Near town many of the trails start out as bridle paths, which I suspect are mostly used not by horses but by the ATVs of the few farmers working the high fields.
Trails are fairly well marked but not heavily trodden. And have the usual quaint assortment of stiles, ladders and other climb overs to get from one field to another.
Sometimes you just walk right through the livestock. Sheep shuffle out of your way in an unconcerned fashion. Cows, especially young bulls, are very curious about you. When you turn your back and walk they follow a few paces behind you. Stop and turn around and they try to pretend that they are not interested. It seems benign but bothers my wife a great deal. I do think I'd not prefer to walk with a dog, although we saw many who were doing so.
After hiking upwards for an hour you turn a bend in the path and magnificent vistas unfold. Looks like Middle Earth.
Having previously routed a walk to look at waterfalls, today I was off to see caves. The hills above Settle have a number of these, all quite mysterious....
Candor requires that I add a final note. Having trekked up into the hills, evading slightly menacing bulls and navigating on sketchy directions I was feeling rather pleased with myself. Then, at the top of a pass, I met a hale elderly chap who stopped to talk a while. Turns out he grew up in the area, was now 88 years old and had gotten a pacemaker two weeks previously.
I felt a bit less heroic after that....
1 comment:
Beautiful country!
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