Sunday, 22nd August 2016
Me, myself and I met up with Billy and Todd for this meet. The Royal “We” parked up at the car park (free this time) at Low Mill and got chatting to a chap who mentioned a tea room at the other end of the “Daffodil Walk” (these things are always good to know
).Seeing as this is a re-run of my “Epic Fail” walk earlier this year
I won’t bore you with too much detail of the beginning of the walk, apart from to say that I learned my lesson from last time (and stuck to the Bridleway).A spot of shepherdessing at Horn End:
I soon reached the ramshackle building called High Barn with views of heathery loveliness higher up:
I (knowledgably) took the correct path to cross West Gill Beck:
Surprisingly quickly I was at the gate leading me onto the Access Land and the steady, gentle (ish) (in places) uphill path soon had me amongst the bracken and heather:
A newly refurbished grouse butt:
As I neared the top of Rudland Rigg I was well and truly in heather territory and the sight and smell of it was absolutely magical. No other sound apart from the wind, the kak-kaking of Grouse and the bzzzzzz of bumble bees:
High above everywhere that was lower than me, it really was a smashing place to be on a sunny, blustery Sunday afternoon and my thoughts turned to finding a suitable snack-stop perch.
About half an hour later, I gave up and just plonked myself down on a heathery ledge, somewhere near Dicken Howe, in the sunshine to enjoy my sarnie and cuppa to have my peace and tranquillity shattered by some trial-bikers whizzing along the top (legally, I hasten to add). They slowed down when they spotted me so I nodded in thanks. They were soon gone and peace and tranquillity was restored so I sat a while longer just enjoying the heathery smells and views:
I could have sat there all day… probably did.
Fed and watered, it was time to head around and down the loooooonng track to Daleside Road (it’s down there somewhere):
I like walking downhill on a gradual gradient like this. Walking into the views.
Monket House Crags:
Reaching the road I turned right for a short while before taking a left turn down a field towards Church Houses (I wasn’t going as far as that though). Once I got to the River Dove I joined a surfaced track for a short while before discovering ….. the Daffy Caffy.
It would have been rude not to so I got missen a sarnie and cuppa and sat in the garden and got mobbed by Chaffinches and Squirrels:
What a lovely find
From there, it’s an easy stroll along the river (the Daffodil Walk) back to Low Mill:
Just to finish off, I’m going to bore you with some snippets of useless observation…. As you may (or may not) know, I suffer with problems with my Achilles tendon and, more recently, my hip. Not today. A slight twinge after sitting but NOTHING like I normally experience. Even after the drive home, it was only my thigh muscles that protested when I got out of the car. I can only put this down to the fact I wasn’t wearing boots and (given the lack of rain recently) haven’t done for a while on my walks. Even sat now, writing this, my tendon isn’t swollen, I haven’t had to ice-pack it and, to be honest, I could have walked a LOT further than the 6 and a bit miles I did today. Normally I’m done in, crippled in agony, especially when (like this time), this is the first walk in a while that’s had any height gain.
So, based on that moderate (370 metre gentle gradient) height gain, I think I’m ready for some serious munro-bagging next month on my Highland Hols
I'm a bit miffed because my ViewRanger track didn't record properly
Thanks for reading