Mikes weather bits & Photo Blog: Pension fund crisis & A 5 hour Kinder Scout Challenge for me

The Express has a pretty Alarming headline which claims by the end of next year nearly every fund will be axed - - -

the Sun prints this story about the witch hunt boys going way too far - - -

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Here's another example of how politicians and in this case the PM just don't understand the culture they are dealing with. The story is about how Muslim woman must learn English or leave the UK will someone tell him its the Muslim men who are stopping the woman learning English! - - -

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nearly missed this one! - - - Only days ago Sainsbury's was in line to make play for Homebase stores now its been bought by Bunnings - - - who you may ask!!! Its looking like the Aussies are coming. A note of caution here though past Aussie Acquisitions in the UK have not gone at all well worth a read

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I had decided to drive up the Snake Pass and walk Kinder Scout yesterday and as i set off on the walk the 2.1c temp wasn't bad but the mist looked thick even before the tops of the moor

to prove sheep really are stupid the one in front of me was actually aff the track as i came across it but it scurried onto it and would stop every few yards to look back and see if i was still following it

finally a full 30 minutes later just as i reach the serious snow it sees a "wild" tup on the other side of a stream and decides to visit him, in this pic she is almost in the stream and he is coming from stage left half way up the pic

finally they meet and stare after me as i plod on

stopping briefly at the gate to gulp down a portion of hot soup I survey the scene in front of me, the snow isn't that deep but the drifts that have formed are going to make this tough

my suspicions are confirmed as i reach the lip of the ridge, the track is indistinguishable from the surrounding land, time to get out the iphone with its mountain satnav app. I am only a few metres from the track but fresh snow has covered it along with the foot prints i imagined would be plain to see.

using the iphone every ten minutes to confirm where i am and a silva compass to keep me going in the right direction in between, although the strong breeze directly at my back offers a good indicator of direction. I reach the Anvil stone at Fairbrook Naze. Along my route i had considered going down the steep track at Fairbrook Naze but discount it as soon as I see how icy it is.

I set off along the direction of the path with the icy wind now coming from my left and resign myself to a slow plod until i reach the fencline which will be my next marker before the easy Pennine way track

there are plenty of familiar features along the way and i stop at the tortoise stone (or gun barrel) for another gulp of very welcome soup, the going so far has been amongst various rock formations and some deep drifts have been making me take some long detours.

after what seems an age I hit the part of the track which in normal weather is a long ribbon up towards the Pennine way junction, today its more of a snow field so its a case of taking it easy and trying to pick my way between the drifts

at last i hit the fence line just before the junction

heading down the steep bit of Pennine way is a bit like going down a ski slope because the snow has filled in the gaps between the steps. Its quite solid so i indulge in a bit of boot skiing! Suddenly the mist clears and i see another lunatic! we chat and he has come up from Hayfield and is going on to Kinder Downfall. On this pic you can just make him out almost at the top of the ski slope

pausing only briefly at the post showing the way to the Snake Inn I head down what i imagined to be an easy bit but the drifted snow once again is making the going slow. Checking my watch its been three and a half hours since i started, most other times i would be back at the van by now

lower down the going finally gets a little easier, looking back up to the ridge i have come along the mist is rolling back in

passing one of my regular photo shots the pond is quite empty and i wonder if its because the water higher up has frozen as the pond as been draining

passing through the gate from the moor its only another 20 minutes back to the van but in total its been a 5 hour challenge I wont forget in a while - - - I'll see if i can do it in summer and take comparable pics on some of the main features - - -

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cold again this morning at just a whisker below freezing, no wind though - - nice

not much to see on the weathercam I'll post another later. Forecast is for a dry day with little or no wind and 4 to 5c max Temp
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UPDATE 09:30

the Temp is only just above freezing and the weathercam shows a misty Nine Ladies hill.