Mon 29 Dec 2014
The Hazelhurst Fell Track at about 1370ft. Fair Snape and Parlick beyond |
No rain or wind! I went walking just to get some fresh air. I parked on Delph Lane and headed up by Stang Yule on the top path to the summit of the farm track. It was sunny, and clear, but cold and frosty, with some icy patches, and it was tricky avoiding the slippery places. A runner wearing just shorts and a vest came along, running over the ice and frost as if it weren't there. I spoke to him and he said he'd already slipped a couple of times (!) and probably broken his finger. He showed it to me, and it was bent strangely at one knuckle. It will probably be possible to get it put right easily: he said he would go off to the hospital.
Devastation! |
One of the few tress left in Fell Plantation |
What would happen to a runner with few clothes in such conditions who breaks an ankle on a lonely farm track high on the moor?
I walked on, and turned down to the stile below Winny Bank as there was some grey cloud in the offing. Also the effort walking carefully dodging the slippery bits was tiring, and I didn't want to go right over the top to Fiendsdale Head, a further three miles round trip.
Always worth a photograph in any conditions |
I stopped at the stile below the path from Winny Bank, and while the peaceful sheep around me nibbled their lunch I ate mine. In the sun with no wind it was quite warm and I sat there for over half an hour. The walk back along the roads was pleasant; on the way I bought six eggs at the Tower buildings. The cloud didn't cover the sun until I was well on my way back to the car.
This walk turned out to be my last of 2014. Tempus fugit.
This walk turned out to be my last of 2014. Tempus fugit.