We have had lots of rain over the past couple of weeks so the ground was quite wet but we had sunshine for most of the day with only a few brief squalls.
We first walked round the hillside for a bit to see a memorial to the crew of a phantom plane that had crashed into the hillside in 1983 and then headed up, crossing numerous small stone runs. It was quite a hard uphill slog and I was glad to take frequent short breaks to admire the view behind us to Goose Green.
As the slope levelled out towards the summit the wind increased so that at times it was hard to stand up and my eyes were watering so it was hard to see. A little shelter was provided by the summit cairn where we ate our lunch whilst flurries of snow swirled around us.
We then descended a little way down the north side of the mountain to get a view down the cliffs to Black Tarn. This is one of the few areas of glaciation on the islands with tarns in steep-sided cols. It is thought to have been largely too dry and/or windy for glaciers to form during the ice age.
We then followed along the ridge, with the tarns below us, to Mount Usborne 2, a little lower than Usborne 1. From there we headed back downhill towards our vehicles, crossing a large stone run which makes quite challenging walking, especially as many of the stones are balanced and tip when you stand on them.
We passed the wreckage of the phantom plane, mostly in small pieces scattered over a large area. Presumably the 2 crew died quickly but I couldn't help thinking what it must have felt like to suddenly realise that you were about to fly into a mountainside.
After a welcome cup of tea at the car we drove back to Stanley seeing lots of rainbows on the way.
No comments:
Post a Comment