Comments on: Causey Pike ??? A Country For Old Men?

By: andreiplimbarici

andreiplimbarici — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 16:34:42 +0000

you’re welcome Alen. Really is very beautiful!

Andrei

By: McEff

McEff — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 15:11:03 +0000

Thank you very much for that.
Alen

By: andreiplimbarici

andreiplimbarici — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 14:36:53 +0000

Lovely!

By: McEff

McEff — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 16:30:20 +0000

Hi Adrian. Thanks for that. The zigzags look ideal for biking and several other sports. I do hope, though, that this sort of remedial scheme doesn’t go forward anywhere else. I think erosion looks far better.
Cheers, Alen

By: Adrian Hobbs

Adrian Hobbs — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 16:07:01 +0000

Wilder says – The Scar Crags zig zags are the result of over exposure of the original path to human feet and books telling people to go and walk in the already over walked Lake District …….. the original path having been further eroded by a lot of rain water and bikes (which create tyre channels that water loves to flow down). The zig zags look ideal for more biking …….
Suggest everyone walks wild and avoids busy routes and places …… spread the load !!

By: mountaincoward

mountaincoward — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 01:30:56 +0000

I’m not mad on exposure at all but I’m dying to at least have a look at the West Wall Traverse…

By: McEff

McEff — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 21:24:07 +0000

Hi Carol. The bottom bit of Deep Gill is where I slid for about 20ft, so it’s pretty vertical from what I can remember. I climbed it the previous summer but I can’t remember it at all ??? except for emerging into the sunshine at the top. I’ve never done the West Wall Traverse, but I’ve been up Broad Stand a few times. Whether I’d do it now I don’t know. I seem to be less able to cope with exposed places these days.
Cheers, Alen

By: mountaincoward

mountaincoward — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 00:33:06 +0000

Wouldn’t fancy Broad Stand in dry weather, never mind snow. And that descent you did of Deep Ghyll – isn’t it sheer at the bottom below the start of the West Wall Traverse. I fancy the Traverse sometime – did you get round to doing it in the end?

Good job the old guy didn’t set off on any of those sketchy paths round the ‘thimble’ on top of Causey Pike – I’m sure they’ll only be either sheep tracks or where people have tried to avoid the clamber and had to come back – I think they’d be pretty dangerous though and would just lead to more trouble. Glad he got up okay anyway…

By: McEff

McEff — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 18:35:06 +0000

Hi Mark. I don’t know the Max Beerbohm story but I shall look into it. I’m on holiday at the moment and attempting to manage this blog on a friend’s laptop while cooking the dinner at the same time. I should have set a couple of hours aside for Googling and stuff.
That’s another good tale of the old and wise. Perhaps we’ll fall into that bracket one day. Fingers crossed. It would be nice to pass something down and remembered = even i it’s only in passing.
Cheers, Alen

By: beatingthebounds

beatingthebounds — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 17:31:01 +0000

I look forward to that post in 25 years then Alen.
Do you know Max Beerbohm’s short-story ‘Enoch Soames’? Maybe your wife would like it. For some reason the idea of you going back to Causey Pike in 25 years brought it to mind. Not that I’m suggesting that you might have made a pact with the devil….
When, as a callow youth, I first did the Welsh Threes, it was in the company of a friend of a friend who was past his three score and ten – on a very hot June day I would never have finished without his advice and company.

By: McEff

McEff — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 13:45:22 +0000

Hi Alex. I think there’s a lot of wisdom in what these old guys say. I don’t fall into the first category either, and I don’t suppose I ever will.
Yes, the David Brawn map is the one I used. At 1:40,000 It’s more than adequate ??? and it’s not the sort of place where you can stray off the paths anyway. The contours are a bit spaced out, giving the impression of gentle slopes when in reality they are near-vertical drops, but other than that the map is fine for walking and touring. I also used Paddy Dillon’s Walking in Madeira, by Cicerone, but walking guidebooks are available in the tourist shops if you feel like picking one up. Hope the weather stays fine.
Cheers, Alen

By: Scotlands Mountains

Scotlands Mountains — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 12:34:01 +0000

They zig zags certainly make for an interesting picture if nothing else.! Just followed your route on the map as it`s an area I have never visited.Talking of which it looks like I`m Madeira bound in January :) Can you recommend a map for both touring and walking ? Was going to invest in the David Brawn one entitled Madeira Tour and Trail map.
About 30 years ago on Derry Cairngorm on a sunny midweek day I got talking to an older retired guy .I remember what he said to this day. ” Son,you either have to be extremely rich or extremely poor to experience what we are experiencing today.”.
Needless to say neither of us fell into the first category alas…