Lucys Highlights

Lucy Highlights!

Seeing as I havnt done a blog entry for such a long time, I thought I would have a quick chat about what we are up to now and then list my highlights of the trip since my last entry! There will be pics and I do apologize if Simon has already previously put any of them up!

So at the moment we are in Carisolo, Italy where we have ended our mini road trip with the rents. Simons Nonni live here so we have come to visit and we absolutely love it here! We have been doing tons of hiking in the mountains, it is a truly beautiful area! Simon and Dad went on a very long hike today, they left at 6am from the flat in Carisolo at 800m with the intention of reaching the Cima Presanella at 3382m and back round to their starting point in a day. Wouldve loved to go aswell but they go too fast for me! Didn’t want to slow them down so will have to join them another time once I’m faster! So I did my first ever solo ascent of a peak today (well solo plus Tala!) called the Cima Lancia at 2318m also leaving from Carisolo which took me 3 hrs up and 2 hrs down. Not bad for an ameatuer! I will admit I was kinda scared to do it as I have never gone into the mountains on my own before, but am so glad I did go, doing things that scare you really makes u feel alive! And I am still alive, so all good! Haha  Cima Lancia is quite a religious hike I believe, there is a huge cross to mark the summit, some poor guy had to carry that up there at some point! Fair play to him :P Unfortuantely visibility was totally zero at the top!! Although I did get a couple of pics just to prove I did make it! As Tala can’t vouch for me!




Me & Tala at the Summit



So my highlights since my last blog entry, my top 3!

Number 1 - Rodellar!

Defiantly my favourite place so far! Really really beautiful place and the climbing is so much fun! Complete opposite to climbing in the UK really steep lots of big holds! We also had a great little community going on there, met some amazing people and had a lot of fun, on my birthday we all went down to the river and set up a slackline over it which was awesome! I also did my favourite climb so far in Rodellar, it was a 6c+ which started up tufas then had a technical but not too crimpy section then a huge juggy roof! What more could you ask for?! Most fun route ever!



‘Team Rodellar’ Left to right – Ayla (Germany), Me, Mel (Australia), David (Germany), Alex (Sheffield UK), Mark (Also up North! UK), Emmol (Australia) and Simon

  Down by the river on my birthday!

And a couple of pics of me on the 6c+!


 
 
 



Number 2 - Ceuse

Some brilliant climbing at this crag, there is an epic walk in whenever you go to climb but I found this got me much fitter so started enjoying that as well as the climbing! Did my first 7a there which is the hardest grade I have climbed so was really happy about that, I think it was the being fitter from the walk that helped so am trying to keep up my cardio now! Met some really awesome people there so had a good community going on again, stayed here a month and we were destroyed by the end of it!! Good times 
  View of the crag from petit Ceuse!


Me hanging out with Klass & Mich from Belgium
 
Jonathan from The Lake District & Simon…..being……funny?
 

Me & Ania, she is originally from Poland but has been living in Turkey for a long time. Ania is traveling alone with just her backpack, hitching rides and camping wherever she can next to the crag. We originally met her in Siurana, then Margaleff, then Rodellar and then Ceuse! She is so commited when she climbs and has such a positive outlook on life, a real inspiration to me, totally love her!!!

Number Three – Magic Wood

Hadnt been bouldering since we went to Albarracin in February but then spent 2 weeks bouldering here. The rock is totally amazing and has some amazing boulder problems. I did my hardest boulder problems yet and Simon was also doing moves that he defiantly wouldn’t have been able to do at the start of our trip! We saw our friends from Bristol here which was really nice and just generally had a great time! It was perfect for summer as nice and cool amongst the trees and had a glacier river running through the middle of it that u could jump into if u did get 2 hot, very fresh!

Me Bouldering!



Simon Bouldering!





Me in the river with doggy!







Oh and almost forgot! Tala’s Vaccinations have all cleared now, her passport is fully filled out ready for her to enter the UK.  Cannot wait for you all to meet her! Much love from me Simon & Tala

Camping in the mountains

Hey all

Well were still here in Carisolo been enjoying the hiking and i dont think i have mentioned before but i sprained the collateral ligament in my left middle finger, this had made climbing painfull and not very productive so all the long days in the mountains have been great for resting it and letting it recover, as of today it feels loads better i can fully clench my fist and move it around and pull it without any pain and bending it sideways which is what caused the injury produces only mild discomfort instead of shooting pain.

Well its been a pretty active last few days we hiked up into the mountains on friday for a few hours till 2000m and stayed in a little mountain bivi hut with the aim of carrying on further the next day, The location was stunning up on a little crest with a large green meddow stretching away from us criss crossed with crystal clear streams. Back dropped with a bowl of high barren looking peaks, No good photos as with all the camping gear there wasnt any room

We chilled up there for the afternoon and read chatted and played cards then once the sun went down and the temperature soon followed we couped down inside and lit a fire. sitting around this drinking slow Gin feeling perfectly content was amazing, Only to have our peacefull little bubble burst by a group of hunters ariving with the key to the furnished and comfy looking other section of the hut. A quick chat and then back to the warmth and our comfy wooden planks and roll mat.

After not the best nights sleep we arose to a chilled morning with everything dripping with morning dew. After coaxing myself from the comfort of the sleeping bag i rush to get the fire going then to get a cup-o-tea on the go. propper job. At around 9am the sun slowly poked its head and warming rays over the jagged ridge line that had kept us separated for so long, we were off and on our way to lago Laris a 3 hour hike up towards the glacier, burdened by the heavy bags the going was slow but steady. After getting to what looked like the lake for the 4th time we realised this slope roles in and out a lot giveing many false looking tops. With thunder rumbling in the back ground we decide that if the next apparent peak isnt the one we will turn back, success the lake is there. A quick refreshment break and were off on the trip back down.

A Knee aching 4.5 hour downhill slog later were back down to the road in val genova sitting in the Fontana Bona refuge sipping coffee. we decide to try and rase the nonni (granparents) on the phone and get a lift from here after a few attempts and no answer we finnish up and decide we still got another hour and a half to go when like a voice of an angel there they are saying theyre be with us soon. Another coffee and more chatting then were in the car returning. less than a hour after getting to the flat the heavens open and the village is drowing in thunderstorm that lasts all night.

there are a few of my favourite photos from other walks and place we have been to on this trip below so in no particular order here we go.

Carisolo to Coms Presenella

hey all

Well last week me and dad were talking about doing a long all day hike that would be really hard and not nessisarily doable in a day i then kinda got carried away with the planning and it got longer and longer then encompased climbing the tallest mountain peak in this area the "Cima Presenella" at 3558m. normaly you would get drive to near the segantine refuge and park at 1900m then go from there, Us nope we decided to walk from the Village at 800m via a different peak and pass. This gave us a 35km walk with over 3300m of up :) I read about the normal route and time scales then for the section that we were adding picked a figure out of the air of how long it would take and from this we deided to start at 6am, here we go

6am,
Well we have eaten a quick breaky and downed a much needed coffee and were off its still dark and will be for around a hour the first part of our trip is a easy jaunt up a not so steep road to campolo at 1250m, This leg is quickly over our breakfast has gone down so we pick up the pace continuing up this rapidly deteriating track we watch the sun rise over the
glacier.




Continuing on our first target is the "Bocchetta Sarodole" at 2217m the narrow mountain pass just behind the "Cima Lancia" is the easyist way into the next valley however we completly miss this and get the "Pass de la nona" at 2310m at 9am, Here we watch a small group of Camoosh (Mountain Deer) eating and running. and watch the clouds swirl down in the valley







a quick bannana and a drink and were off our next destination Refuge segantini (Arrow in next photo)





10.40am, The sugested time to segantini from where we are is is 2hours 40 minutes, 1 hour 40 later we arrive pretty sweaty at the refuge and take 20 minutes to have some lunch and relax from here we catch the first glimpse of our target its the right and peak of the 2 in the middle of the photo shrouded in the mist





11am, moving on again were quickly covering ground and get much better views of what were up against its the peak just over my shoulder







On from here the ground gets a lot more interesting as we follow the top of a long loose ridge till we clear the grass and all vegatation and only rocks are left. Above us looms the impassable looking granit fortress remembering what I read it is the lowest part in the middle with the loose looking gully that we need to head towards





Leaving the solid rock we head out onto the glacier and continue our approach






Upon arriving at the gully it looks worse than it did from afar it is full of super loose scree and dirt and everything i stand on and hold is moving including the really big boulders as carefully as possible i climb up it ariving a the top im releaved it was a bit of a death trap. we have arrived at the "Bocchetta di mount Nero" at 3078m were nearing the peak.







getting to the top we are greated with the views of a barren loose looking valley with a huge drop below us





After walking along a narrow exposed ledge we get to an old mettle ladder bolted to the wall and down climb this for 25m to the valley edge




by now it is pushing onto 2pm we have been at it for around 8 hours feeling pretty drained and finding everything harder as we get higher. in front of us is a large rising cliff face that apparently has a very easy way to climb it somewhere, deciding to not look at the route description we search around and start up what looks easy 8 metres up we decide to reverse and try again this isnt easy. a few minutes later we find the easy way its 100m to our right getting there we climb up the first 15m then find it gets loads easyer eventualy leading to a rough path that weaves its way up the face, we get to the top and find many patches of snow everywhere trying to move quickly now as we can see a ominus looking cloud forming on the other side of the valley we puch on over the long loose boulder field, its pretty scary when giant multi tonne blocks all move when you stand on them. we carry on and follow the ridge when it suddenly becomes super narrow less than a metre and huge drops each side. after a quick look a easy way is found down climbing 10 metres then an exposed traverse below a load of loose teatering block of rock.





This over we arrive at the "Bivacco Orobica" a small emergancy shelter at 3382 metres. looking back at the clouds were releaved to see that they havent moved closer and appear to be clearing slightly we push on towards the top its only a short way now but is so hard my legs are burning and as i drag myself the last few metres to the top in glad that were finaly there, The views were amazing for the first 30 seconds then were hit by a low cloud and can see 20 metres so heres me at the summet cross and the one shot we got of the glacier





Its 3.30pm its taken us 9and a half hours of walking uphill to get here and its time to go down so were off reversing everything we have done back to the bottom of the mettle ladder on thye boulder field, getting here im super glad that we dont have to down climb the gully instead were heading down this valley that comes out in val genova near cascate nardis. Carrying on down we hear strange sliding noises and on looking around notice that as the sun has reached the far parts of the glacier there are huge mini buss sized blocks of rocks that are moving off there icy pearches and slowly sliding down the glacier playing bumper cars with the other boulders, amazing as it is we decide its best to scamper and get away from all this looseness ASAP, we push on and the valley and the blocks are endless after a few hours walking we have decended over 1000m to 2550m and still moving over boulders when we finaly get our first bit of grass and a properish path that doiesnt involve jumping between endless rock, My legs and knees are killing me but were well on our way now, 100m later the path disapears and the rocks are back . . the mist also decends and wer left trying to look ahead for the next cairne marking the way. soon enough though were past the boulderfield and onto a diecent track, trying to hurry and make good time we plough on soon getting the thte Roberta mountian hut here we have a quick drink and a snack then were on our way its 7pm and were still at 2200 metres.

Moving down we can see the tree line and given that it will be getting dark soon we are convinced that the path must get better and more pronounced there so our aim is to get to the tree line before dark, 20 minutes later were at the tree line and the path is indeed better but there has also been a massive rockfall from the cliffs above that has decimated the whole mountain side, there have been some huge boulders the size of small busses rampaging throiugh the trees. there are some trees a good 30-40cm in diameter that have been hit and ripped in 2 pieces and dashed out the way then huge crators in the ground 30 metres past then more tree distruction. the larges of the pieces looks like it went a good kilometre through trees and bushes before it finaly stopped rolling, pretty impressive. equally anoying as there is no real path any more, another 30 minutes of power walking and were are finaly through the distruction and into the trees and a good well marked path, its just before 8pm and the head torches are out the final bit to be done in the dark,

It takes another hour till we are down at the base of the cascata this part seems to go on forever my legs are dead every steep step downhill makes them ache and hurt, we keep thinking we can hear the river in the base of the valley but each time its the water falls noise bounching off the valley walls somewhere. upon getting to the road its almost done another 30 minutes of power walking and we finaly make it back to the flat and the feast that awaits us, I think the look of discust on everyones face there sums up how much we both smell, all in all a really good day for both of us, its 9.30pm 15.5 hours from when we started. So thats what it takes to go from 800m to 3550m and the top of the presenella. Im absoloutly finnished, it has taken me a good 3 days before im ready to do anything hard or involving walking upill again :)

good times

5 lakes

friday the 2nd was our 3rd day here and our first big walk taking in the breath taking scenery above Madonna de Compiglio. Here we did the 5 lakes walk not suprisingly it passes by 5 lakes :) a good steady bit of walking gets to lago Ritort the first of the 5 following this is a long sustained path upto a pass leading to the next valley and the next of the lakes Lago lambin this is again beautifull crystal clear cool blue water with an amazing reflecton of the surounding mountains. A quick pause here and we decide to head up to the next 2 lakes and have lunch there thus leaving only a steady jaunt down to the last and the finnishing coffee.

Thus after more hiking around a ridge then some scrambing over a boulder field we are arrive at lago Serodoli swiflty followed by Lago Gelato this in constrast to the rest is very deep and dark in colour looking super inviting for a swim but feeling bitter cold and combined with the sun hiding away i decide to leave the swimming to tala who has persisted in taking a dip in each and every lake we have come to. Whilst eating lunch tala wandered and explored the area Disturbing many of the local Marmots so we were treated to there pearcing warning cry then watched them swiftly scuttle into there hidy holes (marmots 1 tala 0).

Lunch over and cold settling in we decide to head off to the last lake Lago nambino after a hour more of hiking and feeling super warm it is in sight and so is the refuge we intend to claim our finnishing coffee at. As we get closer and i get warmer i decide it might be a good idea to take a dip. getting there and dabling a toe the water is freezing but here goes nothing, I quickly stripping off im running, jumping and underwater surfacing im quickly releaved of any body heat i have generated, getting out i pile on the cloths and grab the coffie relishing in its warming lovelyness. One successfull day.

After the long slog


Lago serodoli


Testing Lago gelato It's cold


Lago nambino


Cold now :)

Dog on a chairlift

Hey all

Well we have had a busy last few weeks. we picked up my parents in Nice (france) on the 25th august then spent 5 days in ceuse then traveled onto italy and carisolo where we are now. Lots of things have happened and lots of things have been done so here we go

Firstly starting with today Tala had a bit of an adventure with us in the form of her first Cable car and chair lift ride :) we did a walk called the 12 apostles which had a chair lift ascent to get you to the starting point after enquiring dogs are aloud on chair lifts if theyre calm!!!! She was great on it happily jumping onto the lift then sitting and looking bemused for the trip. After ariving at the top she was a little to kean to get of and almost jumped the moment we lifted the restraining bar. After that adventurous start followed a great hike through the glorious scenery of the Brenti mountains here in the dolomites. To cap it off we had a well deserved plate of spag bowl at the top in a mountain refuge. Ending the day was a tired race through the trees ensuring we reached the chair lifts to decend to the valley before they shut. As i write now we are back in the flat in Carisolo nicely showered and clean watching mother cooking a risotto with the Porcini mushrooms we picked today its gona be good, I know photos speak louder than words so here they are.