Heathrow Hikers - Outdoor Group for West London

From the Editor
Report - Easter Trip to Snowdonia
Update - Heathrow Hikers' Bear
Report - Amsterdam Weekend
Report - Bank Holiday to Peak District
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April is always a busy month for a hiking group with bank holidays at the start and the end of the month. Both events were a great success, with many new people to the group attending the trips. We also managed to head overseas in April with a weekend in Amsterdam to coincide with the famous tulip festival at Keukenhof.

All in all it was an action packed month. I hope you enjoy the issue.

Our Easter trip to Snowdonia saw 14 girls and 7 guys leaving London, bound for Snowdon Lodge hostel (birthplace of Lawrence of Arabia).

On Good Friday a couple of walks were on offer to the group. I led a large group to the summit of Snowdon. Many of the group were new to hiking so we decided to take the easy Pyg track up. When the path split Jen continued to lead most of the group onwards. I decided to take Larry and Peter across the narrow Crib Goch ridge. The whole group met again at the summit before heading back down via the Miners path, Jen and I stopping briefly to find a Geocache.

Jen Geocching on Snowdon - Photo by Gary Box

Kate led many of the more experienced hikers on a hike up the north ridge of Moel Siabod from Capel Curig.

Kate & John from Carnedd y Cribau - Photo supplied by Kate Stroud

Back at the hostel in the evening we all swapped stories about our day over a few drinks.

It was an early start on Saturday for most of us to fulfill a 9am booking at The National Whitewater Centre. Once the wetsuits were on and we were split into two groups our instructors took us down the course for the first of our four trips. It was great fun, the groups getting more confident with each descent. Con and Hayley seemed the most confident, both being members of rowing clubs. On the final descent the instructors managed to keep the rafts in the swell, water pouring over the sides, getting everyone totally drenched...... great fun! Finally the sessions was over and we were heading back to the hostel to decide what to do with the afternoon.

Whitewater Rafting - Photo taken by resident photographer

Once back at the hostel some decided to have a relaxing afternoon, heading to the local beach. The rest of us decided to head to Bedgelert for an afternoon walk passing the remains of old Copper mines.

For those that decided against rafting there was another tough walk led by Kate, a grade 1/2 scramble up the North ridge of Tryfan. The summit was busy with many Mountain Rescue helicopters circling above. Enrico and Wanda decided to relax and spent the day at Portmeirion. In the evening most members of the group visited local pubs before returning to the hostel where Carl kept the bar open late for thirsty hikers.

On Easter Sunday the group headed to the breakfast room to find Easter eggs, kindly provided by Jen. Some decided to eat theirs immediately, others put them in their rucksacks as extra energy that might be required later in the day. The options available to the group were again varied.

Jen took a group to Beddgelert to do the walk that some of us had completed the day before. Kate led a group up Bristly Ridge (a Grade 1 scramble) to Glyder Fach and on to Glyder Fawr, the group stopping to play on the Cantilever as is customary. The route down passed the Devil's Kitchen before they were safely back down at Llyn Ogwen.

Chaya on the Cannon - Photo by Tom Kiely

Having tried most of the summits in the Snowdonia area I decided to take a group on the Nantile ridge, which was a great walk, though slightly tougher than we had imagined.

Sunday walk on Nantile Ridge - Photo by Gary Box

Monday was another early start. The weather was again stunning, as it had been all weekend. Some people decided to try and beat the bank holiday traffic home by leaving in the morning. For most of us there was one final activity, a high ropes course. Everyone attacked the course with real energy, every single person successfully completing the leap of faith. The Giant G3 swing also proved popular, Jen even going on twice.

Tom doing the 'Leap of Faith' - Photo by Gary Box

Jen & Tom on the Giant G3 swing - Photo by Gary Box

When the course was over we collected our certificates and headed into town for something to eat. The weekend had been action packed and great fun. It was sad to have to head home to London but we said our goodbyes and began the drive home.

Article submitted by Gary Box

Heathrow Bear did not have to wait long in the 'Here be Goldfish' cache, The Mightly Chondria retrieving him on April 1st, just one day after he was left there. He held on to our bear for just one day, leaving him in his new home, Newton View 3, a cache close to Newton Abbot.

Heathrow was to remain here until Freddy McTavish took pity on him and rescued him on April 22nd. He was to remain with Freddie until the 29th April when a cache called the Sawmills, near Bodmin Pill became his new abode. He did not have a chance to get settled, Plymplodders deciding to take him home later than same day.

I'm not sure if Heathrow Bear behaved badly but Plymplodders left him in a cache in Hardwick Wood, just one day later.

Article submitted by Gary Box

For some time Zhang and I had discussed the possibility of a trip to the Netherlands to see the famous tulip festival at Keukenhof. At short notice we decided to make the trip this year and found ourselves joined by Jen who was keen to tick off another European country visited.

Our accommodation was quite conveniently located close to the train station in Amsterdam which would save us time on Saturday morning when we had to catch a train to Keukenhof. The trip to Keukenhof was uneventful, gazing out of the train window you realised just how flat Holland really was. Every now and then we would speed past a field bursting with colour, row upon row of tulips.

A short bus journey was required from the train station before we found ourselves entering the venue. My first impression was that the place was very neat and orderly. I also noticed how many pensioners the place attracted, I almost felt too young to be there! All three of us began to take photographs, trying to capture the colours and almost perfect shapes of the flowers.

Keukenhof Tulips - Photo by Zhang

The park was well signposted and there were a number of food stalls and restaurants for hungry visitors. The place was swarming with people, it was actually difficult to take photos that did not include people. Zhang had more success, using his macro lens to get in close and isolate individual flowers.

Kenkenhof - Photo by Zhang

Gary at Keukenhof - Photo by Zhang

After a few hours at the park we all agreed that we had seen enough tulips for one day and headed back to Amsterdam city centre.

Jen and I wanted to find a Geocache that was located under one of the canal bridges, so all three of us jumped in a pedal boat near the Anne Frank house. It was very well hidden and trying to keep the boat still to retrieve it was not easy. With the cache found we hurried back to return the boat, Zhang taking the opportunity to take some photographs from the canal.

Amsterdam Canal - Photo by Zhang

Once back on dry land we decided to explore the city taking more photographs along the way. I noticed that many of the shops were trying to attract the English with signs like, 'Lousy food and warm beer!' Reading the shop signs became quite an entertaining way to pass the time as we made our way back to the hotel.

Amsterdam Coffee Shop - Photo by Gary Box

After a short rest we decided to explore the city at night. It seemed logical to head to the Red Light District, always an eye opener. Being a Saturday evening the steets were very crowded, the Red Light district being popular with tourists and stag parties alike.

It was getting late and we needed to eat. Everywhere seemed to be full or about to close for the night. Luckily we found a Chinese / Asian restaurant still open with tables available. The day had gone by quickly, in the morning we would have to be up early for the flight back to London. Our trip had been a little too brief, we would have liked to stay longer, especially as Sunday turned out to be the sunnier day!

Article submitted by Gary Box

For the May Day bank holiday the group has booked Bretton Youth Hostel, high up in the Peak District, looking down on the village of Eyam. Cars arrived at different times in the evening and once unpacked everyone walked to the nearest pub for a pint and a few baskets of chips.

After a cooked breakfast everyone was ready for a good hike. Two of the girls decided to try their own walk in the local area but everyone else made their way to the car park in Edale. The walk planned was a tough 15.5 mile hike covering much of the Kinder Plateau edge. The large group was making good progress, sticking close together until the first real ascent. We took many short breaks during the day, but to take on food and water and to allow those towards the back to catch up.

As the day wore on some people began to tire and it was clear that we would not finish the whole walk in daylight. Taking a quick look at the map it was decided we would stop following the edge of the plateau and cut rigt across the middle to try and save some time. The terrain was not too bad and it did save quite some time, meaning we were back at ground level just as the light faded.

The group were hungry and the pubs in Edale seemed packed. Tom and Patrick suggested a village that might be able to seat our group and sure enough finally our large hungry group were seated on 2 seperate tables ordering food and drink. Once everyone was well fed we decided to return to the hostel for a well earned shower, and to meet up with the two girls to see how their day had gone. Many of the group stayed up well into the early hours, chatting and listening to music provided by Paul's Ipod and speakers.

Sunday morning the group split up. The girls had the company of John and were led by Jen on an easy but beautiful walk along Lathkill Dale. Jen introduced the group to Geocaching, one of the caches being located next to a disused mine.

I led the rest of the guys on The Roaches walk, an area popular with Rock Climbers. We made really good progress, eating up the miles so fast that we were able to fit in a long pub stop too!

The group met back at the hostel, the girls had been shopping, buying food for the planned BBQ. We were joined in the evening by John S and Con who were stopping the night before heading with me to Scotland for the Isle of Skye trip. John S and Con took control of the BBQ, the girls preparing the salads and cooking some chicken in the oven. Once the meal was over it was time to surprise Rachel with a cake, card and rendition of Happy Birthday! We had been tipped off by her friend Tina. As with Saturday night, some of us stayed up later than others, enjoying each other's company and the log fire.

On Monday we all had breakfast, tidied the hostel and said our goodbyes. Many new friendships had been made over the weekend. Most were returning to London but a small group decided to fit a final activity in, namely horse riding. For John S, Con and I there was no return to London or a return to work. We instead returned the hostel keys and headed North to Scotland via a pick up for Geoff in Manchester.

Article submitted by Gary Box

If you have any articles or images you wish to contribute to the next issue of Compass please email them to Gary.

Please try and submit articles as early as possible but not later than the 3rd week of the month if you wish it to appear in the subsequent issue.

Thanks.