Blog >> Frozen Dog

Frozen Dog

I had this notion to accept the fact that February is a slack month and to put it to good use climbing mountains, taking photos and recording it all for Bizipozatourists on this blog.  But, not only is it a slack month it’s also colder than a well diggers ass.

I’m Scottish though and I’m hardly likely to let a little sleaty snow deter me from venturing out.  So with rather more enthusiasm than sense I took myself off with my faithful hound  Tximista (Lightning bolt) and a mind to climb Anboto.

Anboto is Basque classic.  A bit like a mini Aonach Eagach or Scafell.  It’s a serious mountain then, with a craggy top and precipitous ridges all around it. In fairer weather it looks like this

 

 

 

 

 

Alluitz (1040m) Anboto (1331m)

Today I couldn’t see the top just snow filled gullies running up into the mist.  It was raining as I kitted up by my car then trudged up through ever deeper wet spring-snow.  The rain turned to driving sleat then snow.  And then we arrived at the craggy ramparts that mark the approach to the summit.  I’d left my crampons in the car but battled on searching for frozen turf that I could drive the axe into.  But it was madness.  Tximis was having serious trouble and he wears crampons even when he goes to the beach.  The further I got the more aware I became of the consequences of a slip.  So, we turned back which in itself was quite an adventure.  Before leaving the car I had snapped a shot of the relevant pages from the guide book.  A handy trick that.

 

Taken from “La Montaña Vasca” by Miguel Angulo

We got as far as Elgoin at 1200m on route 26.

Tximis does not enjoy these conditions very much even in his snow suit.

Perhaps tomorrow will bring the crisp blue day I’m dreaming of.

 

 

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *