Shutlingsloe

A wintry walk to Shutlingsloe (it was going to be The Cloud, but the car park was closed with no indication when it was going to open, something we're increasingly experiencing). Probably worked out for the best because Shutlingsloe had had some snow.

Shutlingsloe elevation

Shutlingsloe route

The weather was extremely windy and cold, we struggled to stay upright going round Shutlingsloe itself.

Sunrise over Shutlingsloe

Snowy shutlingsloe

Snowy Shutlingsloe (not pictured, howling winds)

Scrabbling up the (cheshire) Matterhorn

The route back was through northern trails, instead of the soggy cow fields to the south. Worked out ok, even if we did get a little lost.

Shutlingsloe

Shutlingsloe from Tegg's Nose. Not quite the route we planned as some of the paths are blocked due to storm damage.

Shutlingsloe elevation

Shutlingsloe route

Lots of bluebells but all inaccessible behind fences. Saw a Dipper briefly on the Clough Brook.

Bluebells

Shutlingsloe

View north from Shutlingsloe

View west from Shutlingsloe

Big blue skies

Shutlingsloe

Doing Shutlingsloe again, avoiding the steep start this time.

Shutlingsloe elevation

Shutlingsloe route

Down by the reservoir we were photographing the Buddleia when we spotted a Hummingbird Hawkmoth zipping around the flowers.

Buddleia flowers

Hummingbird Hawkmoth

Hummingbird Hawkmoth

Oxeye daisies

Oxeye daisies

Wildflower

Seedpods

Sign to Shutlingsloe

Shutlingsloe

Thistle

Hover fly coming in to land

Roly Polies and Shutlingsloe

Grass seeds

Shutlingsloe

Boisterous Bovines

Shutlingsloe

Another new walk, but starting from an old walk, heading round to Shutlingsloe but starting at Tegg's Nose again to add on some extra climbing to make a full day of it. Shutlingsloe can easily be seen from Tegg's Nose, a sharp bump in the otherwise rolling countryside, called the Cheshire Matterhorn due to its shape.

Very foggy on the way there, seeing lots of early sun beaming through misty forests, until we gained altitude near Macclesfield. This revealed a completely empty sky, far too bright, and very warm both from the mild air and the relentless sun. It's November, how can it be this warm? The fog in the distance just turned the horizon into a dirty, murky smudge.

Yet another day of meeting people who think it's "glorious" while we're spending most of the day blinded, sweating and with awful light for photography with boring, featureless skies all day long. Glorious if you're sat in your back garden sipping a Pimms, not glorious when overheating up the side of a hill.

Whinging over, on with the show.

Shutlingsloe elevation

Shutlingsloe route

Hazy sun over a reservoir

Blazing sun through the trees in Macclesfield Forest

Finally some trees with autumn colours

Featureless, alien planetscape from Shutlingsloe

Path to Shutlingsloe cutting across the moors

Stream in Wildboarclough

Trees on the hills above Wildboarclough

Trees in afternoon light

Setting sun over the reservoir

Setting sun over the reservoir

The fog we'd left behind in the morning came back on the way home, very thick and making driving quite difficult, not helped by idiots who think fog lights and full beams are compulsory.