Tilton-on-the-Hill - Lowesby - South Croxton - Cold Newton - Tilton

With Barry, Eddie, Gordon, Maureen. Sunny and bright. A total of 647 feet of climbing. Not far off 11 miles.





We set off from Digby Close, a small road to the right from the road opposite Tilton garage. Ominously downhill to start with.

Ye'll tak' the low road . . .

. . .an' I'll tak' the high road


The path is easy to follow, keeping along the side of the hill above the stream, past Springfield Hall, and a path which goes off to the right, then losing height towards the old railway line and station buildings.













After we'd crossed the old railway line we went through a field of sheep

and climbed gently upwards towards the village of Lowesby.











The path was not hard to find. It leads past Lowesby Hall, magnificently situated, with a ha-ha, and avenue of trees.



This picture was taken in July - and I realise it's skew!





We went to the left of these treesand soon crossed a minor road. The path runs fairly close to the stream then goes slightly to the right, uphill above a spinney. It crosses the Midshires Way, passes Bell Dip Farm, crosses another three fields before meeting another minor road and continuing towards South Croxton, whose church spire can be seen ahead briefly and then to the right.







We walked past a pond, with ducks and water lilies, and a kayak, then through a small wooded area, and into the village. Our way was along King Street, left at the Golden Fleece pub, then downhill to a convenient seat near the bridge.



Our path was just before the bend in the road, off to the left.









We climbed gradually, with a good view of South Croxton on our left,







In a while we turned left towards the enormous Waterloo Lodge Farm buildings. The path goes to the right of the farm and joins the farm road just after the buildings. We followed this to the minor road just above Baggrave Hall and deserted mediaeval village, which we could see below us on the left.











When the road bent to the right, our path continued ahead. Some of this path was enclosed between two hedges. It eventually came out at a private road, and continued on the other side, forming part of the Midshires Way. After a short downhill section we had to turn right and walk up to the deserted mediaeval village of Cold Newton before crossing the corner of the village and walking down through fields to the disused railway line again. After the railway line the path turns diagonally left and akes its way up a final pull towards Tilton . . .



and across this field where the chickens followed us all.

Dutch town: Wijchen in Gelderland

Wijchen is located in the eastern part of the Netherlands in the Gelderland province, just beside the city of Nijmegen and very close to the German border.



Wijchen Castle











‘Wijchen Castle’ circa 1392. The castle underwent major developments and annexation which led to the now castle in renaissance gothic architecture style. Kasteel van Wijchen (in Dutch) is now a museum and is partly being used by the city hall (i.e., renting out the castle rooms for events, parties, etcetera).



Wijchen Centrum









A quick peek into the town’s centre... a bit quiet for a late afternoon.



De Oude Molen (Windmill)







Windmill ‘De Oude Molen’ circa 1799. Like the castle, she also underwent several restorations.



Visit Period: March

Destination: Wijchen (Gelderland), The Netherlands

Winter's Day on Mt. Rose

Went for a snowshoe hike up Mt. Rose today. Man, it was beautiful out there! What a delight tromping through the woods with a foot of fresh, light and fluffy snow! Today we had beautiful blue skies and a warm 30 degree temp with no wind... TERRIFIC day to be outside!

Knitting Cyclists and Cycling Knitters

Last week I finally got back on the roadbike enough to start marking miles on my calendar again. Birds were singing, legs were spinning, flowers were pushing through. Then yesterday, this happened. It's still on the roads today. And it's supposed to happen again tomorrow. I lost my temper and did something I hadn't done in some time: I knitted.



I am not a committed knitter, but I learned as a child and do it whenever the fancy strikes. Or when I'm frustrated. The winter of -11 was terrible for cycling, but great for knitting. I made myself an entire new wardrobe, made presents for friends, and did a brisk trade in hats for bicycle components. I must have knitted over 50 hats that winter; it was pretty bad. I can never just sit there and knit, so it's always done in conjunction with another activity, like reading, or talking, or watching a film. I did try knitting while cycling on a trainer a couple of times, but the rhythms are too different for it to work well.



It's been a surprise to discover how many women who ride bikes also knit. They seem like such different activities on the surface: one is domestic and stationary, the other exploratory, active and physically draining. Maybe it's the contrast that's attractive. Or the rhythm. Or the element of independence and self-sufficiency that both provide.



Apparently Lyli Herse was a prolific knitter. She would knit before bicycle races and brevets, because it kept her from getting nervous at the start. She made matching sweaters for her tandem partners and randonneuring teammates, their patterns distinctly recognisable in the historical photos.



Today, there isEmily O'Brien, who is not only a knitter, but also a spinner (can make her own yarn out of fleece). Bobbin and Sprocket knits and crochets. Knitting Lemonadeknits and embroiders. There isRoseread, whoknits lovely socks. The writer Sally Hinchcliffea bicyclist and knitter.There is alsoThe Knitting Cyclist. AndThe Knit Cycle. And Knitting by Bicycle. And more! Some are predominantly cyclists who are also attracted to knitting. Others are predominantly knitters who also ride bikes. Either way, it's an interesting convergence of interests:Knit your own wheeling costume (or a handlebar flower?). Get on a bike. And ride where you like ...once the snow melts a bit.

Pangbuk Ri

Lead climbing ranger David Gottlieb and friend/former climbing ranger/Pacific Northwest hard-man Chad Kellogg put up a harrowing, spectacular, and unprecedented ascent of Pangbuk Ri in Nepal (pictured to the right). Starting their climb early on 10/10/11, they summitted and returned to basecamp in an epic 50 hour push.
Read the full trip-report on Chad's blog here, and see some awesome photos and short video from David's blog here.

With decent weather over the long weekend, lots of backcountry snow enthusiasts were out playing. The NWAA (Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center) started posting updates, check them out here.
Have a safe and inspirational holiday season!

A stroll down Sausalito harbour and promenade

I've heard from friends who have been in and around San Francisco that I should not miss visiting the charming little coastal town Sausalito, even the KLM flight attendant highly recommended this place. Now Sausalito has piqued my interest...







There are a few ways to get to Sausalito from San Francisco and the two easiest ways are by car and by boat. I have no experience with the boat, although I would love to—they can be boarded in Pier 39 and Embarcadero. By car the drive is about 10-15 minutes from San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge.



Funnily, because we arrived at the other part of Sausalito town where it’s a bit quiet, Dutchman started jeering, taunting me albeit jokingly—‘Now, show me... where is this Sausalito hype...?’ We drove around a bit and decided to park the car to explore further on foot. After walking past the harbour filled with yachts and down to the main street where many shops are located, we saw a beautiful coastal promenade with spectacular views of San Francisco, and this was when we realized—aaah, this is the hype people have been talking about.



March is obviously not high season and there were very few people there but I can only imagine how the place would look like in the summer, or even in spring.



The harbour and the dramatic shoreline lined with shops, restaurants and a sidewalk promenade, the wooded hillside peppered with houses and the impressive panorama of San Francisco makes the little town of Sausalito a beautiful place to visit and experience. Great for a half to one day side trip.





My souvenir photo of course.









Charming little wooden boat houses (this is only one of them) along the harbour.











Yacht masts and lockers for the yacht owners in the harbour.





A sailing school.









Love these lavender-coloured flowers dotting the shoreline.





View of San Francisco from Sausalito harbour.



More pictures of Sausalito:

















Sausalito reminds me of Italian coastal villages, American version of course.



More on Sausalito in next entry.

Almost Wordless Wednesday :: Anticipation

Monday morning as I walked out to the mailbox I noticed that the daffodils were starting to pop up through the mulch in my little flower garden. They sure do grow quickly! The first ones that came through are now about 3" high and more are coming up. These pictures were taken this morning, Wednesday March 18th. Winter is nearly over, Spring is only two days away!!

Remembering Joe Puryear

Last Wednesday, October 27th we received tragic news that friend and former climbing ranger Joe Puryear lost his life while climbing Labuche Kang, a remote peak in Tibet. His partner on the climb was David Gottlieb, a current climbing ranger.

This loss has deeply affected everyone in our community. Joe was an incredible person and he will be greatly missed. Our thoughts are with Joe's family and with David, as he continues to deal with this situation in Tibet.

To read more about Joe's incredible life and climbing adventures please visit his website.

Papa Finch

This is a photo of the male redheaded finch that I got when he lit for a second on the elk horns that are on top of the fence post we use as a stop for the gate when we open it.
The female doesn't have the red on it's head and front and is mostly gray.

Summer fitness?

From http://www.skintrack.com/



"Q: I think we should discuss summer training for skimo racers on two levels – for occasional racers and those that like to keep fit (REC category), and for the elite athletes shooting for spots on national teams and those seeking ultimate performance for their goals in the mountains (ELITE category).

In all cases, the emphasis is on efforts on less than 3h and the peak performances are expected to occur between January and March.

Do you agree we should address both groups specifically? If not, propose a better differentiation or none at all."



Answer: I definitely agree that both groups should be approached differently, simply because their ultimate goals are different. Because of that, their preparation will be slightly different.

As an elite athlete myself, preparation is something that I absolutely love. I treat racing as puzzle, where you have to scavenge around to find the right pieces to achieve your ultimate outcome.

It’s that process of scavenging for what I need to do to arrive on the starting line of my goal race as prepared to compete as I can be that I thrive on. It’s a trait I learned from Simon Whitfield, one of my closest friends and someone who’s sporting results on the day speak for themselves."







It is a good read. More here:



http://www.skintrack.com/skimo-racing/skimo-racing-summer-training-interview-adam-campbell/

Happy Hour at the Zukas

We love a good Happy Hour and we really love them when they are hosted by someone as fun as John and Shelly. They threw the first Happy Hour of at their place, which was conveniently located right in front of the pickleball courts.



As usual, there was tons of food and lots of fun friends. John entertained us by teaching us a game that started with "the moon is round".



Some of us tried to figure out the trick behind this unique game.











You can see the crowd trying to figure it out too:



After that, John and Julia entertained us with a joke each.







Since we were right there, some of us headed over to play some pickleball. I didn't get any pictures but you can see them on Rich and Donna's Blog. It was a great night!