Christmas Eve we headed off to Grovely Wood for a good yomp along the main drive, and after Christmas I managed one last foray onto Martin Down. We noticed the first hazel catkins were just coming out. It was a beautiful sunny day too - bonus!
And then for New Year I went to the Llyn Peninsula in north Wales for a few days with friends. Such a contrast to my local patch - even the hillforts are dramatically different. I'm used to chalky earthworks, but one we climbed in Wales had a lot of dry stone walls and remnants of stone huts. I suppose the 'changeable' weather requires extra infrastructure!
Talking of changeable weather, on the supposed sunny New Year's Day we opted to climb Snowdon from the Watkin Path - the trickiest one apparently (it starts off the lowest and the final bit is a scramble up some scree). The sun did shine, but only after we'd called it a day and not risked the final ascent in the biting wind, ice and snow. It certainly made for an adventure and of course beautiful pictures. So different to my 'tame' local patch. I can't imagine, however, the weather being so bad that it was physically dangerous to climb Martin Down, so consider myself lucky!
As we get back into the usual routine of work and chores, I'm determined to make more time for longer walks exploring my local patch this year - let's see where I end up!
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