The Windermere Three Peaks 26/05/13

Even with me out on my holidays I had no intention of walking on a Sunday, as I'd already had six days of activity preceding it and was in need of a rest, but with another excellent day of weather projected (and two rotten ones following it), I couldn't waste it just with food shopping, a good book and dinner preparation. Plus, with the four ladies of the household all on a cookery course and Dr G out cycling, I was left with only my Dad to entertain, and he'll be needing an afternoon nap, so that'll surely give me a three hour window to get in the sights around Bowness-on-Windermere. A delve into Wainwright's 'Outlying Fells of Lakeland' illustrates three hills around the town that should make for good viewpoints, and I'll plot a course and head out for that straight after lunch, at least I would if I could find my phone. I cannot find it anywhere, so I can only assume that I dropped it somewhere between Gap Wood and Sedbergh, and that wasn't a smart thing to do when walking in unexplored territories...

The Windermere Three Peaks: Brant Fell, School Knott & Orrest Head.  7.3 miles

The Dales Way #4: Far Gearstones to Millthrop 25/05/13

Self at Far Gearstones

Onward to the Spring Jollies then, not feeling a huge amount of physical and mental enthusiasm after too many tiring weeks of work, but I'm looking forward to the whole clan, all seven of us, getting together again after we all had such a good time back in October, and there's plenty in the far North-west for all of us to enjoy, and weather projections are looking good too! So many cares are to be left behind, and bags can be sent on with my parents as we take a Friday-Friday let, and I can ride light up to Ribblehead on Saturday morning to resume the Dales Way, which encompasses three of my four walking targets for the week, as I wander into the unknown once again. It also looks like this is going to be the first time that I encounter the Yorkshire Dales in what could be described as 'good weather', so that'll add an extra layer of challenge to this day that has already had two extra miles added to it with my choice of start and finish points, as I bid to get to Sedbergh in 7 hours. The adventure starts here then, and what's the last tune on my iPod before alighting the train? 'Magical Mystery Tour' by The Beatles, and I think that feels like a good omen.

Walking to Windermere: The Dales Way #4:
     (Ribblehead &) Far Gearstones to Millthrop (& Sedbergh).  16.5 miles

Rumination: Pausing for Breath

Back at the start of this walking season, I said I'd be taking a few more weekends out of my schedule to allow for some recuperation and to prevent myself burning out from too many days on the trail, but as the weeks have progressed and I have found myself intent on hitting the byways on every weekend. Having to catch up on the delayed stretches of the Dales Way and having to catch up on them before Spring Jollies was the major factor behind the activity, as was the need to use as much available Spring as possible after that never-ending blast of Winter, but I also need to relax, as the last few major walks had all proved quite mentally taxing, so I needed a good reason to get off the trail, preferably one that didn't involve a lot of booze...

The Dales Way #3: Buckden to Far Gearstones 04/05/13

Self, at Election Bridge
near Buckden

These long days which feature as much travelling/waiting around as they do actual walking are starting to frustrate me somewhat, as a good 5/6 hour walk should not be accompanied by a 5/6 hour journey. This is especially frustrating with the Dales Way as I had wanted to actually get the feeling of starting up in one place and then winding up in a far distant place three days on, but travelling to each start point by train and bus might absorb a lot of time, but it makes it feel that much closer together, and the feeling of  the many miles traversed and of escaping from the trappings of civilisation for a while is almost completely lost. Plus, today's outward journey was something of an ordeal, as the train up to Skipton is ridiculously busy with folks hitting the Dales for the Ride2Stride festival, and many, many kids are on board, filling half a carriage with baggage and loud voices, and it's then a 35 minute wait for the bus to Buckden, which bounces and dawdles its way up Wharfedale as I start to check my watch anxiously as I know I'll be going against the clock again on my remotest solo Dales walk so far, and I've forgotten to leave notice of my travels on my Facebook page...

Walking to Windermere: The Dales Way #3:
  Buckden to Far Gearstones (& Ribblehead).  14 miles.

Hawes to Horton-in-Ribblesdale 27/04/13

The abiding image I have in my mind of walking the Pennine Way comes from my distant childhood and an episode of 'Go With Noakes' in which John Noakes took on the path in foul weather and extremely muddy conditions whilst wearing quite the most hilarious pair of 1970s flares. I recall thinking 'That looks no fun at all' and that impression still hasn't changed in 30+ years, as the Pennine Way resides somewhere near the bottom of my list of walking priorities, but the truth is that it is a trail that ultimately remains unavoidable when walking in the North Country. Indeed in all of my walking exploits since 2002, I have walked nine different sections of it, ranging from a few hundred metres to several miles between Stoodley Pike in the south and Hadrian's Wall in the north, so let's meet up with the FOSCL group and have day 10 on this trail and my longest single excursion on it to boot, and maybe I should start tagging my walks with 'Not Walking the Pennine Way'.

Hawes to Horton-in-Ribblesdale: 14 miles

Keighley to Ilkley via Rombalds Moor 20/04/13

In the days before the flight to the seaside or garden centre, it was a tradition for the citizens of Bradford and Airedale to walk across Rombalds Moor on Bank Holidays to crowd the spas and hostelries of Ilkley for the day before catching the last train home, and the walking half of that tradition is well worth keeping in my eyes. This was my plan for May Day, but it got shoved forward as I'm going to need some days out of the walking schedule to replace some necessary household gear, and today was going to be taken out as I desperately need new work shoes (having had both my pairs reach the point of unwearability about six weeks ago), but a gorgeous spring day surely can't be wasted on shopping alone. So a short walk can be dropped in to conveniently link two phases of my walking exploits for this year, as well as allowing me to not have to rise with the lark and to have time to seek out appropriate new footwear afterwards, so onwards to the high moors again!

Keighley to Ilkley via Rombalds Moor.  6.1 miles.

The Dales Way #2: Grassington to Buckden 13/04/13

Self in Grassington

Having had a tough week at work, ending it feeling stressed, tired and irritable, does not leave me in the best condition to go for a walk, but I need to go out as I'm sure that Spring is now upon us and I need to make the most of the sunshine and (hopefully) lack of snow. Anyway, walking is my head-clearer and with my walking season having been thrown out with me still having two legs of the Dales Way to do before my jollies at the end of May, it is essential that I get out when the weather is good and I feel even the slightest shred of inspiration. So it's back to Wharfedale, to walk the Dales Way from home, exactly the way I hadn't wanted to, having to ride two trains and one bus to make the trip back to Grassington, but the sun is out and the fields are greening up as I ride past various now familiar locations, and the joys of Spring start to run through me again, even before my feet have hit the ground. Plus, the winter coat and woolly hat can be left behind, with the crazy winter beard having its last excursion, and even if I've not got a heavy load to carry, I'm still going to have a harder sort of walking day as I'm going to be going against the clock...

Walking to Windermere: The Dales Way #2: Grassington to Buckden. 10.8 miles.