13 November 2025 - Another Postcard from Chile (4) - Summit Day and beyond

First light on summit day

Summit day was a couple of days ago, and they are now on their way home. Here are a few pictures via WhatsApp and Facebook - not in order.

The captions are from Sue, and her heading is as follows:

Yesterday three of us summited Licancabur, reaching 5924m at 9am, having started at 4600m 2am. At dawn, it went from cold to absolutely freezing, with a wind, perhaps minus 15 to 20C with windchill. It was worth it, with amazing views of the Andes and Lagunas Verde and Blanca.

This ascent is dedicated to my father, who died in February. Being breathless for 10 hours is nothing compared to the years he spent living with the breathlessness caused by heart failure, with stoicism and few complaints.

Looking north during one of our few rests

Laguna Verde contains copper and arsenic

Enjoying the warmth on our last break before the summit. L to R is Cristobal (Cris), our local guide, Nati (from El Calafate in Argentina, our high altitude guide), Nicky and Dan.

The crater and its lake from our high point

Start of the descent, past patches of penitentes, high altitude snow formations I hadn’t seen before

View into Bolivia (we were the wrong side of the crater to see down to San Pedro)

On the summit holding the Bolivian flag (we had to stay just over the border from Chile)

The Wiphala flag that represents the native people of the Andes

Just three, out of the 14 clients, made it to the summit.

OS Locate confirmation of our altitude, the highest I’ve been

The steep descent was fabulous - loose scree and small rocks made it very fast!

Pychnophyllum molle, tiny flowers on a low mat, around 4600m

A welcome sight after a 10-hour circuit

Even more welcome (once we’d escaped Bolivia) was a swim in the hotel pool in San Pedro

Jenny and Richard at 4800 meters, the highest they have ever been

Winding down, Santiago, and a few snaps before going

 home...

Well done, everyone. It sounds like a great trip.

Monday 10 November 2025 - GM Ringway Trail Stage 14b - Barrow Bridge to Blackrod

As last week, this was a 'catch-up' walk for Paul and Jeanette, and Andy also took the opportunity to make his first appearance on these GM Ringway walks. We walked the complete stage on 14 October - diary entry here, and last week's effort from Bromley Cross to Barrow Bridge is recorded here.

We caught the 10:33 train from Piccadilly to Bolton, followed by a £10 taxi ride to Barrow Bridge, where we finished last week. That enabled us to start walking at 11:15, through the village of Barrow Bridge, past pretty cottages accessed by bridges over the Dean Brook stream.

At the start (photo cortesy of Andy W)

We continued to the very end of Barrow Bridge Road, soon crossing a bridge and climbing the 63 steps that were used by miners in days gone by.

After climbing up to above the height of the Barrow Bridge chimney, we entered Smithills Estate, the largest site in the country that is managed by the Woodland Trust. As previously, we took the well designed riverside diversion, after taking advantage of a picnic table at the junction for a rather late 'elevenses'.

Pphoto cortesy of Andy W

The optional path that we took emerges at a unique stone tramway with signs and sculptures recalling the industrial past, when many different industries operated in this area.

The tall chimney near where we started could still be seen (far left below) in the distance, as we looked back across the skyscrapers of Manchester to the Peak District beyond.

The gentle ascent of Winter Hill passes the monument to the Winter Hill Mass Trespass of 1896, now waymarked as being on a selection of official walking routes, including the GM Ringway Trail.

The cloud was descending and waterproofs were needed for over an hour for the first time on any of these GM Ringway walks that we've been enjoying since we started on 13 February.

As on our previous visit on 14 October, it wasn't worth a diversion to the summit trig point, given that there would have been very little to see from that point. This time cloud had descended almost to the base of the mast.

We wandered down the access road, with the Two Lads viewpoint ahead, and Rivington Pike to our right.

We by-passed the fenced viewpoint of Two Lads, seen below in the background as we ambled down the hillside to reach Georges Lane at the Pike Snack Shack, which was unsurprisingly closed.

After a short stretch along the lane, a right turn took us into Wilderswood, where we soon found a tree to shelter under whilst we enjoyed our lunch. 

Lunch! (photo cortesy of Andy W)

After this, waterproofs remained on, but the rain eased to become a very light drizzle. Our path led between walls that were skilfully constructed and certainly built to last.

Beyond new housing in Rivington, our route lay beside the River Douglas for a while before following red signs through a farm at the end of Squirrel Lane and taking a track towards the M61 motorway.

 

A footbridge over the railway indicated that we were close to the finish of our walk.

Our roundabout route went up to and across the Blackrod by-pass, then along a footpath parallel with that main A6 road, before  descending a cobbled path to re-cross the road and head for the station platform, with Rivington Pike well and truly doused in cloud ahead of us.

We had just a few minutes wait for the 3:32 train to Deansgate and the Metrolink tram home.

Here's our 15km route, with 340 metres ascent, taking us 4¼ hours.

We've already walked Stage 15, and Stage 16 is planned for Wednesday 19 November. Here's the 'topwalks.com' flier:

GM Ringway Trail - Stage 16 - Wigan to Leigh. Meet at Wigan Station at 11:07 on
19 November for this sixteenth 17km stage of the 20 stage circuit of Greater Manchester.
Arrive on the 10:27 from Victoria.
Return to Manchester by regular V1 bus service from Leigh.

PS
Rather than bothering with a separate (or no) posting, and with TGO Challenge vetting duties falling behind, here are some Common Ink Caps and some autumn leaves from De Quincey Park, near home, yesterday afternoon.