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My twins. Aww...

Big News!

Hi all.. There's Quite a bit to cover in this post, so I'm just briefly cover as much as I can.
I guess I'll start with the biggest news. I'm gonna be a daddy again :). Only this time It appears that I'm gonna be a father of Identical Twins!...
So of course I'm excited and we're nesting right now..
This has of course had an impact on "the walk" and I guess I'll roll it back at least a year.. or two.
I just can't get out at the moment, every time I get some free time, something breaks or I have to sort something out. It's frustrating - and not just for me. I've promised to take my boy camping and for the last 3 weekends, something has always come up.
I'm gonna be (hopefully) entering the 'relay for life' again this year, sometime mid July.
I still haven't had chance to try my new tent
My Jeanius jeans are still a top piece of kit, even if they've only got wet in rain in the town, not on the hill.
I've smashed up the old shed and dumped it in a skip (not as small a job as it sounds - It was full of old junk).
I'm worried about this Swine/Mexican Flu.. I was freaked by a video about the plague when I was a kid and stuff like this always scares me... I was tempted to stock up and cans of beans, water etc on the way home from work, but thankfully managed to overide the feeling. Though Ironicaly I notice, at this very moment that i'm drinking Corona! I'm gonna presume the alcohol can take care of any nasties, that and it'll have been brewed a while ago, before this all started (It's that or I won't sleep)..

Umm, I think that's it for now... catch you soon, T.

Where to start?

The weather has started to improve and we are starting to see the first glimmer of summer. This raises the question of where am I going to go this year? I see many recommendations, most are Welsh or Scottish mountains. These seem exciting, but I'm not sure I'm fit enough for one of these. Besides, I cant even pronounce most of these, so don't ask me to write them here. They look amazing, but as I'd have to travel hundreds of miles just for a night.... It just seems a bloody long way to go for a day out.
I have no doubt I'll be off tramping around the peaks and quite fancy going to see the crashed bomber on Bleaklow.
I just want to get out.. I get like this.. I'm the sort of person who bottles things up.. Anger and frustrations and so on. Getting 3 sheets to the wind a couple of times a year was my release valve, and I found that being in the hills also has the same effect, allowing me to get rid of these tensions, without killing my liver... The problem is that once I realise that It's time to go out, I need to get one organised and organised quickly.. This is never easy. Most of my friends think I'm crackers for going wandering on the hills rather than finding a good watering hole, and those who appreciate the scenery tend to have those sorts of calenders that are never empty, or just conflict with each other.
Maybe I should just go It alone? Maybe not... Being cut off from people just isn't the same unless I take others with me to share the solitute.. I know, That's a bit f*cked up, but that's just me. I've always been a bit of a social animal.
So... Where should I go. I fancy a change this year. Somewhere higher than i've been before..
I suppose I'm gonna have to learn those pronunciations.....

I know, I've been missing for a while...

To be honest, I haven't done anything worth writing about. I have got a few new pieces of kit, I have a Quecha T2 Ultralight Pro (small, light, tent) and a pair of Jenius Jeans.. If you don't own a pair, buy some now - they are the dogs dangly bits! (see here: Alpkit).
I'm hoping to get out over the easter hols at least once, but I get the feeling I'm gonna be too busy with the house to go anywere (at least I'll still be burning calories).
That's about it for now, catch ya later, T.

A night in the snow.

I've just got back from the first proper walk of the 2009 season. Me, Jim and Paul went bravely off for the night hike and it turned out to be one of the most unforgettable things I've ever done. The original hike was supposed to take place last year, but for one reason or another It couldn't happen. It was put back and eventually resurfaced ready to go last weekend.
One of the advantages was that It was a nearly full moon and this would help us navigate..
What I hadn't counted on was some of the most persistent snow in decades. Snow that in places could be measured in feet - not inches. Combined with the (nearly) full moon it looked incredible, watching tiny pencil lead thin trains winding through the valley, cars just a speck below. All three of us felt lucky to have been there, The chances of there being a heavy snowfall on a weekend with full moon... well it's just not very likely to happen again any time soon. The snow was great fun, and every now and then, one of us would put a foot wrong, and end up knee deep in snow.
(there were people coming off the hill that had ice axes and crampons before we left camp - these were not needed on the hill, In fact the most heart stopping part of the whole walk was on a small access road we christened 'the ice road'.. It started off compacted snow, then as it descended into the valley, it just became sheet ice. it was the only place any of us had a proper spill, so i suppose I must remember to pack crampons the next time i have to walk on icy roads).
The highlight? at the top of chapel gate, surrounded with what looked like Arctic tundra. Maybe having one of the busiest hills in England entirely to ourselves. Maybe it was just Jim's face as he looked back at Rushup edge from the top of Mam Tor and realised what he had just come over.
The walk was rounded off with a few pints in the nags and chip buttys.. Although I had to explain what a chip butty was to the bar staff?!.
The tent was cosy enough as I have a small tent heater, but we did wake up in the morning with frost on the sleeping bags. The kettle took bloody ages to boil as it was full of ice as well.
Oh, It was bloody cold, have I mentioned that?