|
BB2016
: Not So Close Encounters
Wednesday
20th May 2020
I suppose I shouldn’t have been
surprised but I was. After all, we had
talked about where each might want to wander this week, in splendid
isolation. There had been mention of
Gurnal Dubbs. It was a nice day so I thought
I’d give it a go. Rather than a direct
route, I felt it was time to do a bit of proper fell walking (in miniature) so
I decided to travel via what is unromantically referred to in some quarters as
Summit 1. That is Potter Fell’s higher
top, although AW thought otherwise.
I
parked near the weir at Staveley. There
was little more than a trickle flowing.
.jpg)
Bryan
had given me a tip about how to open gates
without needing to put on anti-C19 gloves.
Pick up some sticks as you walk along
and use them to work the latch on the gate
then throw them away. At the first
gate I saw two sticks on the ground. Someone
had clearly tried that device. Unfortunately
I hadn't remembered to collect any sticks
but fortunately I had a good supply of B&Q's
finest decorators' disposable gloves so
that I could put new ones on for every gate
(some of which would have defeated a stick).
I made my way up to
the unremarkable (apart from the views) summit and down to the waterfall which
I had never previously seen, not that there was much water in it. Potter
Tarn could be viewed, way below. That
did still have water.
.jpg)
My plan was to enter the Gurnal Dubbs area
and have a break somewhere above the boathouse.
.jpg)
As I headed to my chosen point, whom should I see but Stephen on the
other side of the tarn. He had had a
similar thought but had come up from the Potter Fell Road shooter's track.
We drew a little closer to each
other, still well beyond the social distancing minimum, so we could exchange
long distance greetings. Very shortly afterwards,
Mike T appeared on the scene. He had
come up from Longsleddale and over Summit 2. What a nice
surprise.
It was actually quite busy at
the tarn, lots of families playing by the lake and courting couples enjoying
their lockdown relaxation, looking for
a bit of peace and quiet and failing.
However, we were well out of their (and each other’s) way.
What happened
next? What
a shock! In the distance, coming from the
northerly direction, we saw a very tall man with a rather shorter
companion. It was Mike B and Tony. How’s that for a coincidence? They had
come from Staveley Park and Spring Hag respectively.
The much
greater than social distancing circle grew even
larger. Just as we were about to disperse,
from yet a different direction (Mirefoot) appeared a rather hot Stan. He too had decided to make this his target. He had run all the way from Kendal, or so he
would have us believe, but it was further than he thought.
The circle now was so big
that we were in danger of getting hoarse from greetings being shouted over such long distances.
It was time to depart.
We retreated by various
routes. I decided to circle Gurnal Dubbs.....
.jpg)
.....then
drop down to Potter Tarn.
Lower
down, I took a path I had never travelled
before. I was tempted to say it went
by a witch's house but that would be unfair.
It was a small, isolated, old cottage
with a very pretty garden outside which
was an old woman with a lurcher. I complimented
her on her flowers, declined her offer of
gingerbread (joking) and she pointed me
in the right direction home, which was very
useful as the map app on my phone had packed
up.
The
track led to a long and ancient walled
lane. Eventually a gate invited me
into a wooded area. This offered a
very pretty, dappled walk full of bluebells.
A week or so earlier it would have
been a delight. It was still very
nice.
The
path emerged onto the back road to Staveley;
I strode through the village and back to
the car.
Later that night we were able
to see each other again, this time to talk in a normal voice, and reflect
on the day. What would we do without the
ZOOMbar?
Don,
Wednesday 20th May 2020
|
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
