kalymnos Delivers - As Ever

Kalymnos was the as good as ever - we had a solid month there, I did 54 routes and there was plenty of cat action added into the mix. It started hot and REALLY busy, and ended up, cool, a little unsettled and really quiet.

 

Back to Blighty Briefly

 

Padley Gorge wandering

We only had eight days in the Ariege, and although short, it was very pleasant visit. We apart from me having a bit of an epic on Auzat when I got the rope jammed whilst abseiling a two pitch route - I sorted it eventually but it was a right battle - not what you need at my time of life!

Back to Kalymnos - easy as ever

Then we dumped (parked) the car at Carcassonne Airport (not sure when we will see that again) and flew back to Manchester, where we picked up a hire-car for a couple of weeks. Monday we finally had a fire-door fitted, about three months after ordering it, visited  my mum in North Yorkshire and got out for plenty of rambles in rather pleasant autumnal weather.

And then it was off again, a wet drive back to Manchester, four hours down to Kos, a quick sprint to our AirBnB and in the morning, the ferry to Kalymnos - seventeen years since we first visited - nice to be back. 

Rolling Along

High in the Mello Valley

 We had a very pleasant say in the Otztal - Austria, plenty of rambling and enough climbing to keep me happy, great accommodation and very reasonable weather. Then it was time to head for the Mello Valley in Italy via a corner of Switzerland - for which we didn't need to buy a motorway vignette - so that was a small win. We stopped in Mello for eight days, as once again the day we had slated for travelling was forecast to be grim. We climbed on the gorgeous granite (three days) and did an excellent hike up to the high settlements, plus we befriended a couple of local cats which is always a plus.

L'Ecale (6a) at Sollieres

After Mello we moved to Aussois in the Maurienne for a week, another place we really like, as it is always so quiet. At 4,900' the nights were cold, but the days were generally lovely, again a pleasant mix of climbing and hiking. I'm sure we will be back again next spring.

Then back through the Frejus Tunnel (€60 for a return trip and no queueing this time) and back to the Briançon area for ten days. We are stopping close to the minor crag of Chambon high above the Durance Valley, it looks like another quiet and cool spot.

 

 

Back to Austria

High off the ground at Oberreid

After ten (or eleven) weeks in the UK we were finally good to go. The middle of August is probably a little early to be heading south, everywhere is still pretty busy and hot, plus of course prices are inflated, but needs must!

The journey was pretty unpleasant, as ever, the traffic in Holland and Germany was grim, and a really poor forecast persuaded us to stop another day in Karlsruhe. But of course it was worth it, great to be back in the mountains, a lovely pad and even a bit of climbing was the icing on the cake. Ten days in and we hasettled into the groove, plenty of local rambling, and five days on the rock. The climbing is hard work but after three months off, and being 74¾ that is hardly a surprise.

Great to be back

The big question on our minds at the moment is where to go next. We really need to be home for a week/10 days at the end of October to get the new fire door fitted, so we have about six weeks to fill - which is.a great
prospect. 

North by North East

Rosedale railway

With the jobs all lined up and a bit of a waiting game in play we decided to head off for a week or so, before the schools kick out and everywhere gets crazy busy. After a bit of mulling we decided to head to the tiny ex-mining village of Skinningrove - we had only been there once years ago, it isn't too far from home and we suspected, correctly, that it would be quiet. The week there was very pleasant, we went walking every day, along beaches, across clifftops and up on the moors. We stopped in a recently refurbed building - there were twelve apartments and despite it being the first week of the school holiday, we were the only people there.

The cliffs north of Skinningrove

Our touristing day was a visit to Staithes - pleasant enough, but way too busy for our liking plus the place was really smelly (and noisy) with all the gulls. We gave the honeypots of Whitby and Redcar a miss. 

We visited Sherri's brother Mike on the way home in Stokesley - he retires next week and joins the leisured classes - welcome aboard.

 

 

Heading North of the Humber

Sherri and a friendly Tern

Sherri heading of to Lindisfarne

 Two weeks back home and we felt the need for a break so we booked a week in Northumberland, an area we used to climb in a lot 'back then' and even wrote a guidebook to, but really don't know very well. The week extended to eleven days, the weather was mixed but we had a great time exploring somewhere new. It also gave me the chance to lay a sixty year old ghost to rest - way back in 1965 I was booked on a school trip to the Farne Islands, as a keen birder (a founder member of the Young Ornithologist Club) I was beyond excited. The day before the trip I knackered my ankle buggering about on a building site near home by running into boulders hidden in the grass - I was devastated!

The visit to the Farnes and to Lindisfarne we both great but we also incredibly busy, and expensive too - the wide open beaches and wild moors we visited were much more to our liking - we may have to return.

 

Summer's a Coming

Culles-les-Roches - urgh

After a couple of very pleasant weeks in Argentiere we popped over (through?) the mountains via the Frejus Tunnel (£44 one way!!) back to the Maurienne, one of our favourite spots as it is always so quiet and there is plenty of easy climbing to go at. We had 10 days there, and for much of the time I think we were the only residents at Plein Soleil. 

The Canal du Centre - lovely walking

Then we headed up country for the final ten days, stopping at Essertenne, about 50 miles south of Dijon. The AirBnB was another cracker, quiet, comfortable and with just enough cat action to see us through. The climbing was less successful, in particular on the two visits to Culles-des-Roches the place was packed with kids marauding around - we got some climbing done but it was far from ideal. We also did a few lovely walks by the canal/lakes - flat and deserted.

And that was that - a two day haul to Rotterdam, and overnight crossing to Hull, breakfast at Morrisons, then nine and.half months later, back home.