Saturday, June 13, 2009

The Long Walk

A clear and sunny sky a couple of weeks ago saw me a couple of miles north of Thorton-le-dale near the entrance to Dalby forest. I had just enough gear for an overnight trip + Jilly my dog.

A 30km walk north through Bickly I arrived at high Langdale near the source of the R.Derwent. around 8:30. A break for some food followed and I waited at an excellent felled clearing for Nightjars. These nocturnal birds appeared at 10pm along with barking Roe Deer and a couple of foxes.

A struggle east around at high Langdale farm I eventually decided to bivvi in the middle of sheep grazed field. Finishing off my last drop of whiskey around 12pm I slid into my winter sleeping bag liner and into my bivvi bag. It was much colder than I expected and I got little sleep. In the clear dawn I noticed ground frost on my bag!! Away at 5am I walked back to Robin Hood's Bay via Jugger howe beck. Very hard going in the deep heather and Bog Myrtle. Arrived at RHB around 1pm having completed around 47km.