Issue #46 Celebrating One Year!

Also, First Snow, Icy Swims and Slightly Worried on Slight Side

Nov 17, 2023

Hello and welcome to the latest Misc. Adventures Digest - a significant one because it marks a full year since I started writing these posts! This is however only the 46th post and not the 52nd as I took 6 weeks off during the summer holidays, but that’s by-the-by. Perhaps I’ll celebrate again in six weeks time?

It has been an absolute pleasure sharing stories of our slow adventures and encounters with Nature throughout the year, and I’m deeply thankful for the words of encouragement, comments, sharing and general support I’ve received. You may recall that I committed to writing these posts every week to challenge myself; I found writing difficult and struggled to find the words to articulate my thoughts. On occasion I was unable to summon sentences sufficiently coherent enough to write text messages or emails. I don’t think I’ll ever find writing easy, but after this year I certainly find it easier and for that I’m thankful.

There are other aims with this space too, it forms an extension of our other work with Miscellaneous Adventures which seeks to inspire others to connect with Nature, to live simply and adventurously and to cultivate curiosity and wonder for the natural world. How we’re doing with that is hard to quantify, yet we know from kind messages and conversations in the real world that we have a few success stories under our belts.

There is also the aim that either directly or indirectly, writing here could generate a little extra income so we can continue doing the work we do. We have a handful of paid subscribers now, to whom we’re deeply thankful and we hope to find a few more to help us on our way. We hate to ask, but if you’ve enjoyed these weekly digests over the past year, and you have the means, then do consider ‘going paid’ so we can continue to grow and find new ways to do what we do.

First Snow, Icy Swims and Slight Side

With the weather so unsettled, it’s a case of seizing tiny slithers of opportunity between storms to get out into the mountains. Friday saw the first dusting of snow on the very highest tops, and with blue skies beckoning and Benji at school, me and Emma set out for a closer look and a dip in one of our favourite pools. Despite the sun, the air was icy and the water flowing fast, thick and cold. It’s always good to feel the full force of the water. It was the coldest it’s been so far; a few seconds is all we can manage, but that’s all it takes to become fully immersed in Nature and to emerge refreshed and renewed.

With one more clear day predicted before the wet and wind returned, the mountains were calling. The days are short now and our pace slow, so early starts are a must unless we want to be heading home with our head torches on.

I think Slight Side is usually one of those mountains that people do on the way to somewhere else, but we decided it would be a good objective on its own and easily achievable with what precious little daylight we had available. Setting out from the car, frost crunched under our boots and leaves were coated in tiny ice crystals, but the sun soon rose above the peaks to chase away the cold, replacing the blue morning light with warm orange tones.

I don’t know why, but our planning was a little lacking on this route. It took far longer than we expected to reach the foot of the mountain itself. Perhaps we were just enjoying ambling through the boulder strewn landscape too much on the approach. When the solid mass of rock itself finally came into view, we were slightly worried about our chances of making it up to the summit and all the way back before darkness fell. We are slow adventurers by default, but we decided to quicken our pace and get to the top - then we could relax a little and take our time on the way back.

Slight Side with Scafell just behind it on the left, dusted with snow

A steep, steady climb took us to the delightfully craggy, jagged summit where a short scramble up rough boulders was needed to make it to the summit cairn. Slight Side sits on a ridge that leads to Scafell, which sat dusted in snow only a couple of hundred metres above. It was tempting to push on, but instead we opted to take the time to cook a late lunch in the sun before heading back down. We still had a couple of hours of walking ahead of us, and just a little bit longer before it got dark. As we walked further, the sun dropped lower and lower, shadows lengthening and light fading all the while. Soon we were dipping in and out of the shadows of crags and boulders, the orange glow fading back to blue again in places.

As we neared the valley bottom, the landscape was bathed in gold for a few precious moments, before fading quickly to dusk just as the small car park came into view. There’s something satisfying, magical even, about walking out in the mountains from dawn until dusk; not only are we travelling as we walk along the trail, we are also travelling as we spin on our titled axis through the cosmos, witnessing the change in light as we go reminds us of our precarious place in the universe. It is good to know we have gleaned as much out of the day as possible too, not an hour to spare - these short winter days force us to try a little harder and to plan a little more carefully, but the rewards far exceed the extra effort.

Well, that’s all for now. Thank you again to those that have stuck with me (and us), I’m looking forward to writing more and continuing to share our adventures over the next year ahead.

With warmest wishes from the three of us,

Andrew, Emma and Benji

Actually, one more thing! The Level Collective are running a competition right now with £500 worth of outdoor good stuff up for grabs, including a full set of our hand painted flags! Also featuring friends of Misc. Adventures Ramble Guides, Moorswood, and Outdoor Provisions. Check here to enter!