Storming the Bastions…of France ?

I awoke to brilliant sunshine,after a good nights sleep, and ready for a full day at Mont St Michel.

I had decided to ride the 4 kms along the River, to the foot of the citadel – the great symbol to the French of resistance to the English in the 100 years war….perhaps that’s what it’s all about ?As I neared the foot of the rocks, the throngs of tourists amazed me – what it must be like in high summer ? In any event I was able to park my bike just outside the city gates, and joined the throngs, up through the narrow walkways – full of ‘tourist shops’- not making any money out of me !, and up to the abbey itself…. where unfortunately I had to part with 9$ to get in – shocking, although I made sure I got my free guided tour leaflet ! As i wandered round the great Abbey, you could feel the ancient past beneath your feet… I was able to stay for a beautiful sung mass at 1215…which lasted till 1325 !, got to get my moneys worth !  Then continuing the tour of the Abbey, around the cloisters  ,and down below to see the great vaults and crypts beneath, holding up the mighty church above.

Then back out into the sunshine, and to the surrounding seashore…where, another spot of good luck ? occurred…a seagull made a deposit straight down onto my face/sunglasses…they say ‘muck for luck’…wonder what’s going to happen ?

Then it was time to return to the campsite for an evening of relaxation, before a night time viewing of  Mont St Michel..

A Sombre Start to the Journey..

 

As I awoke at 6-10 a.m., or 7-10 a.m. French time ! …to the gentle swaying motion of the sea, I looked out the windows of the ship, and saw that we were already nearing the coast of France, the sun was shining, the skies were blue…it was to be a good start to the travels ?

I had decided to visit the D-Day landing beaches of Normandy, as they were nearby, and so as I rolled off the ferry into Le Havre, I crossed the port town, crossing  the River Seine (the one that goes to Paris !) , on a huge suspension bridge that seemed to climb up into the sky, before plummeting down the other side, and I drove towards Ouistreham ,with, as usual not a clear idea of what I was to find/see.

As I neared Ouistreham, I saw signs for the famous ‘Pegasus Bridge’- the landing had begun (all over again). I wandered around the new, and original bridge that had been captured by the British ,the gliders that were there,and actually stood on the spots where the 3 gliders had landed…I could only imagine what had occurred that night.

I then travelled along the coastline, viewing the various beaches, SwSword,Juno,Gold,Omaha and Utah – all of them being long flat expanses of sand, no doubt a churning mess on the 6th June 1944 !

I finished my tour by visiting the American and British Cemeteries…a very upsetting sight, to see the immaculately kept graves stretching out as far as the eye could see…in straight lines… and thought, as Edwin Starr sang ….War ! what is it good for ??

 

Absolutely nothing ! Nothing changes…even today, does it ?

I then left the Normandy coast, crossing to the bay of St Michel….and sunny cheery Brittany, for my first nights stay  in France at Camping Aux Pommiers , 4 kms from Mont St Michel…

Rainbows for Luck !

I set off from home in the middle of the day, ready for a nice steady drive along country lanes and down to Portsmouth.

I left in brilliant sunshine, and not a cloud in the sky…before I’d even left the High Peak, the sky turned black…and as I got further into deepest Derbyshire….the heavens opened, and the rain, and hail, yes HAIL came thundering down on me, and poor old Wally, battered before we’d even gone far from home.

As I travelled further down south, the sun occasionally came out, before once again the rain poured down, and as I looked behind me I saw Rainbows chasing me as I went – was this the omen of Good Luck, and no more rain to come ? I don’t think so, but an exciting view behind me !

I had arrived in Portsmouth, as the sun was about to go down, and a brilliant sight it was, by then clear skies, red sun, and the sea..how romantic ?

After a ‘last supper’ of the Englishman’s favourite – Fish and Chips ! I went to the ferry terminal, where after quite some time I was loaded on, and leaving Wally behind I went to sleep in the ‘Pullman Sleeper lounge’, a full sized lounger to stretch out fully on, and sleep most of the pleasant crossing to France….. Bon Voyage !!

Packing,packing….even Chelsea sent Packing !!

Well, what a start to my travels !!!

Everything packed, although I keep thinking I must have missed something, as it’s been so easy !

Off to the famed Hayfield ‘Beer house’ – the Kinder Lodge http://www.kinder-lodge.co.uk/siteflash/ to watch the Champions elect Manchester United, thrash Chelsea 2-1 (should have been far more!) the pub was packed, and in uproar by the end…6 points ahead, 2 games to play…nothing to stand in the way of yet another Premier League Championship ! Well done the Reds…

and now, time for me to travel – I’ll next post from the Continent somewhere..have fun, and I’ll leave you with a picture from up in Scotland..

Quite appropriate…..don’t you think !!!???

There’s No Holding Back…

Well, that’s it, I’ve done it…

Booked the ferry for next Monday night, overnight crossing from Portsmouth to Le Havre, France, arriving at 8 a.m. the next morning – I’ve even splashed the cash…and booked myself a sleeper seat !

So, look out Europe…here I come !

…and whilst preparing Wally for the road, including sanitising her water tanks,and sparkling her windows…I dropped, and broke one of her headlamp protectors….ooooh is this a tragedy ? No, Bluebird customs http://www.bluebird-type2.co.uk/t5%20ext.htm are posting a replacement, to arrive Friday …

Now, all I’ve got to do is work out where I’ll be going (any ideas on a postcard!) , what I’ll be taking….and everything else !, but, I’ve got the target to work to, and Manchester United beating Chelsea on Sunday afternoon will be a great start !http://www.manutd.com/Splash-Page.aspx

Early start, to a Long Sunny Day

I was up bright and early – 6-05a.m., a final drink, quick Breakfast, farewell to a tired Kate !

and off I went at 6-40 a.m. for my trek back down South, to home.. only to remember I’d left my camera in the kitchen, and so I had to return,collect it…and start again at 7 a.m.- on a beautiful sunny morning, although there was frost on the heather and mosses that were still in the shade.

I made really good progress , so much so, that I diverted to Keswick to look for some outdoor clothing, but it was so busy wen i got there, and i couldn’t find he shop, or decent place to park, so continued to Preston at a caravan accessories shop, again not finding what i wanted, so continued home, calling in at Sainsburys,Denton, for much needed grub, and home for 6-20 p.m.—440 miles…in the sun.

And now ?? planning my next trip…next week , see you then !

A final Zip around the Lanes…

A beautiful day dawned in Elgin – sun shining, clear sky, and not too much wind, and yes, it was another Bank Holiday that I missed, disgraceful,not getting Bank Holidays any more, I should write to complain!

I’d decided that the ‘patient’ Kate could manage without me, so I was going to set off for home on Tuesday, after I’d done whatever would be needed to tide her over.

Whilst she was doing some studying I decided to take advantage of the day, and the relatively ‘flat’ and undulating lanes in the area.Setting off from Kate’s I whizzed around Elgin town Centre, passing Dr Grays Hopsital, where Kate had been last week, and on the road towards Pluscarden Abbey…http://www.pluscardenabbey.org/home.asp about 8 miles away.

I whizzed along the lane,which was very quiet, and so I was able to enjoy the sunshine.. I soon arrived at and passed the Abbey,to look later, and continued riding up what became a long tortuous hill, which seemed to go on for ‘ever’ !,however,as usual I reached the top, and swiftly rode down the other side, along pleasant lanes, and onto the Road which took me to the town of Forres http://www.forresweb.net/ where I decided to have a rest,eat..and return…

I sat in a pleasant sunny park, for a short time, then climbing my trusty steed…started the return journey. I had considered going a differing way back to Elgin, but in the event decided to return the same way, so I could call in at Pluscarden Abbey, look round..and maybe an ice-cream ?

The journey was a lot easier than I hoped for, and I was soon at Pluscarden, where I stayed for a short time i the wonderful quiet of the Abbey Church, and it’s surrounding gardens – it’s easy to see how the minks can be ‘at peace’ here , wonderful !

I then resumed my journey, back to Kate’s, surprising her with my appearance – looking far too fit to be 56 ! A 35 mile round trip, and I knew it !

For my reward…and before I left she made me do the lawns again, and take her shopping..oh, and a nice steak meal for dinner…

Time to pack up and leave, in the morning !

Tackling the Monsters’’again !

Up bright and early today, to drop Kate at Lossiemouth for a study course, and then onto near Mulben…for the car Park at Ben Aigin forest, and ready for …http://www.forestry.gov.uk/website/forestry.nsf/byunique/infd-6mrjht  The Ben Aigin ‘Hammer’… a difficult red route climbing up through the forest, to the top of Ben Aigin, descending around the top, and along sections like ‘The Hammer’, ‘The Widowmaker’ and…a fast downhill section….

I returned to the mast, and then down to the car park along the ‘Mast Blast’….and phew, a cool drink, and cruise back to Elgin…

Then, to read the papers….apparently there was a big Wedding in London yesterday !

A Royal Celebration …in Elgin

We had prepared for the ‘big event’ by doing all the shopping on Thursday, intending to get some bunting,flags, and ‘wedding memoribilia’, ready for the big days events…

Unfortunately (it being Scotland) there was nothing available, so we decided we would just have to ‘pretend’…

Slight complications were that Theodore (cat!) was still unwell, and we had to take him into Vets at 4 p.m. Thursday…and ‘drat’ we had to return on the ‘Big Day’ to leave him for an X Ray, at 0900 !….

So, the big day arrived in ,now sunny,Scotland, we were up early, with television on, so as to not miss a single second …

although we did have to dash to vets, and back again…breakfasting on bacon and egg barms….and settled down to watch every second of the day….

Fantastic…England at it’s best….and a fantastic spectacle, oh, we wished we were there…still the television coverage was very moving..and fun !

http://www.flickr.com/photos/britishmonarchy/sets/72157626613171058/show/

We watched it live, immediate highlights, later highlights…and to bed, as the next highlights appeared !

Oh, and Theodore was collected with a ‘special (and expensive) diet’ ….hopefully cured.. !

Sunshine…finally

Well, the sun has finally started to arrive in North East Scotland..

Kate had been discharged from Hospital on Monday afternoon, so I made her ‘’chucky eggs’ and ‘soldiers’ , served on the sunny patio…

Up to Kate’s bas for a check up in the afternoon, and b evening the sun was still shining, so I decided to get the Road bike out, and go for a spin along the sunny evening roads.

I travelled from Elgin, passing Lossiemouth, Hopeman and up to Burghead, a really pleasant ride in the sunshine… then I decided it was time to return, and as I turned found a fierce wind in my face, blowing hard against me – not as easy as I thought !

So, I puffed and panted all the way back…22 miles round trip in 1 hour and 20 minutes…not bad !

Then Spag Bol, garlic bread and lemon zest pud !

Around the Fochabers Ring

The sun was shining, weakly on this Easter Sunday morning,and I was about early to go to Fochabers for the http://www.forestry.gov.uk/website/ourwoods.nsf/LUWebDocsByKey/ScotlandMorayandAberdeenshireNoForestForestsofMorayandAberdeenshireWhiteashMorayMonsterTrailsTheFochabersRing Monster Trails that were there !

Several routes were there, around the grade that I like (Red), and I was ready for some rough riding after a few days of a sedentary life !

…that’s when the first error of the week reared it’s head- my bike shoes were at Kate’s house…Ooops ! Rather than going back I decided  to ride in my sandals… the trail was initially OK for me to negotiate in sandals, just a fairly steep climb for some distance, up to the pyramid monument to the Duchess of Richmond, then down and into winding steep tracks through the forest…which soon became quite tortuous,and infested with gnarly tree roots, which did their (failing) best to throw me off…and quite tricky at times.

I returned to the car park, packed up and went off to Kate’s….collecting the paper on me way –well it’s Sunday….papers day !

I had the ‘afternoon off’ visiting…and so took it easy, and walked to the hospital in the evening (less than an hour away), saw Kate who continued to do well, although she wasn’t too good at ‘I Spy’ ! , and walked home for an early night.

Easter Blessings

Kate’s Operation had gone well the previous day, and it was good to see her in Hospital, looking bright and cheerful…making a good recovery.

My young charge had meanwhile responded admirably to the tender ministrations of Jotown, and had ‘dried up’…

So, that evening I went to St Mary’s Dufftown, for the Easter Vigil Service http://dufftown.stsylvesters.org.uk/history, it’ some years since I sang as much at a vigil service, or had as many readings…so the two hour service passed fairly quickly, with all the clergy of St Sylvester’s parish present http://www.stsylvesters.org.uk/ 

A great start to Easter….

As you will see St Mary’s Dufftown needs money..the altar couldn’t be used properly due to the dry rot…Paypal taken…please join me in helping !

Easter Blessings to You All

Caring for the Young One…

It was a big day for me…

Kate taken …and left at the Hospital for her Op the following day…and Jotown ?

…..remains in charge of ‘Theodore’, aka ‘Theo’,aka (to me) ‘Kojak’… and who was in need of ‘tender care’,

….as he had a bad case of the ‘trots’…

delightful ! ….Welcome to Summer 2011

Oh, and by the way, whilst the rest of Britain basked in sunshine and high temperatures….North East Scotland…was cold and dismal !

On the Road Up North

I was up bright and early for my trip up North, to the wilds of Elgin…and the North East of Scotland

I was to go up North for a while, whilst Kate my daughter was having an operation, and wanted her delightful father- Jotown to help, if needed. her husband Wayne – my blog creator –was away on his ‘summer holidays’ in the dessert for a while – stay safe Wayne, and all your mates…

I set off from Derbyshire at 9 a.m. in wonderful sunshine, and the prospects of a warm,pleasant drive up North

-as usual, that was to change, as I continued further North, the skies clouded over ,until eventually by mid afternoon, and crossing the Cairngorms…the rain came !

I landed at Kate’s in Elgin just after 6 p.m., a good ,quick road journey..and the start of my summer travels !

I won’t be updating every day…only when I get up to some….adventure !

Home Again..For How Long ?

A long lie in today, taking it easy, and doing my packing…

I did have a brief walk around…and lunch before I bade a fond farewell to the apartment building, jumped in a cab, and was whisked to Newark Airport for my flight home….unusually checking myself in….

I left late night, flying overnight,however couldn’t sleep, so watched a couple of films, including ‘Slumdog Millionaire before flying into Manchester around 6-45 a.m …. and home for just before 9 a.m…..phew, what a journey….ready to Relax, or will I ?

See you on my next adventure…!

On the Immigrants Trail

Joe went off to California around 5 a.m….whilst I snoozed, Nicola was also out early, followed by me to get down to Battery Park, and buy my tickets for a big day ahead on Liberty and Ellis Island’s , getting tickets was no problem, getting through security was - although I was there before 9, there was already a large queue, taking around an hour before I could board the ferry, and travel out to firstly Liberty Island,http://www.nps.gov/stli/index.htm  home to the iconic ‘Statue of Liberty’.

As I neared the island, I got to realise how big the statue is, and the tremendous sight so many people must have had when first seeing this statue, at the end of a crossing of the Ocean… once on the island, I joined a ‘walking tour’ of the island, given by a park ranger, with lots of informative and differing facts, before he got us into the queue to go around the museum and pedestal area of the statue, although unfortunately not able to go up to the crown, the tickets having about a ‘3 month waiting list’ !

The views from the pedestal area, both up at the statue, and across the water to New York and area, were tremendous - again it was a cold, but sunny day, so helicopters were buzzing over the water…I spent some time in this area, then as lunch was beckoning decided to grab something to eat, whilst I waited for the 1-30 p.m. ferry across to Ellis Island.

As the ferry crossed the short distance between Liberty and Ellis Islands, I wondered what the early immigrants felt, as they had a similar view, and wondering whether they would ‘pass the test’ for admission into The United States ? It must have been quite a time, so near, yet they could still be rejected and sent back to where they came from!

As I stepped off the ferry, and approached what was the Immigration building, I wondered of the sights to come - the entire island is now a living museum…and rightly so. Inside were stories of lots of immigrants, what they faced, what they were coming from, and what they were hoping for http://www.nps.gov/elis/index.htm I particularly liked the story that one immigrant sent home…. I thought American streets were paved with Gold…I came here and found they weren’t, in fact they weren’t paved at all, and I had to pave them !’’

People from all over the world have come through Ellis Island, and into United States, and for me the most interesting part…They weren’t ALL Irish !, in fact very few in comparison were, and yet the Irish influence in America (and anywhere they emigrated to..) is well known ,influential and extensive….

Eventually I caught one of the last ferry’s back to NYCity, and Battery Park, then walked along the sea front, past Statten Island Ferry Terminal, to Pier 83, where I was to take an evening cruise, seeing the lights of NYC, and area…

Firstly as I got to the pier area, saw some great old sailing ships, moored alongside, with lots of differing facts and history about them.

Then it was into the Pier 83 shopping centre, for a quick look round…and some food, and at 7-30 p.m. went down to the Pier for my cruise http://www.circleline42.com/new-york-cruises.aspx , there were not many on, but that didn’t deter the DJ ! Who had a ‘rap’ composed to pick out the sights as we went along, and keep us amused - brilliant sights , and good fun. As we stopped near Liberty Island he even took pictures for everyone, on your own cameras, and produced a glass of ‘bubbly’ for us all… back to the pier for 9p.m…. the night was not yet finished..!

Then it was back along the sea front, and Subway to Times Square, for a real night time sample of the lights, and busyness…then it was back home for about 10-30 p.m. and collapse !

A Great,long day..

Nearing the End…

Today, a far easier day… Joe and Nicola went off to work early leaving me to relax a little, and snooze, although being New York, I was still up for 9 a.m.

After idling my time catching up on emails and that, I went out for a walk, intending to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but as I wandered through Central Park, getting lost several times, although I like to call it ‘meandering’ in the very hot sunshine- although it was still cold in the shade, and having a very pleasant stroll I decided to stay in the park, watching the world go by…and listening to various buskers playing their very different music - especially a group of 3 South Americans, sat on the wall of a dry fountain, playing great music (even coaxing a $ out of me !), the time slipped away, and I later wandered back to the Apartment, ready for a great evening to come…

Joseph and Nicola burst through the door (with seconds to spare, as usual) in time for us all to walk down to the Dovetail restaurant nearby, this was to be our final meal in New York together, as Joseph was off to California in the morning, and I had a long sight seeing day planned…

So, as we entered the Michelin starred restaurant, http://www.dovetailnyc.com/ we couldn’t believe how busy it was, must be good food then…and so it was… what a great meal we had, ultimately deciding to have the tasting menu, accompanied by tasting drinks…phew, took some eating and drinking - although expensive, it was well worth it, even the waitress taking our picture at the table, and a sample menu to take home !

Dad - You can’t miss these !

Up at 8-30 a.m. for mass at the Church of the Holy Trinity, round the corner, and then ready for the ‘grand tour’ of everywhere I’d not yet made- and Joe insisted I ‘did’ before I returned home later in the week!

Joseph, Nicola and I started at Brooklyn, where we had brunch of steak and eggs at the Heights café http://www.heightscafeny.com/ - great, then a walk along Brooklyn heights promenade, looking across the Hudson River towards Manhattan island.The helicopters were buzzing around, obviously the beautiful day was bringing out lots of people-us included!  We then walked over the Brooklyn Bridge, looking towards the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.We kept on walking continuing into the financial and city district - City Hall, Supreme Justice Building, then along Wall Street, new york stock exchange, eventually ending up at a highlight…the Irish famine memorial garden in Battery Park http://www.newyorkcitywalk.com/html/images_IrishFamine.html…very moving, ’Slacks cottage’ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Hunger_Memorial  was taken stone by stone from Ireland, at the end of my Mums home lane at Carradoogan…which I had last visited with Susan in 2007 ago .. I also had the pleasure of telling some people around what the significance of it was - they were really pleased that I had been able to come …

After many pictures, we then continued along through the West Side village, Meatpacking district and onto the highline park, an old railway line, which has been transformed into a beautiful linear footway, with sunbeds, seats, views, wonderful…then the ’tour’ at an end, it was back home for a short rest !

Later in the evening it was ‘what do you fancy to eat Dad ?’….Mexican says I …’perfect, there’s a great one not far away’….and even though we couldn’t book a table, off we went (in the obligatory taxi) to Rosa Mexicana… http://www.rosamexicano.com/ where after a very short wait we were seated, in a separate booth, with all the glitterati around us !

Pomegranate Margarita’s, followed by watching the waiter mix a special Guacamole in front of us, which we all shared before great Mexican food…

Good choice Dad ! Then …home to bed, rather tired

Back to the City…and cold football

Again we were up before 6 a.m., car packed, and on the road by 0700 !

As we set off back towards NYCity we came into…another blizzard, which made driving difficult for a while, but once through the snowy mountains, the sun burst through, and we had a really pleasant drive back to New York, arriving back around 2 pm. - well done Joseph !

We had time to get cleaned up, and then were out again to ‘Shakeshack’ http://www.shakeshack.com/ for brilliant beef burgers and chips ( but upmarket!) , then it was off to Penn Station, where we met Marie and Brett, and out to New Meadowlands stadium to watch USA V Argentina football match, in a freezing cold stadium!- where even the beer got colder as the night wore on !

It was quite a different experience, with a large Argentinain presence, and vociferous home fans…the game ended 1-1

...and we rushed home for a warm, still not getting back until almost 10-30 p.m…and straight to bed !

Worst Weather in the World !

 

We were all up early at 0600, quickly breakfasted and got our gear together, on a fine, although cold morning, and drove to Pinkham Notch Visitor Centre,at  620 metres high.Where we got our gear on, it was cold, snowy, and a heavy sky, and looked like there had been a fair bit of snow overnight…a day of good prospects lay ahead…we set off at 7-30 a.m. to climb Mt Washington, http://www.mountwashington.org/ at 1917 metres high, and reputably the Worlds worst weather conditions !!

We initially climbed for about 1 ½ hours, up an unrelenting snow track, used by the Snowcat which services the observatory at the top of the mountain, and although hard packed snow underfoot , it was still a hard track to follow,and overcome !

We did have a nice diversion on the way, watching a woodpecker at work on an old tree trunk! We then picked up a fire road which broke off to the right, and after a short time found the track we intended to follow to the top - Lions Head Winter Route ! http://www.newhampshireclimbing.com/climbing-course.asp?ID=68  A tricky climb lay ahead, immediately obvious as the track worked its way up through the forest, deep snow and ice below the steep track forced us all to put our crampons on almost immediately, as we climbed up a very steep gully - a fierce introduction for Joseph and Nicola to winter climbing !

The snow started falling as we climbed higher, visibility was very poor, but as we squirmed our way upwards through the forest, we were helped by  blue markers on the trees.

Eventually breaking through the tree line, and out onto the exposed top/ridge, the wind was very fierce, and straight into our faces, quickly freezing whatever was exposed - although the trail did become less steep, and we were able to follow it up to the top of Lions Head -meeting a man (with a patch over one eye !) coming down from the top-who informed us there was heavy snow higher up (although we didn’t ask where he’d come from – did he exist at all ?!).  As we climbed above the Lions Head, we quickly lost the trail, which appeared to have been submerged in the heavy snow which had recently come down, and blown over all the area, almost immediately obliterating our tracks!

The only option we had was to follow a compass bearing, and blitz straight up the mountain, using a snow gully which was there…as we got higher, the snow got deeper, almost up to waist height - without the severe cold, it could have been very avalanche prone, but OK to continue !

We continued to struggle up through the snow, ever higher, with more snow coming down, along with thick mist, so we relied on compass bearings, and altimeter readings(still climbing ! )not able to stop to rest due to the wind and cold.

Eventually we reached a slight track, and as we followed it we saw the summit buildings ahead of us, and, as we got nearer a figure appeared out of the mist around the summit buildings -turning out to be Kevin , the assistant chef from the weather station, who greeted us with the words ‘ are you French ?’ wondering we asked why - he replied’ there’s only the French mad enough to climb in these conditions !’…We had got to the top in 5 hours ,a brilliant time, and the length of time it normally takes in summer, never mind the depths of winter !…..

Kevin delightedly  showed us to the shelter at the side of the observatory, where we had a pleasant chat for a while, and then ,amazingly, he offered us a cup of hot coffee !

Which we readily accepted , and eat some food, and put warm clothing on whilst he was away. The winds were gusting around 40 - 50 mph, and temperature around -27 below, and even though we were sheltered from the wind, we soon became cold… however the Kevin re-appeared with the Austrian chef Ernst, carrying a tray of mugs, coffee and home made biscuits !! Brilliant, and set us up nicely. We then took some hasty pictures at the summit signpost, and started our descent into the fierce snowy winds, we had spent 45 minutes on the top of The Worlds Worst Weather summit !!

It was still misty, and driving snow, and as we descended we started to meet people who had been following our tracks up! The nearest being a group we met after 10/15 minutes, struggling against the wind, which by now had swung behind us, so we were having quite a pleasant descent, seeing other peoples struggling.

We were able to follow the track down the ridge, and onto Lions Head, again meeting I suppose in total 10 differing people, struggling up to the summit - I don’t think they would get coffee !!

Once across the summit of Lions Head, and across the plain below, we were pretty sure of our route down, meeting a lot more people, who wouldn’t be able to summit today !

The snow continued, but we weren’t bothered…until we got down into the forest, onto the very steep trail down the gully - which was far worse going down…but we all managed it back to the safety of the fire road, and Snowcat track all the way down to Pinkham notch, in very thick snow - arriving back around 4 p.m.- a very creditable 8 ½ hour round trip - up and down the highest Mountain in North Eastern  USA, with the reputation of the worst weather on the Planet !

And back to the cabin for hot baths, blazing fires…and an early night (as well as packing for an early departure!)