I think it’s the little book by @thenaturalnavigator (which by the way is still probably the best little ‘intro’ book to the outdoors i’ve seen / read in years) which promotes a ‘go and figure it out’ mindset to understand why things are happening in nature – get muddy feet and join the dots and do a little bit of investigation.

And so it is that i’ve been watching this finger of land above Hathersage sluff for several months now. The sodden moor round abouts the rain gauge (beneath Higger Tor) is flowing across the road and – i’m guessing helped by a lot of rain and also some cold temps and snow has trashed the verge and tarmac on the downhill side.

That has let a column of water impact the downhill slope and caused this not insignificant sluff which, whilst not literally measuring it daily, i’m fairly certain continues to grow in depth, width and length.

An enjoyable but muddy hour piecing all that together. I’m not alone in thinking that the road from Higger Tor down to Whim Woods won’t be around for many years more.

Whilst i accept that the articles are thinly disguised adverts for Mountain Equipment products (which in and of itself is no bad thing as they make very goood gear), the depth of knowledge and range of articles on various layers of clothing for the outdoors in THIS article makes it a worthwhile read. The ‘layering in winter’ in particular is worth a read as ‘tis the season to exploit errors in your clothing system and make your adventure unfunny.

Cue some gratuitous photos of cold places …

The dawning of a new year.

The dawning of a new year. Coffee and porridge in OCC and a walk out under a blue sky.

I’ll take that.

The stats said that over 17000 people viewed my words and pictures last year – (albeit about 16999 of them viewed the post around the Burbage fire which the likes of the BBC and ITV gave a ‘leg up’ to) – thank you – and best wishes for the year ahead.

‘Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder. Help someone’s soul heal. Walk out of your house like a shepherd’. – Rumi.

Quartered safe out here.

Whatever it is that you celebrate or do on this day you have my best wishes from O.C.C.

Mind how you go.

Good to see the excellent article ‘After the accident – how to get found alive’ by Roger Webb of Dundonnell Mountain Rescue Team on UKH getting loads of attention and generating lots of discussion. (See previous post).

As i was ‘between bags’ ie still fruitlessly searching for the ideal winter mountain rescue sack i had emptied the Ortovox Haute Route 45 and was about to fill the Arcteryx Alpha FL 40 when i thought i’d play the ‘why am i carrying this’ quiz with myself in order to justify the load on my shoulders.

This is what goes on the hill with me on a call-out in winter. It’s healthy to consider why everything is being carried and consider ways to lose weight from the sack but it’s healthier to take the baseline of being able to ‘spend the night in full winter conditions on Kinder Plateau’ as the reason.

Some notes – a) doesn’t include the winter boots + winter softshell pants + MRT Buffalo Special 6 shirt + hat + gloves i’m probably already wearing b) Blizzard products are brilliant – there’s a full trauma blanket and a jacket in here c) doesn’t include paper maps d) doesn’t include more calories e) the A5 green square is an aide-memoire f) there is another small torch + tuffcuts + sharpie and paper + sweets in my Arva Equipment radio bra (bottom right) g) microspikes on board as they’re as useful on clarty wet slopes as they are on ice.

Sack + bra weighs about 9.5kg. Right then, better pack it all away just in case …📞⛑️.

Perhaps one of the pithiest and best articles ever written about surviving (after an accident) in the mountains and maximising the chance of being found.

If you’re incapacitated on a Scottish winter mountain then your prospects depend on how well equipped you are, and how quickly you can be found. Roger Webb of Dundonnell Mountain Rescue Team looks at some simple measures that might help to stack the odds in your favour. – UKH

Read

Two inspiring pieces from Richard Hartfield

Crossing the Caucasus on foot in 2018

Video

and solo scrambling and backpacking 1900 miles across the Alps in 2021

Article

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

What The Heart Of The Young Man Said To The Psalmist.

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,

Life is but an empty dream!

For the soul is dead that slumbers, 

And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest! 

   And the grave is not its goal; 

Dust thou art, to dust returnest, 

Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, 

   Is our destined end or way; 

But to act, that each to-morrow 

Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting, 

   And our hearts, though stout and brave, 

Still, like muffled drums, are beating 

Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world’s broad field of battle, 

   In the bivouac of Life, 

Be not like dumb, driven cattle! 

Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant! 

   Let the dead Past bury its dead! 

Act,— act in the living Present! 

Heart within, and God o’erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us 

   We can make our lives sublime, 

And, departing, leave behind us 

Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another, 

   Sailing o’er life’s solemn main, 

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, 

Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing, 

   With a heart for any fate; 

Still achieving, still pursuing, 

Learn to labor and to wait.

6c + >50mph wind ( = about minus 1c wind chill) + driving rain on Higger Tor and Carl Wark.

Akin to being firehosed.

Quite serious weather actually.

Weather so wretched that it almost makes you want to own one of those things called a television and stay home in the dry and warm and watch moving pictures on it.

Almost. But not quite.