BB1724 : El ADNaCS

Wednesday 12th July 2017

You are also probably not aware that BOOTboys were to undertake a field test today, but stranger things have happened and perhaps such is our renown in unexpected circles.

Our chosen route was the Scandale circuit clockwise.  I have only done it anti-clockwise previously.  

As we set off past the Golden Rule in Ambleside, it was a glorious morning, quite possibly the best fell walking day of the year.

We had no navigational difficulties climbing up to Low Pike then High Pike.  

In fact we were going so well that we decided to add in firstly Dove Crag and then Little Hart Crag where Stan had an argument with a man passing in the opposite direction as to who had the oldest pair of fell running shoes.  Robin and I agreed that Stan won feet down with his description of a pair he had bought in 1832 or something like that.

The required complex terrain was encountered after we passed the Scandale col and began to climb diagonally to Middle Dodd.  Navigation was difficult and the terrain was indeed a complex jumble of very steep grass, crags and large boulder deposits. It was challenging to find the required path.  Despite several attempted direct visualisations of the correction factor application, we none-the-less had to pioneer a route that led under and round these obstacles.  Eventually we used the old fashioned manual method of heading directly up the hill.  The path from Red Screes was met and no further navigational corrections were required.

Having reached Middle Dodd and enjoyed the views down to Brotherswater and beyond, we turned round and followed the path to the summit of Red Screes and the precipitous drop to the Kirkstone Inn.

Unfortunately by this time the sun was frequently obscured by cloud.  This, plus the desire to get out of the reach of the midges, caused us to move on to lower ground before taking lunch.

A chilly wind was starting to blow.  Had the EOL asked us to participate in their field study experiment to study windflow over complex mountain terrain, we probably would have been able to help them.

Whereas the ground on the western side of the Scandale valley had been surprisingly dry, this was not the case on the eastern descent.  There was quite a lot of bogginess to navigate but that too was not part of the ADNaCS study.

Two cows guarded the view over to the Crinkles, Bowfell and the Langdales.

Finally we reached Ambleside and more importantly, the Golden Rule.  Here we had a debrief on our observational findings.  We had completed the reverse direction circuit.  It was then that we realised to our utter astonishment that Scandale in reverse spells El ADNaCS !  And vice-versa!  

What a crazy coincidence this is.

Don, 12th July 2017

Afternote:  I have yet to discover what the letters ADNaCS stand for.  Suggestions please sent by clicking on .  A modest prize awaits the most pertinent submission.

Chris Ps:  
Adventurous Don's Navigation and Compass System
Your weekly offerings continue to delight this fell lover.  As a mountain and sailing instructor at Brathay Hall (1964 -67) many of your routes are revisited on my iPad!  Oh, what joy it is to share those beautiful places once again.

Don: Thanks, Chris, although it ain't me that's adventurous, it's Stan.  He was having to motivaate this wimp to get across that dodgy terrain!

John Hs:
Ambulatory Don’s Natland Comitibus Scheduler
or
Ambulatory Don’s Natland Automatic Comitibus Scheduler

Don: Thanks, John. It would nice if the Comitibus could be scheduled automatically!
For the benefit of those who are unaware, Natland is the village where I live.

Comitibus: Robin, Stan, Don

Map shown: Anquet Harveys 1:25k

BOOTboys routes are put online in gpx format which should work with most mapping software. You can follow our route in detail by downloading bb1724 .

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BOOTboys 2017

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