Tuesday 6 September 2011 - Sari Memedin Yurdu (1800 metres) to Sokulupinar (2000 metres)

Approx 11km, 700m ascent, 7 hours including stops and searches.

Another 'blue sky' day. After paying off our assistant cook and assembling for the now routine 9 o'clock start, we strolled up the Emli Valley, welcoming the shade from the cedar trees with their light coloured pointy-up cones. It was a hot day.

The switchback path, if you can call a single five kilometre zigzag that, took us along a sandy path, past thistles and spurges, gently up to about the same height as yesterday - 2500 metres. On the way, Tessa lost the mouthpiece of her platypus (piped drinking system), and a search party set off back to comb the area in which it had been spotted. This took some time. The seven strong vanguard led by Turan hadn't noticed the incident, which was hidden from their view. So it was a relieved Turan, who had returned down the trail to investigate, when I explained the problem (I'd gone on to meet him). The rest of the vanguard, sadly, didn't buy my 'We saw a Mountain Lion' story!

Before this incident, on the turn of the switchback, a needle of rock came into view. "I want to climb that" announced Sue. "You can't" asserted Turan. So she made do with the above photo.

After passing a large German group heading in the opposite direction, the only people we have encountered on the trail, we continued along a high path to a succulent spring. Time for lunch, with a welcoming cool breeze.

Dave 'my knee's gone pop' wasn't with us today - he took the easy route in the jeep, so it was just seventeen who continued along a lovely contouring path via a distinctive rocky tor, followed by some entertainingly skittery scree, to our destination - a host of two tone green tents in an even greener field that is subject to constant irrigation by way of a sprinkler.

En route we saw a Kestrel hover and dive, passed some 'French tents', my nose had a bleed, and Turan became the proud owner of a secondhand high heeled shoe.

The campsite is in a splendid position with a fine mountain backdrop as well as views across a deep valley towards the continuing chain of mountains to the west.

After our 4pm arrival, and 30 minutes of tea and biscuits and Turkish Delight, most of us set about washing off the dust and grime of the day. Some used the campsite showers, as usual - unheated; Sue and I chose the garden sprinkler. Interesting!

Time flew by. A 'marmot' was spotted in camp. It looked more like a ferret to me. Turan explained that in his youth he would catch these poor beasts by pouring water down their burrows and then chasing the soggy animals that emerged, weighed down by their wet fur, to exhaustion. I expect they were then savoured as a breakfast titbit in much the same way as Sue downed her grasshopper delicacy for breakfast along with this morning's boiled egg.

Sunset was magical, with pink light on the mountains above us, and great opportunities to capture silhouettes against the setting sun.

Dinner in the large open tent with its trestle table for 18, was the usual jolly gathering, after which some of us managed to stay up until after 9pm!

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The Internet in Turkey

I've been surprised to get a signal in the 'High Taurus', but the internet connection is somewhat 'flaky'.

I'm doing my best, but don't be surprised if I go off air for a while.

The picture is of Sue's breakfast.

Have fun

Martin

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Monday 5 September 2011 - A Mountain Walk from Sari Memedin Yurdu (1800 metres)

Approx 6km, 700m ascent, 6.5 hours including stops.

Another 9am start for this circular stroll into the mountains shown in yesterday's photo, from our 'pre-set' camp site at 1800 metres in the Emli Valley.

Overnight, wolves were howling and Daves were snoring.

During breakfast the sun hit the camp and normal clothing (t-shirts) was resumed.

So we enjoyed a sunny 700 metre ascent to our lunch stop, and an equally sunny descent back to camp to complete the short circuit.

Today's picture of Carey illustrates the magnificent scenery hereabouts, but fails to capture the image of a Golden Eagle soaring over the mountain tops.

That was first thing, as we left 'Fly Camp' as it is rightly known, in Mediterranean weather. The stony path soon became strewn with Autumn Crocuses, and Turan spotted ibex in the distance. They are not as tame here as in the Maritime Alps as they are hunted, but we saw more females with their young as we approached our lunch spot at the day's high point around 2500 metres.

A Red-fronted Serine drank from the spring at this point, which like a number of locations hereabouts used to be the summer home of up to ten local families - tending their sheep high in the mountains to avoid the summer heat in their villages.

Martins, Flycatchers, Pinks, Spurges and much more by way of flora and fauna entertained us on the way down. During this time, Carey suffered a gear failure - one of his borrowed but brand new Pacerpoles lost its tip. Oops! Meanwhile one Dave managed to roll over some rather prickly thistles in his attempt to become a pin cushion. Ouch! The other Dave suddenly ground to a halt - "My knee's gone 'pop'" he exclaimed. Oh dear! His dodgy digit was dutifully bandaged and Lil nursed him down to safety.

By 3.30 we were back at camp, supping tea and debating how best to 'shower'. Most people seemed to choose the 'bucket and hose' system.

By and by, dinner was served. "Enjoy your grasshopper soup" announced Adam with a wry smile. (Actually, not knowing Turkish, I have no idea what he said!)

A few beers later, Uno, a card game - an adult version of 'snap' - was attempted, using the South Wales school of Double Dutch rules. Amongst the eleven who played, friends were won and lost...

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Sunday 4 September 2011 - Marti Mahallesi to Sari Memedin Yurdu (1800 metres)

Approx 10km, 300m ascent, 5 hours including stops.

After a warm night at 1600 metres I woke to a 6am call to prayers. Some had been woken to an earlier call at 5.30! A lie in and gear sort until breakfast at 8 was in order. This is a holiday. A leisurely trip. No 'Alpine' starts are planned.

Breakfast of water melon, cheese salad, bread and the usual accompaniments, and sausage omelette (did I tell you the area is famous for its sausages), was washed down with copious tea and coffee by the assembled group, now fully recovered from its jet lag, early start, and misplaced baggage/passport/hotel.

Here's the cast:
Martin and Sue - the Timperley Travellers
Susan and Roy, fellow TGO Challengers, seeking refuge from Hurricane Irene's devastation in their home town of Glastonbury, Connecticut
Dave and Elizabeth (Lil) from Hexham
Dave and Joanna from Harlow
Jane 'Egg' seeking refuge from the rigours of a yacht on the Bosphorus, and an audience for her tales of 'storm and tempest on the TGO Challenge 2011'
Alan, erstwhile TGO Challenger and landlord of the Greyhound in Burston (Staffordshire)
Tessa from Bowdon, who works in Leeds but lives very close to us
Anne from Newcastle, a University worker
Breda, Karen and Ann, seeking refuge from the autumnal ambience of South Wales
Carey, assistant editor of TGO Magazine, our junior member, a member of the Paparazzi - seeking a cover shot for the magazine
Turan - our local leader on this KE Adventure Travel trip
Elif, Turan's assistant, a budding rock climber
Adam, our cook - by far the most important member of our team
Various other 'assistants' and their own assistants...

We left in the bus at around 9 o' clock and after 5-10 minutes were dropped off at the start of a walk that took us across dusty scrubland with prickly plants under a hot sun.

There was no path, but the going was easy. By and by we paused for elevenses in the shade of a large rock. Beyond here, Sue found a friend - a giant grasshopper that over the next 500 metres wandered nonchalantly all the way down from her hat to regain terra firma.

Whilst late in the season, there are still a fair number of plants in flower including Carline like thistles and a variety of mullein.

We continued over desert like scrub with fine mountain views. The scenery hereabouts is very 'Dolomitic', with steep rock faces towering above us. A rough descent into a deep gorge - Kazkali Bogazi - delivered us to a lunch spot near a bolted rock climb. "I've been up there" commented Elif, Turan's demure assistant, who was clearly contracted to act as 'sweeper' for our group. A small group of climbers studiously ignored our noisy group.

Moving off again, our 18 strong band took another good hour to reach our campsite by around 2.15.

Time for tea and biscuits.

It's a lovely spot. A formal campsite with facilities and several 'camping fields'. We have the best of these (pictured), with a huge mountain backdrop. There's a large open tent to the right of the photo in which our meals are served.

A relaxing afternoon and evening were enjoyed by all, featuring a lengthy meal and culminating in Turan's exposition of 'the sky at night'.

Mark and Alan - thanks for your respective comments. I have Will's book 'In View of Monte Viso', Mark - an Alpine classic.

Ken - only three of us went down to that crumbling brickwork - even Reg declined to do that! It's a shame, but there really does seem to be no current use for the fine viaduct.

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Saturday 3 September 2011 - Demirka

Here we are at a camping place in the village of Demirka. (Photo taken 'tomorrow morning'.)

The journey from Reading, where Ian kindly put us up last night before dashing off to Leysin himself, started with a 3.30am taxi ride and ended after a two and a half hour bus ride from Kayseri, via another bus ride and two Turkish Airlines flights - Heathrow to Kayseri via Istanbul.

It was quite a smooth journey for most of us, but Carey had a bit of an epic yesterday in Istanbul - due to 'disappearing' luggage, passport and hotel...

All is now well though, and all 16 of us plus guides and cook are happily installed in a flotilla of tents, and have enjoyed an excellent dinner.

We flew over arid looking terrain, to Kayseri, which is famous for sofas, sunflower, sausages and potatoes. It's a thriving metropolis whose inhabitants live mainly in ugly blocks of flats.

Beyond there, the bus ride took us past fields of golden stubble, potatoes and sweetcorn, in an area that looks much more fertile from the ground than from above.

We rose from about 1100 metres to this plateau at 1600 metres, and finished about 4km from the home of Touran, KE Adventure Travel's local guide - our 'leader' for the next ten days.

Whilst settling into the tents, we enjoyed watching the late sunlight on the mountains to our east. They tower over 2000 metres above us. From here they look like barren Alpine peaks, a bit like certain of the Dolomites. We'll get a closer look tomorrow, when I'll also find time to say a few more words about the cast of sixteen who are embarking on this TGO Magazine '2011 Readers Trek'.

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Wednesday 31 August 2011 – The Red Rock Express

A cast of 20 arrived at the Bay Horse in Adlington, for this mixture of a Railway Ramble and a historic trip around Adlington and Standish, courtesy of East Lancashire LDWA ‘Plodders’, led by Reg.

I was late, so missed Reg’s 15 minute introduction to this fine little ramble.  To say the route was convoluted is something of an understatement – I’ve done my best to plot it on the map shown at the foot of this posting, but Reg had devised a plan that was calculated to confuse even the locals.

We set off at 10.40am and headed directly to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, joining it by the A5106/A6 junction.

The pleasant towpath soon passed a small marina.

We marched on as I listened to Anne’s ‘Tales from the Recipe Page’.  Eventually White Bear Marina, in Adlington, was reached.

The Marina Café is staffed by Down Syndrome sufferers who provide a most efficient, friendly and welcoming service.  (You should pop round here from time to time, Robert and Lyn – you live just around the corner.)

On this last day of August, whilst overcast, the day was plenty warm enough to stay outside.

Suitably gorged with coffee and cake, we went back over the canal to rejoin the towpath and annoy lots of fishermen engaged in a competition.  Near the café are the remains of the original steps down to the old platform of White Bear Station, which was closed to passengers in 1960.  The stone building was part of the station; factory on the right of the picture encroaches on the course of the old railway line.  There’s more here.

We soon left the fishermen to catch their tiddlers and headed under the canal, beside the River Douglas, to join the course of a dismantled railway.  It led down to Red Rock Station, built in 1869 – see the plaque at the head of this posting.  The station has now been incorporated into an impressive private house.

Here’s what it used to look like – this photo may have been taken from almost the exact same spot, albeit nearly 60 years ago. (I’ve borrowed the picture from here.)

Just beyond the station, Reg had organised a butty fest – huge platters of butties provided by the Bay Horse and transported to a small car park on Red Rock Lane by one of his neighbours.  A splendid little break.

A short way down the lane, we turned left along Chorley Road and past some contrasting gardens…

 

Now Reg’s imaginative route led us around the back of some houses beside a plethora (yes, a plethora) of dismantled railways, eventually leading to a huge, crumbling viaduct.

The complex pattern of lines and link lines and goods lines to mines and quarries has now been largely dismantled and whilst some of the tracks can be walked, there are few through routes and lots of dead ends due to dismantled bridges and the crumbling viaduct.

Returning to Chorley Road, we followed, almost via the site of Boars Head Station, the course of an old branch line, which took us under the current main line between Warrington and Preston.  The old line joined the line that is still open at Standish Station, access to which was through the wall shown below that has been bricked up, with the main line now passing over the green bridge.

Reg’s route turned left after going under the bridge, and headed pleasantly beside crops until the next lane was reached.  We were surprised that the crops hadn’t been harvested.  They looked ‘tired’.

Perhaps the farm machinery wasn’t up to it.

The 20 walkers were by now a bit tired.  They had completed the 10 miles stipulated by Reg in his advertising literature, and had reached his predicted finishing time of 3.30pm.  But there were still nearly three miles to go!

The blame was placed fairly and squarely on the antics of one of the younger members, R Norman (56), who is really not old enough to be eligible as a ‘Plodder’.  He had persistently sped on ahead of the group, leading various members astray down false trails eschewed by Reg, whilst muttering “I know this area like the back of my hand”.

At one point I think I saw this vagabond disappearing into the public bar of the White Crow.

I checked out R Norman’s hand.  It was very swollen today!

The site of Ellerbeck Colliery was passed as we returned towards Adlington. The colliery closed in 1965 after nearly 90 years of use, and today there are just a few signs of its existence amongst the renovated and extended buildings on the old site.

Back across the canal, there were sighs of dismay as a duo of Johns looked up at the final hill.  They plodded on up the hill together with other stragglers, with Reg bringing up the rear after his final lecture.

The beer in the Bay Horse was very refreshing.

Here’s the approximate route – about 21km, with 250 metres ascent, taking about 5.5 hours including an hour of breaks.

There will be an LDWA report on this walk, maybe here. (It looks as if some of the photo uploading to this page has gone berserk, perhaps it’ll be calmed down soon…)

That’s all for now, and maybe for a while, as tomorrow Sue and I embark on a trip that may see us ‘out of range’ for over a week.

The next ‘Plodders’ walk is just 8 miles, leaving on ‘Part 4’ of the Salford Trail, from Irlam Station, at 11.00am on Tuesday 20 September.  There’s also a ‘Topwalks’ walk featuring the Monsal Trail, starting from Taddington at 10.00am on Sunday 18 September.  All are welcome, more details here.

August Bank Holiday Weekend

Bank Holiday weekends:  we usually are either abroad or we stay at home and avoid the crowds.  This weekend, at home preparing for the next trip, we enjoyed a few rather enjoyable interludes, and we did avoid the crowds.

Friday night saw our house minders, Andrea and Thomas, here for a meal.  They even brought the starter, pictured above, with them.  It was delicious, and we suspect it took them longer to prepare the sushi than it took us to cook the rest of the meal.

Thank you, A + T.

Saturday brought a visit from Kate and Jake, now 18 weeks old.  Holiday weekends draw lots of railway enthusiasts to the track around Walton Park, which is a short stroll up the canal from home. 

I suspect young Jake will enjoy a few visits to this spot in days to come.

The gardens at Walton Park are in good form, there’s plenty of space for games, and there are some new climbing frames for young and older children.  A fine amenity.

Saturday afternoon saw me heading off to Monsal Head, where Terry had arranged a ‘meet’ for bloggers and others, also attended by some outdoors suppliers such as RAB and Terra Nova, and by Gareth from Webtogs, who supply several of us with outdoor gear for testing and review.

After a beer with Mick and Gayle (they needed one after discovering Monk’s Dale earlier in the afternoon), we joined a throng at the nearby campsite.  It drizzled.  Mick was testing a rather gaudy yellow ‘weather resistant top’.

Gareth demonstrated several ‘Nemo’ tents from Webtogs’ lightweight tent range.  This one weighs under two kilos and has inflatable poles.

Interesting!

Mick and Gayle tried out the 1.4kg Nemo Obi 2P tent and thought it may be a little tight for them.  These are interesting tents from the USA.  I’m curious to find out what the professional reviewers think of them, and I’m looking forward to borrowing the Obi 1P Elite from Webtogs to test and review, hopefully in the Autumn.

Mick continued to test the top to which he has become seriously attached.  Gareth wondered whether it doubled as pyjamas…

Meanwhile, a rainbow appeared through the drizzle.

The viaduct at Monsal Head has appeared before on these pages.  It was a rather dull sunset on this occasion, principally because the sun had gone down before Jamie and I reached the viewpoint.

It was good to meet Jamie, another blogger, for a little longer than our previous encounter in Sainsbury’s, and to discover that I know several of his work colleagues.

It was also good to meet fellow Webtogs tester James and his dog Reuben, and various others who were enjoying the meet.

Sunday afternoon saw Sue and me back in the company of A + T, this time at Altrincham Beer Festival.

There was a fine array of beers, and some Spanish and Indian food.

A young train driver entertained us with some ‘tales from the driving seat’.  He was (refreshingly) breathtakingly enthusiastic about his job.

“Do you want my old bike” texted Dave on Sunday afternoon.  He’s gone through a rough time recently with his elderly dad, and deserves a treat – in Dave’s case, a new bike.  So Dave’s five year old Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Comp was up for grabs.

I’ve been pondering about getting a new bike for a while, and only the enthusiasm at my local bike shop for my old steel bike stopped me from getting a new one late last year.

I couldn’t resist the temptation, so Monday morning saw me meeting Dave and exchanging a piece of paper for ‘Stumpy’, my new full suspension bike.  I’ll be keeping the old Shogun Trailbreaker for the flatter local rides, but Stumpy, with its full suspension, should be great for the ‘rougher’ stuff.

I’ll be getting a few extra bits, like mudguards, so the appearance may change a bit, but I’m looking forward to using this new ‘steed’.

All in all, a very pleasant Bank Holiday.