If there's one thing I love, its weather. The more extreme, the better. The onset of snow, storms, high winds or record heat waves has be donning my boots and heading the the countryside. Nothing especially dangerous if you're sensible and well prepared. So is there anyone else who gets their kicks out of walking in what would otherwise be dodgy weather?
I much prefer walking in adverse weather than cycling. The only weather I'll avoid is very high winds (40mph + - which incidentally we've got forecast here for tomorrow early evening). I'm not a great lover of walking through massive snow drifts either.
the wind can certainly spoil a day in the hills but I have on occasions made a point of going up especially on wild days just to experience the shear power of it. Nearly bit of a little more than I could chew on this one, It was full on force 10 so I thought I would give it a go, absolutely wild on the top, had to keep lying down and crawling in the big gusts (and the gusts on the tops can last several miutes as opposed to several seconds low down) I then realised i kept getting hit by flying ice, dinner plate size chunks were whizzing past at god knows what speed, the big gusts were scouring the ice of the surface and turning them into missiles. I had my back to the wind approaching the cairn but was too scared to retrace my steps off the top in case I got one in the face, had to take quite a detour. I didn't get to enjoy the views but you can see from the following picure it was one spectacular place to be
No if the weather is very bad then Mr Summerdays will start moaning and not want to leave the comfort of the house! If it's snowy though I will be out just walking locally, I can be away from roads and traffic within 5 mins of setting out from the house.
A few years ago we went for a walk in the Peak District, it was chilly when we left home and thick snow when we got there. Wrapped up warm , it was lovely
I guess my appetite for it has diminished. I've been out all day in white out conditions, crawled across exposed ridges in high wind, soaked more times than I can recall and heaved myself through one more mushy snowfield to get to the top of something. I prefer the weather to be kind to me now but then I don't spend so much time in the hills as I used to. I do still love the feel of stepping into the shower after a cold and gruelling day out and the taste of that first pint slipping down so easily after. In that sense, grotty days out are still worth it.
Got out for a walk in the snow today which was very pleasant being wrapped up warm. My microspikes have had a bit of use over the last 3 days and I'd just like to say they are brilliant bits of kit. No slips, no slides, just walked round enjoying the conditions.
