My last Blog concerning the UK sales of Himalayan Portfolios was written hastily before I made a trip to England. I went to visit to my brother who lives in Kirkby Lonsdale, a small market town to the north of Lancaster in the Lune valley. This town is on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales and close to the Lake District. In early April it is lambing time. This picture was taken in a field a short distance from my brother's house.
The view from the back widows of the house is towards Middleton Fell, Barbon Fell and Gragareth on the far side of the Lune valley. Further to the distant right is Ingleborough whose distinctive flat top is a layer of millstone grit that sits above the more easily weathered Carboniferous limestone. All these fells are open moorland with occasional limestone outcrops, caves and potholes. The fells are crossed in places by long dry-stone walls. An occasional sheep farm can be found tucked into an upper valley positioned along a spring lines. The following picture of myself was taken at the trigonometric point on the top of Gragareth (627m / 2,057ft). This is the highest point in Lancashire. Few places that I know give such a sense of floating in the sky. We were accompanied by an exaltation of skylarks.
K E Visit
Seven of my view-camera trips to the Himalayas were taken with KE Adventure Travel. My visit provided a splendid opportunity to stop by their Lake Road office in Keswick (in the Lake District) and drop off a copy of Himalayan Portfolios. At the time of my first trip with KE to the Karakoram they were called Karakoram Experience. Since then they have greatly expanded into other areas, hence the name change.
I was lucky enough to find two of my former trek leaders in Keswick: Pete Royal (Rolwaling) and Jonathon Hughes (aka Frog: Gondoro La and K2 BC). Pete was working in the KE office and Frog in a local climbing gear shop. I also met the owner Kit Wilkinson. The upshot was a story about the book posted on their current news letter. As the news letter contents will change with time, the gist of their message will be added to the Reviews on my web site. They plan to keep the book in the office and before long two of my photographs should be hanging on their walls (Snow Lake, p23, and Kangchenjunga, p127). Stop by the office and say hello.
VEy ya Fyat-lah YOU-khut
On Thursday April 15, the day we hiked up Gragareth, the morning news announced the eruption of the Iceland volcano Eyja-fjalla–jokull. By the evening the ash plume had closed most UK airports. It was comforting to learn the name translates as Island-Mountain-Glacier. According to the New York Times it can be sounded out more or less as in the paragraph heading. There is a slight h sound before the initial E and a final glottal t. Begin with “Hey ya, fergot la, yoghurt” and practice.
Each morning brought further messages of doom. I was due to fly back by Iceland Air from Manchester on the Wednesday, April 21. Late Tuesday the ash cloud briefly diverted and next day my flight arrived at the strangely empty airport only three hours late. In Keflavik my continuing flight was waiting and I safely reached Boston. My luggage arrived 3 days later. Manchester airport closed again the next day.
