Always take a compass

The summit of Blaven (Blabheinn, 928m) Route Stats; Total Distance - 8.72km Height Gain - 930m Total Time - 5hrs Avg Speed - 1.75km/h!! Bla Bheinn, Isle of Skye, Scotland Rising from the shore of Loch Slapin to an impressive height of 928m, Bla Bheinn (Blaven) is an outlier to the Black Cuillin's and is thought to mean Blue Mountain from a combination of Norse and Gaelic. Looking up towards Bla Bheinn and Sgurr Nan Each from the car park next to Loch Slapin We'd planned in one "decent" walk during our week on Skye and this was it - the summit of Blaven (or Bla Bheinn) that had eluded us 18 months ago when we had our scrambling session on the very same mountain and had to change plans - you can read all about that here ! So, leaving Isabelle and Monty with my parents, we had an early breakfast and headed off along the single track road from Elgol to the car park on the NW side of Loch Slapin and at the foot of Blaven - the morning was cool and the

"I've booked us a challenge for 2015 - but we need to start training....." were the words that greeted me on arriving home from work one evening last week. Now the last time I hear those words we'd booked up to climb Mt Toubkal in Morocco and as it was to be a joint event I wasn't overly concerned - until I found out what the challenge was! "The Crosses 2015 is a 53 mile circular challenge event around the North York Moors taking in a number of the moorland crosses" Oh, and you need to complete it within 24 hours!!! (link to SRMT site here ) Originally run in the 70's and 80's the crosses walk is being resurrected for 2015 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Scarborough and Ryedale Mountain Rescue Team and Donna decided that we should "have a crack" at it. So yes, we need to get training, lots! While I let the realisation of walking 53 miles in 24 hours sink in a number of thoughts started to run through my mind;

Showers Pass - Elite 2.1 jacket Earlier in the week the weather forecast had looked a bit dubious for riding on Sunday (1st November 2014) but not wanting to cancel again G and I both decided to go ahead with it so as I lay in bed at 6am (after feeding my 7 month old daughter) listening to the wind gusting round the house and the rain pelting the conservatory roof I was glad of the 3-layer eVent waterproof hanging in the garage that would, hopefully, keep me warm and dry on the 30 miles around the north Hampshire roads. Stepping back a bit....  I've got 3 cycling waterproofs (yes, 3!).  2 for the MTB; 1 is the old GoreTex XCR (the pre-runner to Pro shell) and is tough as old boots but not too breathable, and the other is eVent - a great jacket but too bulky for the road bike.  Both of these are around 10 years old now. Then there's the jacket I used for the road bike - a hugely packable GoreTex Paclite shell.  A great jacket?  yes it was, but its also about 10 years old