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On Friday I attempted this hill along with one of my friends but about three quarters of the way up, he decided he couldn't go any further so we turned around and headed back to the car. Part of me was annoyed at being so close but I'm glad he said something instead of carrying on.
I was also off work today so I thought I'll head back solo this time and give it another go. I was away from the car at exactly half nine and it was obvious that a lot of the snow and ice which had been lying further down on Friday had melted so I made good time up to the dam. It was at this point on Friday that it got very icy underfoot but over the weekend, fresh snow had fallen and now it wasn't too deep that I had to put any effort in to get through it but also didn't have to worry about slipping on the ice underneath.
The cloud was sitting near the summit so I still had some good views and I found the going much easier than I had on Friday and where we had turned back after two hours only took me just over an hour to reach today. I stopped for a bite to eat just incase I couldn't have anything at the summit and this turned out to be a good bit for forward planning. Shortly after this point I left the track and moved on to the hill and it was here that the snow started to slow me down.
I had put my crampons on and they came in handy as every so often I would reach a patch of snow which was frozen but I was quite glad to reach bits like this as it was a change from watching my boots disappear. The wind had made its presence know by now so it was out with the ski mask and onwards up the hill.
Before long I reached the line of fence posts and they were a welcome sight as I knew then I didn't have far to go. The conditions underfoot were a bit more solid here and within about 15 minutes I arrived at the summit and a shelter which was full of snow. I sat down on the snow for 5 minutes and enjoyed a drink of water before deciding to brave the wind which for the return journey would be coming straight for me.
I quickly descended out of the cloud and the visibility improved greatly. As I returned to the track, I noticed another pair of footprints so I wasn't the only madman on the hill today. I had taken a slightly different route down so I probably missed them as they ascended the way I had. I could have stopped here to have my soup but it seemed like a better idea to march back to the car and enjoy it there which I did.
It was good to go back and complete this hill and the weather wasn't too bad. It was my first solo winter walk and to do it in 4 hours is something that I'm quite happy with.
