It's been a long while since J and I enjoyed a hike in the Great Outdoors together. I LOVE walking the hills with J, we've been enjoying this pastime ever since we first met seventeen years ago. But in the past couple years due to the bump/baby business happening we've been unable to stride out together and I've missed it. I've missed it a Lot.
Early last week it dawned on me that with a little careful planning and some wonderfully obliging family, we could perhaps finally Make It Happen. We could perhaps spend a day together in the Great Outdoors getting down to some serious walking. Just us two. Just like old times.
And that's exactly what we did :: on Thursday we dropped the Little People off at school, then delivered Little B to his wonderful Grandparents, and then the glorious day was all ours (well five hours of it anyhow).
We chose a ten mile circular route. Ambitious to say that I am quite unfit these days, but we were determined to get up Somewhere High, and a walk to Simons Seat seemed to fit the bill nicely (cos it really is a mighty high destination for hereabouts)
We've done this walk once before and remembered it to be a Good'n'. Starting at Bolton Abbey, the route climbs up through woodland and into the "Valley of Desolation". Nothing desolate about it these days mind you, it's absolutely beautiful up here.
Out of the valley and into the dappled shade of a small plantation....
...then out into the open landscape of the expansive Barden Moor.
Lots of green shrubbery up here on the moor at this time of year, and joy of joys we discover that they are all bilberry bushes, yippeee!!! We love bilberries, and hadn't realised that they grow so prolifically in this area.
On closer inspection we see that the bushes are already laden with little berries (yippee-yipppeeeeeee!) but it'll be August before they ripen and turn purply-black.
We continue to stride upwards across the fell :: by now we've been climbing steadily uphill for almost two hours. My legs feel a little jelly-like.
But up there ahead is our destination :: that rocky clump of rocks is the famous "Simons Seat" and I for one can't wait to get there. Can't wait to view the view, rest my jellified limbs and tuck into the packed lunch cos I'm suddenly starving hungry.
Ahhhhhhh finally we make it to the top and catch a glimpse of the view, and what a view it is!!
It feels as if we are on top of the world up here.
Breathtaking. So high! We have climbed so high!!
Now then, enough of the view for now, lets get down to the business of refuelling shall we? Snuggle in between the sun-warmed rocks and bilberry shrubbery and eat with pleasure :: hams rolls, sweet cherry tomatoes, apples, strawberries and dark chocolate (our usual picnic fare). Delicious.
We don't get to spend a lot of time lolling about at the summit as we have now passed midday and are very aware that in three hours time we'll have two Little People standing at the school gates fully expecting their parents to be present and correct. So down we go, down, down from the heights...
...admiring the view as we descend.
Over there we can see the picturesque village of Appletreewick, a real gem of a place which we know and love well.
We are striding out on the return journey now, following wide easy tracks past farms and campsites...
...until we make it back to the banks of the River Wharfe.
Riverside walking is always a pleasure, especially when it follows lots of climbing. It feels as if ones legs are operating of their own accord. Walking on the flat after all that uphill stuff is a breeeeeze! We cross the river at Barden by way of this magnificent stone bridge....
....then into Strid Wood we go. We are on familiar turf now, we know this woodland very, very, very, well.
It is incredibly beautiful in this woodland at any time of year, but most especially in late April/early May.
Because this is Bluebell Time.
My heart soars with the beauty of it all...........
......Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What a day. What a wonderful, beautiful, exhilerating, exhausting, glorious day! Wow. We must do that again sometime. When my legs have recovered that is :: two days later and they are still behaving like stiff planks of wood.
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ps Dorset Tales will be coming soon I promise, I've not forgotten :o) x
Hello Lucy
thanks for sharing your walk.
very glad you were able to spend time with j alone, just the two of you.
Posted by: sue | April 30, 2011 at 10:23 PM
what a stunning part of the country you live in. You picked a beautiful day to spend time just the two of you.
Posted by: Mummy Hen | April 30, 2011 at 10:44 PM
a beautiful post Lucy :o)
thank you for sharing your lovely walk xoxoxoxoxox
Posted by: amelie | April 30, 2011 at 10:50 PM
Oh these photos are beautiful, and made me feel like I was there!!!
Gorgeous, and glad you enjoyed the walk, what a great idea!!
x
Posted by: Grateful4Crochet | April 30, 2011 at 11:25 PM
Love love love that photograph with the steps over the wall. What a great day. Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: Tink | April 30, 2011 at 11:25 PM
Your pictures bring back memories of when I lived in Ireland. Lot of similarities to what I saw during our sight-seeing trips each weekend.
Posted by: Shell | April 30, 2011 at 11:37 PM
It looks absolutely magical - thanks for showing it! :-)
Posted by: tinajo | April 30, 2011 at 11:46 PM
These are wonderful photos, what a beautiful walk on lovely day. Some of your photos remind me of the views I love and grew up with in the peak district, I have really enjoyed this post!
Posted by: louise | April 30, 2011 at 11:48 PM
Fascinating pictures! I feel uplifted as if I were walking along with you viewing these beautiful scenes.
Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: Karen | April 30, 2011 at 11:52 PM
What an incredibly beautiful hike you went on together! It inspires me to do something similar with my husband. We're on the Southern California coast in the U.S. so it'd look quite different but still beautiful! Thank you for sharing with us.
Posted by: Sheery | May 01, 2011 at 12:02 AM
Oh Lucy your pictures are wonderful !!!! We managed a day trip to Haworth last week , a chance to show the boys where I grew up . The weather was perfect on Wednesday too and I will post about it soon . I was in heaven seeing the old haunts from my childhood were still as lovely...they looked even better if anything and I too loved the bilberries :0)
Jacquie x
Posted by: Jacquie | May 01, 2011 at 12:06 AM
Your area is gorgeous. I think if I visited the UK, I'd never want to come back to the States. We have nothing like this here that I have seen - just flat, dry land. Lovely photos!
Posted by: Melanie | May 01, 2011 at 12:19 AM
Thank you for these beautiful photos! I was able to go on a bluebell walk last May when I visited my in-laws in Eastbourne. Not only were the bluebells beautiful but I also saw a partridge pop his head out from that amazing field of blue!
Thanks for showing us these great views from your neck of the woods.
Kay Guest
Posted by: Kay Guest | May 01, 2011 at 12:30 AM
That is just beautiful!!! I just love your walk!!! What a great idea to get away together... Love it!!!
Posted by: se7en | May 01, 2011 at 12:33 AM
My legs feel like jelly just reading it lol. You live in a beautiful area. What a joy to have all these beautiful walks close by to you!!! I think if I lived there I would spend a heck of a lot of time outdoors lol, just enjoying all that greenery.
Thank you for sharing your day with us!!!
Posted by: Colleen | May 01, 2011 at 12:33 AM
That's a really nice post and only this morning I was reading your other Bolton Abbey walk post from a couple of years back! xx
Posted by: Hazel | May 01, 2011 at 12:41 AM
how beautiful! the english countryside looks a lot like kentucky... minus the moors.
Posted by: kelly | May 01, 2011 at 12:45 AM
So sweet days with the hubby are always so nice, LIKE DATING AGAIN!!
Posted by: Linnie Joy | May 01, 2011 at 01:03 AM
Hello Lucy, I have been lurking for a while and have come to love your blog and especially the joy in your voice today.
The views from Simon's Seat look very like our own Grampians (Gariwerd) in the Victorian Wimmera, but the views in between are very different. Ain't no bluebells or bilberries here. (not even a bilby)
It's so special to still enjoy each others company.
Oh, and your beautiful patterns have inspired me so much that I now have 3 rugs on the go!
Thank you
Posted by: Karen C | May 01, 2011 at 01:07 AM
Gorgeous photos, looks like a lovely walk on a beautiful day. Good to recharge the batteries without small people once in a while!
Posted by: Sandra | May 01, 2011 at 01:14 AM
I have never been all that anxious to visit on the other side of the ocean until I started reading your blog and seeing your photographs and following the parts of of your life that you have shared.
Now I am saving my $$$s until I have enough to visit the British Isles.
Thank you for sharing and opening my eyes!
Posted by: Sue Mills from The Welcome Mat | May 01, 2011 at 01:28 AM
What a special sort of day. I hope you can enjoy more of these as the weeks and months go by.
Posted by: Melissa P | May 01, 2011 at 02:02 AM
How lucky you are to live in such a beautiful place, thank you for sharing with us. what a wonderful way to spend a day.
Posted by: jeanette | May 01, 2011 at 02:07 AM
What a gorgeous hike you guys had. The scenery is so beautiful and great exercise too. Nice you could get some time together : ) xoRobin❤
Posted by: Robin | May 01, 2011 at 02:10 AM
I have GOT to get to England. That's entirely civilized hiking. What beautiful bluebell forests!
Posted by: krista - Poppyprint | May 01, 2011 at 02:17 AM