This is the first walk which I did with a group. Felt more relaxed as I would be with experienced walkers who would be doing the navigation for us. Now, it would be just walking and admiring the scenery around, without having to worry of getting lost. However, I felt there was something amiss: It seemed that I was just following ....and following blindly, without much of a clue of where I was exactly on the map. There was the lack of silence/ sound of nature. Too much noise, too much talking, too much footsteps, ... Nevertheless, it was good to have a mixture of both kinds of experiences.
I asked Zixiang along for this walk with the Dalesbus Ramblers who I met in the Grassington pub during my previous Dales walk. Took a train to Leeds the day before, and stayed in a B&B. Had to do so in order to catch the earlier train to reach Ilkley on time. Met Duncan (one of the Ramblers' leaders) on the train. At Ilkley, joined the rest of the dalesbus ramblers where we took the bus to the starting point of the walk - Bolten Abbey (Cavendish Memorial).
It was quite an easy walk with some gentle ascends: along River Wharfe, before straying away from it to cross some pastures and plantations. Passed a few waterfalls. Finally emerged from the plantations out into the exposed moorland where the real climb began - all the way up to the top of Simon's Seat (Trig point: 485m above sea level). A bit of panting and strain on the legs towards the end, but we were all rewarded with a breathtaking view of Yorkshire Dales. Towards North-West was where I did my previous walk - at Appletreewick. "Something I like about the Dales is... the different shades of greenery that define the rolling pastures and hills. It kind of looks very similar in every direction you view. Not very complicated. Maybe just a little boring after being there several times." Anyway, we had a break at the Seat. Lunch - some packed sandwiches, while trying very hard to withstand the strong cold wind. Gloves were not helping. Fingers and face were totally numb and painful. Quite unbearable!
Then, the tough part came: the steep rocky descend to the bottom of the hill. I have always feared steep descends. It was scary. Any slip would mean ??!!!?? Should have invested in walking poles, but till now I never bothered about purcharsing them as it would just mean adding on weight to my load. Descending also put a lot of pressure on knees. Couldn't help it though...So the irony: Love climbing...Fear descending..Hahaha!!!
The rest of the paths were flat, leading us back to Burnsall, passing Appletreewick. Was having some abrasions by then, and wasn't really enjoying the last part of the walk. Finally arrived at Burnsall at 4pm. That meant we had walked for about 5 hours - Not too long, just about the right length to not feel very exhausted. While waiting for the Dales bus back to Ilkley, we had some coffee and dessert at a Tea Room - a nice cosy place for rest. Bus finally arrived, so back to Ilkley, then train to Newcastle, via Leeds and York. A long day but at least we had achieved something over the weekend, rather than rotting at home. More upcoming walks after January exams...stay tune!
Read more...
