The weather has been mixed for hikes so far this year with the first two weeks being dry, sunny and frozen, and beyond that either sunny or wet or cloudy or all of the above. But no matter the conditions, no matter if it’s glorious or gloomy, Summit Good will put on walks throughout the year each and every month.
There have been some changes to how Summit Good organise walks and new developments which should hopefully attract new people to the walking group. Before I talk about these changes and about forthcoming walks, events and hiking plans, I will first start with the forthcoming walks and events.
Upcoming Walks – February and March
Over the weeks full walk descriptions will be added (so please continue to check the site) but as it stands here are the forthcoming walks scheduled:
Saturday 14th February:
A Langdales walk going to Side Pike, Fat Man’s Agony, the Wainwright Lingmoor Fell and Blea Fell. This is a moderate walk.
Saturday 21st February:
A walk around the Glenderaterra Valley and the Wainwright of Latrigg. This is another moderate walk.
Saturday 28th February:
This walk starts from Lanthwaite Farm (Crummock Water area) and goes up Gasgale Gill and then goes to really great Wainwrights: Hopegill Head and Whiteside. Afterwards there will be a group dinner at Peri Fresco, in Keswick, with a table of 12 and it has been booked for 5pm. To join please message me on: 07842 783319
Saturday 21st March:
This is a Fairfield Horseshoe walk but one at a slower pace which takes the sting out of strenous walk. If you are Wainwright collecting there are 8 for the taking, and if you like Fairfield this is the walk for you.
Below are links to the walks and there walk descriptions:
///
There will be more emphasis on moderate walks and lowland walks, but those walks that go across the big stuff and those of the challenging Wainwrights will continue as well.
Group Discussion
Continuing on with the theme of scheduled events and plans, Ben, our Chairman, has set up a Zoom meeting in March for committee members and regular members to discuss filling in vacant committee positions, getting feedback from the group, and making plans for other ventures (such as group walks in Snowdonia).
The Zoom meeting takes place on March 22 and starts at 10am. Here is the Zoom link:
Residential Week (Wales)
This brings us to Snowdonia walks which I am planning for May. I have annual leave that month and I have booked accommodation in Snowdonia so that I will be checking in on Friday 15th May and checking out on Sunday 24th May. I have never been to Snowdonia before but I’ve been to the Scottish Highlands and am used to tackling new mountains for the very first time. As such I plan to lead a few Snowdonia walks though if anyone who joins is a walk leader, and who knows the area, I will be happy to follow them if they have hiking routes around the mountains of Snowdonia.
I would like to go to Glyder Fach and Glyder Fawr, Yr Wyddfa and Garnedd Ugain, and Carnedd Llewelyn and Carnedd Dafydd for instance. I reckon in March there will be concrete plans made and Snowdonia walks for Summit Good discussed and created on the website.
///
Changes from Feedback
Speaking of developments Summit Good are now implementing an online registration form for each walk where members, and non-members, simply fill it out. There is also the Summit Good mailing list, with a subscribe option on the website, which has been around for at least half a year.
Because of these developments posting walks, advertising walks and walker registration can all be done via the Summit Good website by the committee members.
Walk Leader Training
There is the matter of walk leader training as the Ramblers have implemented a mandatory walk leader training programme which only consists of one module, that takes 60-90 minutes to complete, and once completed you become an officially recognised walk leader recorded on the Ramblers website.
Starting from March if there are any walks led by those who have not completed the training, then the Ramblers will not provide insurance cover. For this reason all of our walks will be led by walk leaders who have completed this training.
This is very useful because last week Summit Good finally gained access to the Ramblers Walks Manager and this allows committee members to add our walks to the Ramblers website. This will broaden the reach of Summit Good walks as now our walks will be promoted via the mailing list, our Facebook page and the Ramblers website.
If this brings in new walkers and new members, then the hope is it will bring in new walk leaders as Summit Good are looking to expand their current pool of walk leaders. It could be you lead one walk in a year, or a few, or even one per month. If there are more walk leaders it helps expand the variety of walk types for you our members AND it makes it interesting for those who join the walks since every walk leader has their preferred areas and paths.
///
Spring is coming around as are many great hikes. One of our walk leaders, Kate Garrett, has kindly organised a series of Wainwright walks aimed at completing some of the Wainwrights but at a slower steadier pace and the first of these walks will be the Fairfield Horseshoe hike on 21st March. I myself have my own series of Wainwright walks that go to the obscure Wainwrights, the unloved ones and the hard-to-get-to ones, fells such as Knott or Lank Rigg or Sca Fell. There is also coming up at least two Snowdonia group hikes in that May period of 15 – 24.
Happy hiking and may this grey gloomy month pass us by speedily!
Kind regards,
Miles Saunders-Priem
Summit Good Walk Coordinator
Gallery!
You must be logged in to post a comment.