brains work faster at altitude.

Also talked to the Fire Ranger briefly. He was concentrating more on his job scanning the horizon than chatting to me. He was a retired National Park Service employee from Massachussets. He was doing this as a summer retirement job! He was in an awesome location for it! Sleeping at the top of the mountain by himself!

Signed the visitor’s book. I expected to be the first of the day, but some guy from Florida had beat me. A flatter place than Scotland, I was ashamed. I guess he came up the other route.

Predictably the bear was gone when I got back to the clearing. Some of the many hikers now coming up the trail had bells on them to keep the bears away. One guy was rattling a can. If they’d been out earlier like us pros they’d have ruined it, we’d never have seen that bear! Fools.

Back to the car at approx lunchtime. 7.33 miles on the Garmin. Drove back to the Canyon Village. Into the grocery store. Bought 2 six-packs of beer. One was Old Faithfull Ale, the other Howling Wolf. Both from the Grand Teton Brewing Company. Almost $20.00 evaporated. Must be quality stuff. The woman in the shop said the bear family at the top of the pass were famous. Lots of people have recently seen them up trees. Cubs too. Talked to a few English tourists from a tour bus. Went back to the lodge to abandon the SUV. Hiked back to the Canyon Lodge with beer in the backpack. Sat in one of the comfortable chairs drinking a bottle of one of each type of beer, this was the life. I had one of each type. I think I preferred Old Faithfull’s Beer more than her eruption yesterday. It’ll be a miracle if these six-packs make it out of the park. I’d already done one of the signature hikes in the park. This was a brief celebration.

Spent the rest of the afternoon on a hike around some of the viewpoints above the Grand Canyon. I reset the Garmin first. Went to Inspiration Point, Grand View and the Lower Falls along the North Rim before heading back to the Lodge where the bar was now open. On the final deserted trail through the woods I wondered what I would do if I encountered a Grizzly. Take out my wallet and invite him/her, maybe the kids too, for beverages at the Lodge. That would give them something to talk about for years! Wonder what the legal drinking age for a Grizzly is?

Drank a few at the lodge. Ordered my first pint of Old Faithfull Ale from Dre of Illionis according to her badge. Turned out that’s short for Andrea. However for some reason she decided I looked like more of a Bozone drinker, that was the other draught beer they had, so she poured away the Old Faithfull glass and gave me the other one. Both would do the job. I alternated both for the rest of the evening, let her choose mainly. One came from Victor, Idaho the other came from Bozeman, Montana. After a couple I said that the tourists like myself should all get issued with name badges too. “Stu B from Scotland” etc. When I read the first nameplate the night before, I just assumed the Asian looking girl was from family called “Taiwan”. I must have been tired.

Had a pleasant evening, various conversations with people before I headed back to the room in the dark. Got various bits of gossip from Andrea. The only place you could get Internet coverage (she reckoned) was at Old Faithfull. I bet they charge through the nose for that! Some of the visitors freak out when they find this out. No TV either, the only news was going to come from the newspapers! She also said there was a rumour that the emergency mobile phone signal strength had been turned down to prevent tired hikers out in the backcountry phoning up for a rescue. Probably true.

Garmin told me in the morning that I’d done 4.5 miles after abandoning the SUV at lunchtime. That had been mercy killing after a vast early mileage across Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming. That meant I’d hiked almost 13 miles today, and only driven 10!

I’d already planned the next day’s activities. I was going to head north, anti-clockwise thru the park to a few places.

Yellowstone Day One - Old Faithful Revisited

Woke up early on Monday morning. Packed up the car which was right outside the door and headed north in the dark just before 6am. Breakfast would be on the road, probably Cody. Listened to the Sirius Satellite Radio for a bit. Found Radio One but didn’t stay on it. I never listen to it at home anymore so why bother with it just because I’m on vacation!

Got to a town called Worland where I spotted an open restaurant. Took the Wyoming map in. Ordered steak and eggs breakfast. Looked at the map and realised I was on the road going north, not the direct NW route for Cody. Still, the breakfast was superb so my incompetence had paid off.

Eventually followed this different route around to Cody. Saw scenery I would never have seen otherwise! Probably took close to a one hour time hit. That's my excuse. In Cody went to an ATM and took out $500. The $200 I came over with was slightly depleted, $20 bills were evaporating rapidly. On the way out of Cody found a Walmart where I loaded up on soft drinks. Got a vast haul of Gatorade, Coke, Powerade and Arrowhead water for about $26. No sign of any staff on the checkouts so I had to use the self-service checkout. Just like home, and it looked much the same as Asda’s software too.

Headed up the valley towards the East Entrance. As I was driving and looking up I had the uncanny feeling of déjà vu, i.e. I’d looked at the formations etc. overhead and in the distance before. Last time would have been 1990 with by buddies Pedro and Yan on the coast to coast road trip. Paid $80 for the annual pass. Acadia National Park was this year’s picture on the front. That was the last National Park from last year’s trip. Went up and over the Sylvan Pass, spectacular. Down the other side and Yellowstone Lake appeared. Massive. Worked my way around to West Thumb where I walked around the boardwalk thermal springs stuff for a bit. Then headed up and over the Continental Divide (twice) to the legend that is Old Faithful. I’d been here 3 times before 1981, 1987 and 1990.

Abandoned the vehicle and headed for Old Faithful. Not difficult to find as there are 2 rows of seats in a vast viewing area around it. The seats were packed so she must be due soon. I couldn’t be bothered waiting so I headed around the boardwalk to the other stuff. She erupted 5 mins later when I was downhill immediately behind her. OK, but nothing special. I'd seen her before. Maybe I had the wrong viewing angle! I kept going around the boardwalk. Got to another famous Geyser, the Castle Geyser. She only goes off twice a day. Of course it happened right as I got there. Now that was impressive, although I witnessed more impressive eruptions at the Alamo on Saturday night. Somebody got a picture of me that may be published when I start making pictures available.

Anyway, I kept on walking around. Went further away from the main area than I had before. Went past a pool called Morning Glory and down towards another parking lot. Turned back eventually. Never saw anby bears. One hiker came past with the bells on. I had no such preparation. Went back to the Old Faithfull Lodge, had an overpriced Minute Maid Lemonade and headed for the SUV. Had trouble finding it, but spotted it eventually in the vast parking lot. Not a bad hike, I was out there for 2-3 hours strolling around.

Drove around to the Canyon Lodge. Checked-in. Followed the instructions on the map from reception to the Cascade Lodge, it was modern compared to the cabins which looked positively antiquated, but not in a good sense. More of a falling apart 1950s state. Found out later they were originally meant to go to the Florida Everglades and not really suitable for Yellowstone's winters.

Epic size room with two double beds, chairs, cuddly toy (more about that later) and expensive coffee making facilities. No TV however. You didn’t come here just to watch TV now did you? No Wifi either. Went out to dinner at the lodge with the netbook to see if the main building was wired up. No joy, I wasn’t surprised! Had burger and chips with a Snake River Lager then headed though to the bar. Didn’t have much of an atmosphere, and I didn’t fancy a second one so I went back to the room and passed out into a deep sleep. Tomorrow was the day I needed to start doing some proper hiking.

The target had already been decided, partly by research from a hiking book in the Canyon Lodge gift store, the rest from earlier planning back home.

#44 and #15

I hit the ground early this morning after little proper rest. Refer to other blog entries to understand why! All part of my “vacation”. One day I’ll take a proper vacation on a luxury beach resort and probably have a mental breakdown after being left alone to read a paperback novel.

Checked out of the Motel 6 before the sun was fully up. Drank a vicious cocktail of Mountain Dew (half of a 20 oz bottle from the lobby vending machine, the rest was put in the SUV after I recognised it’s potency and potential for later en route), copious amounts of water and coffee from reception. Despite massive fatigue from a variety of previously documented factors on this trip, adrenaline was pushing a 42 year old guy forward to do something new.

Drove the brief distance to downtown Cheyenne along the Lincoln Highway (Route 30) from the motel, who needs I-80 apart apart from the speed? No traffic as it was early Sunday, traffic lights in the downtown grid were flashing amber. I like this place for that reason alone, as otherwise it seems a bit sad at the edges. Took a detour up to the recently renovated State Capitol building (saw it last night after breakfast on the drive back to the motel in the dark from a distance, although due to fatigue I may have been hallucinating), took a picture from the middle of empty Capitol Avenue or whatever then lost interest as I had more pressing interests, such as finding a venue for the 2nd breakfast of the day/trip. Village Inn just off downtown did the job. I drove past various state museums etc. before I found it. I Wolfed down Eggs Benedict with hash browns in record time with orange juice and another cup of coffee. Overpaid for the experience frankly compared to Denny’s last night which was great, no ketchup was offered although I never asked. The drinks pushed up the tabs, then you have to add your own discretionary tip.

Last night’s 2 glasses of lemon water were free. Plus I was getting talked to by the young waitress who was there after midnight about the music festival in the mountains she was planning on spending her Sunday at with her friends. However I had other plans, I tipped her an extra dollar to let her down gently(!) The guy this morning simply wanted to shake my hand initially for being Scottish and ask me how you pronounced “Islay”. He liked his Scotch, if I wasn’t so tired I’d have talked to him for another 5 mins before heading east! Takes a while every time to ease into the Americans love of Scotland and particular the whisky sometimes. They assume we all drink it daily. Sometimes various Clan questions too! They ask me questions like I’m an expert, then I attempt to avoid disappointing them and also myself by admitting I only know so so much about back home.

The original version of this trip which never happened last year had Fort Collins, Colorado as the first night followed by Cody, Wyoming the second night as a staging post for Yellowstone etc. However in the all too brief period of time I was between jobs, close inspection of my Rand McNally US Atlas pointed out the obvious. The High Point of Nebraska is adjacent to the Wyoming and Colorado borders and accessible by a network of local roads from I-80. Strictly speaking it’s a detour, but I’ve done crazier things in the past, and part of these trips are the wacky bits that make no sense to anyone but yourself. Note that this is not absolute rule. Changes to the 2010 trip were never made as the entire thing was cancelled shortly afterwards. It remained deep inside me as a future target.

On the 2011 version it was an integral and mostly secret early part. Fort Collins was still the first night early on but that changed as I realised I had to be heroic out of Denver airport and reduce the Sunday mileage a bit! This was before I knew that there was going to be an unanticipated “Battle of the Alamo” that night in Denver. Also I stuck to Cody at first before deciding that the detour into Kimball County, Nebraska justified reducing the risk there too. 2011 had a motel reserved in Cody which was cancelled and substituted for Thermopolis, Wyoming. You can tell me I’m rambling about all these boring planning details and logistics when I come home, for me it’s all part of it. Sometimes I get it right and compliment myself, sometimes I fail to do the full research and laugh at myself afterwards, either way it’s all part of the experience!

So after the 2nd breakfast of the trip, joined I-80 and painfully drove due east into the rising early morning sun. Sore on the eyes. I’d transferred Internet saved instructions from the netbook on how to get there from Pine Bluffs, Wyoming down the back roads, but the version I transcribed by pen onto a bit of paper from a saved webpage in the Motel 6 after documenting for future historians “The Battle of the Alamo” (2011) didn’t match the obvious local State route numbers from I-80 and wasn’t the best so I didn’t attempt to navigate from the Wyoming side. The Rest Area at Pine Bluffs did however provide a necessary emergency comfort break as breakfast, liquid, altitude and jetlag played havoc on my system whilst on I-80 for 30-40 miles after Cheyenne. I also grabbed all the necessary Wyoming free travel literature. That was a bonus, got stuff I needed such as a map of Wyoming. Previously I was navigating from memory and other sources. Yeah, right....

Got the netbook out, I had another route from Bushnell, Nebraska in there too in various versions and sources opened up to check if I needed. Went across the border on I-80. This was state #44 for me, massive milestone, I can’t recall how many years it’s seen since I went into a new US State. Probably 10 years. I never even considered crying. However last year in May (2010) I cried when I drove into Pennsylvania from Maryland. Weird. I’ve never told anyone this until now. PA was state number one, she’s special to go back too once in a while so maybe that’s why it happened.

Alaska, Hawaii, North Dakota and 3 others remain. If I wasn’t so tired I’d tell you their names too. Work it out yourself. Approx 7 miles further on took me to a loop road off I-80 for Bushnell to a series of wide dirt tracks (all numbered in a road system) which eventually led me to Panorama Point, the High Point of Nebraska. Had to stop twice at the side of the wide and empty tracks to check where I was going to next from the netbook. The logic of the numbering system of the roads was simple. If I wasn’t so exhausted I would worked it out sooner. Or in advance. North/South was Odd, West/East Even. The car’s compass confirmed this. So from the Bushnell, Nebraska from I-80 I went approx 12 miles down Road 17 of gravel by myself, 4 or 5 miles along Road 9, 2 along 8, then bits of 6 and 5 before a final mile or so on a very narrow track straight to the High Point. Paid $3 in an envelope at an entry-point in the final section to the local ranch who own the land, I felt it was only fair and part of the experience, although others disagree apparently. Who cares? I’ll never give them money again in my life so enjoy it. Some of the Half Point purists walk the final mile or two to make it an achievement. I didn’t give a monkey’s today, took my temporary Dodge Durango SUV straight to the marker early this morning. Last night in Denver had taken a toll, but I hadn’t sacrificied it due to considering surrender at the Alamo.

I paced around for an extra 5-10 mins there by myself in the light with an pleasant high plains wind. Bison in the next field, wind turbines all around in the distance. Got a self-portrait of myself beside the marker stone at the summit. Maybe I’ll publish that one later. Probably looked terrible. Signed the book. Took too many pictures of the rental SUV beast trophy from last night, more about her later.

She’s got another major deficiency, other than the lack of a working trunk door. This of course was all overridden by her being “available” at a certain time and place late last nite. I’ll probably get even more discount out of Alamo before this is all over! More to follow about her pros and cons. Chortle. Chortle.

After that I came back out the same way as I came in. Didn’t even consider using the car’s compass and my fresh understanding of the back road numbering systems to cut the corner back into Wyoming in case some of the dirt tracks were dead-ends. I got faster on the tracked roads due to my confidence from the way in. These types of surfaces have different driving skills. With all gravel and dust thrown up you could see anyone coming for a mile or two on these dry roads!

Back onto I-80. West, flew back the way I’d come into Wyoming. Better shot of the border than last night offered from the Colorado side on I-25 before midnight.. Could see now see more of the highway on the Great Plains as the sun was higher. No mobile phone signal for a bit. It came in a few miles east of Cheyenne. Texted a short e-mail about conquering High Point #15 to my mother, the closest vehicle to me was 0.5 mile in front. Got her lengthy reply back within minutes just before I looped onto I-25 northbound. Decided it was best not to reply! With these spacious highways and less traffic, you start doing things you can’t consider back home as a sensible person!

It took a while to get to Thermopolis, I pushed non-stop apart from gas. Abandoning Cody for the 2nd night is a vindicated decision. It was great to watch the landscape change, but the final push to Cody today would possibly have finished me.

Up to Casper then across and eventually Thermopolis. I was aware of the fact I was going past some interesting places. Hell’s Half Acre’s sign posts for example jumped out as I drove adjacent to it. Famous place and close, I’d love to study all up the history and visit. However you can’t do it all, so I performed no U-Turn. In the final hour before Thermopolis I saw the Rockies in the background. Couldn’t quite work out if I could see the main peaks in the Grand Tetons from afar. Awesome, snow up top on the higher peaks. The next week etc. is going to be great.

Drinking the first beers of the US trip right now in the hotel at the Hot Springs with it’s convenient lounge. I need to get some sleep tonight before Yellowstone. Quite warm here, A/C’s cranked up high all around. Blue skies. The final bit on my drive here from Shoshone came through the Wind River Canyon which is spectacular after the dam.

Still on schedule. I’ve already done a massive mileage on this one, probably in excess of 600 miles already which is another tale I’ll add eventually to the SUV saga. One thing at a time. Most of it positive! In the good old days when I was younger I used to mess around in Boulder for 2 days after flying into Denver. Go to Irish Bars etc. Plan a gentle hike in a foothill. Nowadays in these troubled economic times no gentle easing in exists, who planned this trip anyway? That maniac deserves to be fired...

However I’ve now voluntarily placed myself into a self-documenting mode, for better or worse? Let me know what you think...

Stu B

Cheers,

Stu del B

Battle of the Alamo

Flight was OK. Didn’t sleep but watched Senna twice. Had to watch it again a second time as couldn’t hear much the sound the first time with the BA headphones. Eventually fished out the iPod ones from the overhead locker for success. Watched all of Bridesmaids too.

On arrival into Denver the Rockies looked epic in the distance. Got told off for trying to take a picture out the window as I headed up the walkway to US Immigration. Was one of the first through in less than 5 minutes. They now take all your fingerprints. They’re probably back in London right now for the UK government to use against me at a future point. Upcoming Scottish riots maybe.

Carousel started up quite early and my bags came out not first but impressively early and together so I was off and running. Next hurdle to be the shuttle bus to the Alamo. Not the one in Texas, but the rental car depot at the airport. When I got to the bus everything went pear-shaped.

A guy getting off has been down the depot already and according to him and what the driver is also saying (she’ s just doing her job, but doing remarkably honest for which I complimented her) it’s a shambles down there. They’ve given away all their cars and can’t honour bookings. Loads of people are down there, they’re trying to gather up cars from other places etc. Labor day Saturday is the main cause. The guy leaves to seek his alternate arrangements. I decide to head down there and face the possible consequences. I’m first on the bus. The driver doesn’t mention any of the situation this to the rest of the customers who then fill up the bus.

We get to the Alamo. I keep quiet about the rumours as I wish to escape the bus quick with my luggage. One guy with little luggage beats me into the queue inside the office. 20 people ahead of me who were already there, ominously there’s a lot of people standing outside too. Turns out they’re waiting for cars.

I eventually get processed, takes a long time. There’s a few Brits there to talk too. Good camaraderie. Just like the Blitz I’m sure. I get processed eventually. Given paperwork and I join queue outside. The woman behind the counter wasn’t saying much about the situation and I wasn’t pressing her too hard, the true situation and nuances would reveal themselves outside in the next queue.

It’s not complete chaos out there, but I could see how things could break down at the edges. I can turn this story into an epic, I’d been expected the worse since the airport, it was a bit of a rollercoaster ride so some details may drop out.
The single obvious member of staff gave a little speech to the 30-40 people out there. The options quickly appeared as :-

(1) Taxi at their expense (reimbursed later, yeah right) to your hotel. Not much use if you’re trying to ambitiously get to a Motel 6 in Cheyenne, Wyoming on the first night. The car shall be delivered to you the next day.
(2) Hang in there waiting for a car with no guarantee you’ll get one tonight.
(3) Hotel at their expense in the Denver area.

It was chaotic but no-one else joined the queue for quite a while, I think they must have started turning the people just behind me in the queue inside away completely. Lots of people staying locally, or even as far out as Boulder (my normal haunt) got taken by taxis or courtesy buses to hotels. This whittled down the herd a bit. The chaos led to at least a couple of obnoxious guys, New Yorkers I thought, managing to jump ahead of people in the queue for the occasional appearing vehicle from which there were re-percussions and better care was taken care of who was next to the incoming vehicle. I got confirmation where I was in line several times to reassure myself I wasn’t going to get steamrollered by anyone behind me. There was one master handwritten list which mistakes were being made on. Names getting written in the wrong order and scored off by mistake etc. People who’d accepted hotel transfers were getting mixed up with ones that needed vehicles tonight, I took control to ensure my interests were looked after and they knew who I was and where I was in the remaining queue. You’ve got to engage, other people were failing to engage due to either language issues or fatigue from long trips. I had a laugh with a few people as we stood around. You’ve got, otherwise it could disintegrate. Make sure everybody left knows and agrees where they are in the “line”.

To cut to the chase I eventually got a massive Dodge Durango SUV. It was being loaded up by the guy in front of me, but the trunk door didn’t work so he rejected it. I grabbed it. My cases slipped in through one of the back doors just as easily into the trunk. I declared I would happily accept that imperfection. I also was given 10% off etc. Plus free gas on the return, I’ll work it all out in 3 weeks. More about that vehicle later. It’s awesome, even using it in the dark confirmed it’s the best one yet. Too bad the boot doesn’t open, maybe I should have waited for the one after the next one. No danger of me taking that risk.

Took off in the pitch black at approx. 10pm. The rental car fiasco had lost me about 3 hours. Never looked at any maps, but I knew approximately what I was doing. Picked up I-70. Headed up to I-25 then up in the dark the 100+ miles across the border. Through Denver, Loveland, Fort Collins etc. in the dark. SUV handle well. Speed kept creeping up, had to ease off a few times.

Checked into Motel 6 at 2345 local time. Almost forgot to pay for Wifi. $3.17 so that I can sum up the Alamo situation. Words don’t do it justice! It could have been a complete disaster, I’m sure other people in situation suffered but through a combination of perseverance, timing and luck I triumped. At least a few gave up too early and surrendered in my humble opinion. No backbone(!) Whereas me, I’d been planning this trip for more than 18 months. A night in Denver was not on my list of desireables.

Spent 5 minutes in the room and then went a couple of miles back down I-25 across I-80 to a 24 hour Denny’s I’d seen on the final approach. Ordered breakfast, it was 7am my time after all. Drank 2 glasses of lemon water to rehydrate. Back to motel. Tried to sleep for a bit, main train tracks nearby so there’s horns going all the time. Motel 6 is crumbling to bits, but it’s a bed. It was pretty full but they’d kept my room luckily. TV works fine. I’ll lie down after this for 2-3 hours then hit the road. Probably have another breakfast en route.

Today has a “plan”. I’m still on schedule despite the Alamo attempt at chucking in a spanner. I have 2 targets today. They are both slight detours, one is #44 in a series, and the other is #15. No prizes for guessing what I may be. Neither involve much hiking. I need to ease myself in gently today after last night! I’m tired. I knew I had to force myself out to Denny’s for that food. Good call.

Made it to the big plane

I made it into the plane for the US. To get to the gate I had to get on a underground train from T5. This place is an expensive joke, you can't even walk to the gate from the main terminal! Time to leave the country and head for Colorado.

However it's been blue skies down here for most of the day. Not that I got outdoors!

I'll have to shutdown this connection real soon. I think they are making final arrangements. Relatively full flight. Last time in 2009 I had a row to myself. However I'm in a row of 2 and the chap next to me seems quite jovial so a good flight beckons.

Cheers,

Stu B

Bonjour from Terminal Cinq en Angleterre

Made it down to the big smoke. Came in from the east above a cloudy London. Saw the Gherkin for a bit before going back above a solid wall of cloud. A brief gap a perfect view of Tower Bridge. Saw the Imperial War Museum later, then another cloud bank blocked the view. Another brief gap then gave me 2-3 second view of the Abbey and part of the Houses of Parliament.

The herd of Japs slowed my departure from the back of the plane. No sense of urgency from them. People around me were getting irritated I think. I didn't care. I had time on my hands for a change. They stood around as if their big bags came out of the overhead lockers by themselves. When I eventually escaped I went into the first gents for a lengthy comfort break to evade them at the next queue for Flight Connections where I was fully prepared for a lengthy wait before getting into the airport proper. When I finally left the bathroom, there was no queue so I flashed my passport and boarding pass for Denver and walked straight into the Mecca of consumerism that is T5 within 30 seconds. The woman at the desk laughed when I commented that I'd missed the Japs. She confirmed that there were a lot of them. I outwitted them again, they got me the first time at check-in. Hope they have a good flight back to Toyko or their next stop on their banzai world tour.

It sure ain't for normal people this terminal. Mostly luxury stores and restaurants, no McDonalds and Burger King. They must have been priced out or denied entry by BAA.

Still haven't thought of anything I forgot to pack. I paced around on Wednesday and Thursday night packing the bags and ensuring I had it all together. Experience has taught me various tricks. In no particular order here's a few of them :-

(1) Pack all your power supplies in the single small carry on bag. Ensure everything is fully charged before you go.
(2) Take a single US adaptor in the carry on bag. The 2nd one goes in one of the bags for check-in.
(3) Have a plastic currency bag (empty) for sticking your UK coins in when you board the US plane, you won't need them for a bit. Note however that I set off this morning with no coins, and have accumulated only a single 20p. Most of my other spending has been credit card, so this tip is outdated.
(4) Take your mobile dongle with you so that you can bore people senseless before you even see the Atlantic from 35K feet!
(5) Wear the hiking boots. They have still stink of cow waste from various recent hikes, but they're broken in and cannot be sacrificed for a day or so to BA. I don't think the security scanners object to animal waste.
(6) Take 2 copies of your trip itineray. One is for you, and the other is for the BA representatives at Denver airport. They can then re-direct your lost bag(s) to one of the many addresses on this covering the next 21 nights of the roadtrip. You can tell that I speak from experience here...
(7) Have everything in the all the bags the night before. Last minute items that go in before going to bed are (i) pen-knives, 9/11 killed off the ability to carry them onboard. (ii) CDs from the car. 2 CaseLogic holders with upwards of 110 of my favourite CDs. Mind you this is fast becoming a waste of weight, on the previous trip I only played a couple of them! I couple of times I've ended up with Sirius satellite radio in the SUV, that has hunderds of channels. When that happens the CDs don't get used much. Nice to have the option however. The iPod comes along too, although the last few trips that never got used at all! That covers the rest of my CD collection.

It's saturation level with things to do nowadays en route. iPod, 2 paperbacks (stockpiled for the trip and unopened so far), this netbook thing, F1 magazine from the earlier airport (10 pages read). And then the flight itself. My choice movies look like being Senna and Bridesmaids. They're different movies I add. One's a documentary. If I watch them entirely that's half the flight over! I yearn for simpler days when there was limited options!

Fun. Fun. Fun. Right, what did I forget again? What day is it?

Stu B

A journey of 5000+ miles

I think it was Chairman Mao that once said a journey of a 1000 miles starts with a single step. Or something like that...

Today is going to be somewhat more than that, but I've taken more than a couple of steps already. Probably close to 6000 miles if you include the detour to the airport where I change planes.

Taxi was booked for 0700. It turned up early so I dragged the bags downstairs and headed for the airport. Had to join the back of a massive queue of Japs to check-in. That took more than half an hour. My attempts to gain favourable treatment and skip the queue sadly failed, at least I tried! However in retrospect I made the mistake of asking and being too polite. Should have just walked through the fast track and claimed to be Silver Executive Club! Once you get to the special handling bit they rarely check I suspect. Got stuck behind a flock of more Japs (is that the expression?) trying to get upstairs. Decided it would be sensible to get through security before they got there and caused their normal chaos. They were blocking corridors all over the place. Told the first member of staff at the security checkpoint that 3000 Japs were incoming. "Oh No!" the poor girl shrieked. I'd made her day.

Made it through security reasonably quickly, took a while to reassemble myself. Ensure that the netbook remained with me. I'll be so busy keeping an eye on it for the next few airports that I'll make some other dumb mistake soon. I tried to walk through the scanner with my bag after putting the netbook on the tray! I can only think of one thing at a time nowadays. Or maybe it was early...

Now drinking Costa coffee. There may be a bigger post from a major airport down in England. I have some time to kill down there, so there may be more ramblings. It's going to be long day, so I need my amusements to kill time. The excitement however is building.

Of course my plane shall probably be 50% Japanese. Should be fun. They're quite entertaining. They improve with altitude.

Cheers,

Stu B

Hart Fell

Eventually got my act together this morning and headed South. Set off with no idea where I was going to hike. Weather forecast had high winds, which was accurate. Headed dowbn the A702 and started going through various options in my mind. Thought for a bit I might park at West Linton in the Pentlands and do a loop from there, but quickly ruled that out. Kept on driving. South of Dolpinton I chopped over to the A701. It was about this point I decided on doing Hart Fell again from the Devil's Beeftub, this time clockwise.

Set off just after a middle aged group of hikers who managed to get lost right at the start by going into a nehighbouring field. I too advantage of that and managed to overtake them as they attempted to rejoin the path. Kept pushing for a bit up the first hill as they were loud, annoying and obviously incompetent! Never saw them again. I think they gave up and turned back as I didn't even see them in the distance again. Or maybe they got lost again. Anyway, I did the full loop. A lot of up and down along the way, close to 3000 feet of ascent according to one of my books. According to the Garmin 10.5 miles. High winds on the top. I could see into England today from up there. The hills in the Lake District were visible across the Solway Firth.

Eventually made it back to the car. The final section was a drag, Had to climb back out of a valley to the car. Didn't get wet, it rained briefly a few times, but not severe. On the way home it was dark and wet roads.

That was the final warmup. Not the best hike of recent times, the weather wasn't great. A few more preparations to come this week, then I head off.

Cheers,

Stu B

Newlands Horseshoe and Helvellyn Reconquered

Made it into breakfast at 0730 on Saturday. Drove down narrow lanes to a place called Little Town and a carpark at a place called Chapel Bridge. Parked car, I was the first person there. A Jaguar came along a few minutes later. Had to complete my preparations outside the car. The dog that emerged from the car focused his attention on me. He kept dropping the stick at my feet, and I had to throw it for him to bring back. A bit of a pain when you’re trying to get your boots on. The owner said he was taking the dog up all the Wainwright’s. I kept seeing him taking pictures of the dog at different points including a summit.

I hit the trail. Steep uphill behind Cats Bells. I didn’t take the detour to the top of it but kept going on the clockwise loop. As I climbed I had no idea if I would do the entire loop. Kept going one peak at a time. There was no way down into the valley so I had to either go the head of the valley or turn back. I kept going. There was a big drop from High Spy at the head and a very substantial looking and non-trivial climb up Dalehead on the other side. Thought at this point I was going back down the valley, but I decided to push upwards again. Made it to the highest point of the day. Was looking down on the Conister Slate Mine and across at Bowfell and Scafell in the distance. This was some hike. Right in the middle of it all with reasonable weather. Clouds, but not the worst I’ve been out in.

Didn’t spend long at the top, Kept doing around the horseshoe and back down. The drop down had some narrow and extremely steep bits. It took a while but eventually made it back to the car. Just over 8.5 miles according to the Garmin. Car park and lane now full of cars. Changed into my casual clothing, drove back to Keswick’s downtown carpark. It was full, but before I did half a lap a massive SUV reversed out of a space so I wasted no time in screeching into that! I don’t think the owners of the car next to me were happy, they probably thought I was about to scrape their pride and joy! Straight into the Bank Tavern before even thinking about a bath. Went back to the hotel after 2 more pubs and a visit to the convenience store next to it to buy a 500ml can of Budwieser. Drank it in the bath. The ultimate in degeneracy, but I’d earned it, right? After that went out again with a view to getting some food. Drank 1.2 pints, couldn’t be bothered finishing the 2nd. Went to the chip shop at the head of the High Street, took the Fish and Chips back to the room. Got into bed and watched the X Factor. Exciting Saturday night, eh? Must have very quickly fallen asleep as I woke up later with the TV still blaring away. I switched it off. However I’d already decided tomorrow’s target.

Helvellyn the steep way from Thirlmere Reservoir. This was another reason I was in bed early. Miscalculated breakfast time. It was 0800 on a Sunday. Took a 5 minute walk, got bored, then took one of the hotel’s papers back to the room for another cup of coffee. Went down again for breakfast. There was a distinguished looking elderly gentleman across from me that I’d seen the day before too. Still can’t quite put the name to the face, but I’m sure he was one of these famous old BBC TV presenters. I’ll work out who he was in a month or two. Julia Bradbury stays here as well when she’s in the area, had a conversation with one of the hotel staff (might have been one of owner family) on returning to the hotel late on Friday night. Can’t remember what he said about her, I think he said she’d been in recently.

Anyway a short jaunt took me south to Thirlemere, the first massive reservoir that Manchester City Corporation built in the Lakes. Parked at Wythburn near the south end. Got ready. Paused an extra minute or two to attempt to let a large crowd set off before me, but they were taking too long to get prepared so I had to set off a minute or two before them. The Garmin failed early on. The batteries were fully charged before heading south, they’ve previously lasted several hikes. A shame as this was going to a brutal climb. Helvellyn the direct way, it would have been nice to track my progress and know how much more pain was still to come. The first 10 minutes is on a steep path up through a forest. Damp in there, started sweating heavily. I got some air on breaking out, but the gradient didn’t get much gentler for a while! I’m sure when I’ve read off this route in the past, the descriptions always scared me regarding the initial effort. Anyway I made it. After the halfway point I was into the mist. 4th time up this beast and I still haven’t seen anything from the top!

My first attempt got abandoned on a blue sky day in 1999 as the Spanish chambermaid I was with got scared off heights well before Striding Edge and needed to turn back. I should have told her to make her own way down. I’d met her in a bar in Grasmere the previous day. Told her I was doing Helvellyn the next day, she invited herself along as it was her day off. I think she put a curse on me as the 4 successful ascents are always in misty conditions. Yesterday would have been good, but then today wouldn’t have been as good on Newlands Horseshoe so I got that aspect correct.

Was at the summit just before 11am. I think this route is about 2.5 miles (straight up). I’ll check later. Didn’t stop at the top. Found the trig point in the mist and then went back down. Car reached at 1230, could have paid less for the car park as I was less than 4 hours. Never mind.Thieves, they make money out of that situation for sure. Drove home. Had a load of energy left . I could easily have done another 5 or 6 miles today. The brutal way to the summit was certainly efficient. Looks like the next time I’m down here, I’ll need to do Helvellyn from the north end of Thirlmere. That’s the remaining direction, with a completely new path (to me). Today's last mile or so intersected with a path I'd been on before 3 years ago from the Grasmere direction.

Made the mistake of going on the internet as I'm writing this, and it pointed out the obvious, I could have turned today into a loop back down the remaining way and then along Thirlmere back to the car. Never mind. I didn't realise today's route was so "easy". Next time.

These warmup events are pretty much over. Next it’s the real thing, with an altitude handicap to factor in. No way to prepare for that in this country I’d afraid. Maybe I should have planned a trip to France or Switzerland. Difficult to get there and back in one weekend however...