Geal-charn Mor

Alastair BegleyScotland, Winter Walking Short Link

With the weather looking significantly better in the east we chose to do another Corbett to make the most of any of the better weather. The start of the walk took us up the Burma road, which was fairly snowy from a low level. Despite the snow we were able to make good progress and enjoy the brilliant views back towards the Cairngorms. As the snow became deeper we all put on our snow shoes, which made the path easier, but I don’t think they made a significant difference. As we left the path to head up to the summit the poor weather came in, so the compass came back out. The show shoes also started to provide a significant benefit and we were certainly grateful for them. The descent was lovely and it was really great to see the Cairngorms from afar and from up high. It was really impressive seeing the vast expanse and how easy it was to identify a number of the major features of the range.

The Fara

Alastair BegleyScotland, Winter Walking Short Link

The weather forecast for the first day of our trip wasn’t brilliant, so we elected for a short day on a local Corbett called The Fara. The walk in along Loch Ericht in the morning was beautiful in the sunshine, the estate gatehouse was very impressive. After a relatively short distance we were at the start of the steep ascent up a clearing between different plantations. The start of the ascent was brutal as it involved a very steep ascent with very deep snow. As we got to the top of the plantations the gradient eased off, and the poor weather started to come in. Becky was able to make good use of her new snow shoes which made the going much easier for her. As we ascended the weather deteriorated and we were soon in the white room and unable to tell what was up from down. As we were approaching the summit we had to make a detour to avoid a slope which was fairly loaded with wind slab. After some quick lunch at the summit we made a hasty descent back down. It was fairly easy going. Read the full article…

North Cornwall Seascapes

Alastair BegleyLandscape Short Link

I headed down to see David and Nicky for a weekend in Holsworthy. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t playing ball for photography, and we had a weekend of strong winds and grey skies, however this didn’t dampen our spirits and we still headed out to have a fun weekend of photography. We made the best of the conditions and it really make us work at our composition, however the results were never going to be spectacular given the lack of light. We headed out to the relatively close locations of Trebarwith Strand and Crackington Haven which allowed us to spend some time by the sea, have some lunch in a pub, go for an enjoyable drive up the coast and then do some more photography before heading back home.

Nantlle Ridge

Alastair BegleyLandscape, North Wales, Walking Short Link

After a number of years of wanting to do the Nantlle Ridge, we finally ended up in North Wales with a weather window which would enable us to enjoy the ridge at it’s best. As the weather was best in the morning we started fairly early, which enabled us to see a beautiful sunrise as we were leaving the hut in Rhyd Ddu. The start of the walk soon woke us up, but once we were established on the ridge it was just brilliant. We had wonderful views in every direction and good weather, apart from the very strong wind! The scrambling was not extensive, but some of it was fairly involved if you stayed on the ridge crest rather than skirting off on the path to the side. The final section of ridge before the descent was fairly hard going underfoot, and if I were to do the ridge again I might have descended sooner. We had dropped a car at the end the night before, but somehow avoided having to do shuttle runs as Becky managed to hitch a lift with the only person we saw all day,. Read the full article…

2019 in 100 Photos

Alastair Begley100 Photos, Landscape, Mountain Biking, Mountaineering Short Link

Last year was a year which was dominated photographically by snow, this year is unfortunately the polar opposite as winter never really turned up in the UK and weather didn’t allow us to spend that much time high up in the Alps in the summer. Despite the lack of snow it was another excellent year, with plenty of good walking, good photography, ski touring in the alps and excellent scrambling, via ferratas and climbing in the Italian Dolomites. Winter South of the border there was even less snow than in Scotland, however we were fortunate enough to make good use of the one snowy weekend with a walk in the Brecon Beacons. Other than the lack of snow we were lucky to have some excellent walking conditions while we were in the mountains, the highlight had to be walking up to High Raise from Grasmere in the Lake District. Scottish Winter We had a week booked in Scotland with the Avon Mountaineering Club, and there was absolutely no snow below the highest tops. Thankfully the lack of snow was made up for with a week of excellent weather, which allowed. Read the full article…

Lydford to Mary Tavy MTB

Alastair BegleyMountain Biking Short Link

After an excellent but very indulgent Christmas and new year break we were keen to get out after our first few days back at work and do some exercise. As the weather forecast wasn’t amazing we decided to head down to Dartmoor for a short day of mountain biking. We chose to do a short circuit from near Lydford, over the moor to Mary Tavy, before heading back over the moor to the start. The first ascent was surprisingly difficult as it was heavy going up wet grass, which the bikes just wanted to tick to stick to. Thankfully there wasn’t much of it, so we were soon at the top and were able to enjoy a gentle descent across the moor and down the other side. This descent wasn’t technical, but on wide open tracks with great views of the moor. After the descent and a number of gates we joined a road which we followed for a few km before rejoining tracks and the final descent before Mary Tavy. The climb back up was the opposite of the first, as with the exception of the first and last. Read the full article…

A frozen Rannoch Moor

Alastair BegleyLandscape, Scotland Short Link

After spending the night at the Kingshouse we enjoyed a leisurely morning eating breakfast with views over Buachaille Etive Mòr. After breakfast I cheated at wildlife photography by making use of the very tame deer which live near the hotel for some shots of deer in front of Buachaille Etive Mòr. We then left the hotel and stopped on Rannoch Moor to enjoy the scenery before heading back to Bristol.

Beinn a’ Creachain and Beinn Achaladair

Alastair BegleyScotland, Walking Short Link

After a very cold night and hard frost we woke up early for a reasonable day out climbing Beinn a’ Creachain and Beinn Achaladair. These hills are connected by a ridge and are the expanse of hills that you see when driving across Rannoch Moor towards the Bridge of Orchy. In the morning everything was white, there was ice on the inside of the windows and the doors were frozen shut! We headed off up the valley and made excellent time initially as we wanted to move quickly to warm up. Unfortunately this good progress came to a rapid halt when the footbridge we were relying on was not really there anymore, and the remains were certainly not something that I was willing to cross! At this point we elected to carry on for another 4km up the estate track to the next bridge, which also meant climbing a path less ascent up to the ridge. Despite the extra time walking along the valley, it remained stubbornly in the shadow of the mountains which meant that we stayed fairly cold. While this did add a significant amount of time onto. Read the full article…