7pm on a freezing (literally) January Friday evening and we're collected by a friend, driven to the Snake Summit and hop out of the car. It's dark. As you would expect at this time of year. The cold is going to permeate every inch of us if we don't get moving. Our task for the night is to find a dozen or so features on Kinder and Bleaklow. We are out for a night navigation session.
And what a night. The sky is brimming with crystal clear stars. The ground is crunchy under foot - something of a new experience as we hike over the pathless moors usually more like boggy swamps than hard-packed tufts. There are zillions of ice crystals on the grass and as head torch beams flash over them it all glistens like diamonds. Beautiful. I'm now regretting I don't have a camera with us. That'll teach me. But it would just distract us from the task at hand....navigation practice.
Our walk goes very well...we wander over Featherbed Moss, down Ashop Clough, across the A57, up Urchin Clough, find 3 or 4 spot heights, a pond, a cabin, many grouse butts, a weather station and other features. Navigation goes really well...we're rewarded for our time out in the cold by stars to navigate by. What a treat.
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| icicles at the entrance to a cabin |
Other rewards were sightings of several mountain hares, numerous grouse, and a fleeting glimpse of a short eared owl as it took flight. The moon rose as we climbed up onto Bleaklow, a glorious orange waning gibbous moon inching upwards into the frosty night sky. If only I'd had my camera, and a tripod, and more warm clothes to stand and admire it longer. Alas, that wasn't the aim of the night. By 2am we'd walked about 14km and my feet were ready for a sit down. As it was so cold we'd hardly stopped, pausing only to check map, take bearings and quickly forge onwards before Jack Frost could grab us.
I'll be out on the hills again at night soon, they're there to be enjoyed come rain, shine, day or night.
i strangely admire you ;)
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