Down towards Chadderton the Rochdale canal was having a bit of a facelift with certain sections being drained.
It’s quite unusual to see a canal like this so we had a mooch around looking if anything of industrial archeology was visible on the muddy bottom. Sadly nothing much was apparent.
At the lock gates the gate for the transportation of water into the lower section was open and above water. A very rare sight.
The River Irk at Chadderton Park.
I was expecting to find mayhem in the park with wind damage but not much caught my eye. The odd tree here the odd branch there but nothing severe. Lots of twigs littered the walkways but not much considering the excessively high winds we have had.
Through the park we went up hill through Healds Green and Chadderton Heights entering Tandle Hill Park just at the first entrance of Ouzelwood Rd.
Again i expected more damage than was about. This area is quite exposed and the soil is soft and waterlogged. A few large trees had come down but i had expected quite a lot worse.
Another wet day for the Paramo. Almost continuous rain for 12km. I had also layered up too much with a base layer and a fleece. I didn’t need the fleece at all, i was roasting but today i didn’t bother with a daysack and so had to endure the overheating.
I checked for ingress of water half way through the walk and again at the end and i had none. My trust in the Paramo is starting to gain ground. But it still won’t replace my Brenig smock.
The gloves i had with me today are the OR Arete. They are a 2 part glove with a removable inner and a waterproof insulated outer. I have searched high and low this past couple of years for decent gloves and these are superb. Not the lightest outer gloves around at 157grams the pair, but sometimes that just doesn’t matter. They breath fantastic, dry quickly and keep your fingers warm. Thats what i want gloves to do.
There are two problems with nearly all gloves: difficult to put on when wet, and over elasticated cuffs also making pulling on difficult.
ReplyDeleteI am currently using some Sealskinz with with a seperate finger piece next to the thumb, and the rest in one; a sort of semi mitten, and they are reasonably ok - 7.5 out of 10 I reckon.
Hi Conrad. Yes you are right and adding to the 2 points you raised I also find some gloves difficult to get underneath your shell cuffs. Saying that, the Aretes have an inner glove that makes getting the outer glove on easy. I have found gloves that suit me and I'm pleased.
ReplyDeleteSealskins, now there is another enigma. My sealskins gloves leak very badly. Sheila bought a pair of socks against my judgement and they have been fine. I eventually bought a new pair of socks and they were OK for about 3-4 outings and they started leaking. As with Paramo some people have no problems whereas others have no luck with them. Strange.
I thought I had turned predictive text off but it seems like its back on hence the wrong spelling for Sealskinz. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteNice to see you getting out, Alan. I find Sealskinz gloves fine for day walks but impossible to dry out overnight, so on backpacking trips gloves that can be wrung out seem better, with full Alpine gloves in winter. Sealskinz socks I find very good, but with leaky boots you do again have to make some effort to dry them out overnight. A hand towel works well.
ReplyDeleteMy hand towel is so light it would fall apart of i tried to wring out wet gear with it. I have a Lightload std.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.lightloadtowels.co.uk/products/standard-towel.html
It would last a 2 week trip and then be replaced.
The Arete’s will be my number 1 glove. The fact that they don’t leak and have a pair of removable liner gloves covers all bases. Although the new Montane gloves/mitts look very nice. (i won’t be adding them to my museum of gear.)