Glorious clear crisp frosty saturday weather made it obligatory to get outside this saturday. Since my planned climbing buddy was muttering something about it being too too cold outside I headed for scuggy with my bouldering mat , where I joined forces with Sarah and Russ.It was glorious at Scugdale, as is often the case it was a little suntrap, the low crag line sheltering it from the icy cold wind, which reminded us very forcibly of its presence every time we topped out.
The chill encouraged us to keep moving so pausing only to stuff our faces as an aid to keeping warm we ran up and down a succession of routes with a reassuring pile of no less than three pads under us. I even managed to lure them into a chimney mwa ha haa ;-D
It was the ideal activity for a cold day, if we were hanging around to place gear I think our fingers would have dropped off. As usual it was peaceful and away from the crowds, just us and three other climbers to appreciate the views across the valley and low sun on the golden scuggy sandstone. We left as the temperature started to drop again at about three, the short routes had fooled me into thinking we had an easy day, but my aching arms later on told me otherwise.
