I have only visited this part of the snowny mountains once before, but parts of this walk are etched into my mind, there is now another spot added to that list. As i made the very slow ascent up the hill i realised very quickly that whilst i think my fitness is ok i could probably do with some intense stair work. I can swim 40 laps non stop but by the time I got to the top of the treeline i was doing batches of 20 snow shoe steps and doing more resting that walking ;)
I had planned to keep on going up to the top (Nth Ramshead) but the weather was not favourable and I realised I probably needed another two hours and about twice the energy to get to the top with enough time to setup camp. Hence when i got to the treeline I tracked around in circles looking for a nice tree wind break or some rocks until I found this little spot, which whilst is right up on the highest treeline did have some good protection from the wind howling down the hill – if you look to the right you can see the hill that takes you up the top.
In hindsight its actually quite a nice photogenic spot with the trees around the site but this was certainly not what i was thinking when i picked it, the relatively flat spot, the nice snow for making snow blocks and the large drift to give some protection from the wind was what i was looking for. In actual fact that tree was very inconveniently placed either that or my tent poorly positioned since when i got straight outta the tent i repeatedly smacked my head right on that branch..thanks nature, nicely played ;)
My snow wall turned out ok.. except was peppered with holes the next day from the rather strong winds, it did however do its job and that was keep the wind and snow flurries away from my tent.
This is a large 9 shot (portrait orientation) panorama image which captures about a 180 degree field of view, hence whilst it looks open, large and spacious, its actually quite a small area.
