tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-177918675979573010.post6192580663356081148..comments2024-03-23T20:59:24.568+00:00Comments on northern pies: Hudderstone–How To Decide To Abandon A WalkMike Knipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12792636586674245725noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-177918675979573010.post-84763399103827621812017-12-19T13:02:19.072+00:002017-12-19T13:02:19.072+00:00Thanks Dawn -
Ian - We camped at Loch Skeen fairly...Thanks Dawn -<br />Ian - We camped at Loch Skeen fairly recently. I used to do quite a bit of walking in these hills at one time (bagging Donalds). I should do more. Its planning time now anyway, so I'm working on new plans to include all the bits between Hawick, Biggar, Peebles and Moffat. (Maybe not all of it, but more of it anyway)<br />Happy Hogmanay!!Mike Knipehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12792636586674245725noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-177918675979573010.post-24279551414732894562017-12-19T12:46:33.350+00:002017-12-19T12:46:33.350+00:00Having lived in Hamilton in Lanarkshire for a numb...Having lived in Hamilton in Lanarkshire for a number of years I know these hills quite well. I can confirm that Culter Fell is a far nicer hill than Hudderstone, the lower ramparts of which have turned my ankle on two seperate occasions. Something about the spacing of the tussocks of grass makes the hill worse than the tussocky hell of Rannoch Moor in my opinion. My last ascent took longer than the nearby, considerably higher Tinto Hill. <br />Sometimes turning back is the most sensible option and the hill will still (some poetic symmetry there for you) be there for another day.<br />The area also serves to remind us that although of modest altitude, Scottish hills are sometimes every bit as dangerous as their more lofty Alpine or even Himalayan cousins. During the 90s I used to phone my mum every evening in order to let her know that I had arrived safely off the hill of the day. One winter, probably 1994 I think, was a bad year for avalanches and accidents on the bigger more craggy Munros on the West coast. One weekend 2 or 3 people lost their lives in Glencoe on the BEM, near where I had been climbing and the following weekend a walker died on Ben Nevis, also while I was near, on Aonoch Mor the next big hill along from the Ben. The following weekend in an attempt to calm down my mum's nerves I decided to climb White Coombe (a fairly benign looking Corbett above the White Mares's Tail waterfall, I'm sure you'll have climbed it) As bad luck would have it a man slipped and plunged to his death while walking on an unstable snow field on the hill. I stayed at home the next weekend as requested by my mother, knowing that better weather would soon be with us and the hills remain.<br />Best wishes for Christmas and many more wonderful outings for you and the dog next year.Bangkok.Ianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17264997701918500688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-177918675979573010.post-29459379335457354782017-12-19T08:07:36.458+00:002017-12-19T08:07:36.458+00:00That looks a difficult day out Mike. You all did t...That looks a difficult day out Mike. You all did the right thing, it happens sometimes, conditions just conspiring against you. You still managed to take some cracking photos though!Dawnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09839157927650251268noreply@blogger.com