SEAHORES SAUNTER FINAL DAY

Sunday 21/02/2010. On leaving my overnight camp on the old Rosedale Mineral Railway line I had 27 miles on my legs, so for today it will take another 16 miles to complete the "Saunter". Overnight the weather changed into proper winter conditions, after completing the short climb up onto the moorland plateau from my camp visibility contracted and navigation was further complicated by deep snow infilling and covering the track across the moor. So it's out with the compass set a bearing and off we go. My picture here is from the access to the George Gap Causeway, where a 40 degree setting should take me to the intersection with Cut Road leading to Glaisdale, this latter track being much deeper and on the edge of Great Fryup Dale was easier to navigate - though regularly crashing through the surface brings it's own delight! Once down in Glaisdale all serious hill work is behind, the route becomes level, average speed improves and it didn't seem to take long to get into the Esk Valley and the final miles to Whitby. Unfortunatley from the point of view of my photo-diary, it snowed all day long only stopping quite litteraly as I reached the end of the walk which I did reaching Whitby about 4.30pm giving me a total walking time of 20hrs and 15 minutes. The official length of the walk is 43miles and my GPS said 44.5 so I wasn't too far out, though I did cheat a wee bit. When I got to Whitby I had to pass the bus station and there was a bus for Middlesbrough standing and about to go, I boarded (Sunday bus services being a bit of a mystery, so take one while you can is my motto)! and thus avoided the official finish at the top of the famous 199 steps, still I have climbed them several times in the past so hope St. Hilda will be able to forgive my sin. A great walk.

SEAHOUSE SAUNTER SECOND DAY

Saturday 22nd. February 2010. Much of this route I have walked over before on recent outings on the moors. "The Saunter" starts on The Cleveland Way, takes in bits of The Inn Way to the North York Moors and parts of different tracks familiar from other challenge walks done in the park over 2008-2010. Todays route finishes it's final miles along The Esk Valley Way, that's a route I have yet to do and will tackle as soon as I can find a description of it's course, it's a National Park creation and their walk booklet is out of print currently. I have been giving the NYM a good going over in the last six months and am beginning to get a better feel for the daled geometry of the moors and valleys, but there is still much still to learn.

Todays section took me from Murton Grange over Newgate Bank (part of the Bilsdale Circuit) Across Rudland Rigg into Farndale. From here back up and then down once more into Rosedale, so quite a lot of climbing is involved in passing from one valley to it's eastward neighbour. The guide gives the total ascent as 5,500' and in the snowy conditions with a heavy pack I was feeling it on my legs at the end of the day! But never-mind this was a wonderful day's walking and not a soul seen apart from ten motorcyclists out messing on the moors east of Rudland Rigg, they were making a bad job of the conditions, I hope it will put them of returning. Thanks to perfect visibility I had no trouble route-finding though I am never at my most relaxed passing through farms and in these parts all the valley paths seem to pass through farms, a legacy and testament of the times when footpaths were created to draw men from hearth and home to labour in the farm and field. At five o'clock I reached the old mineral railway line dating back to Rosedale's Klondyke years when ironstone was shunted to Middlesbrough, there is a beautiful spot here discovered on my Inn Way walk and I decided to spend a repeat night at this perfect winter camp, - see picture. This was a wise decision as there was nothing but snow-frozen moorland for miles ahead. So a happy long night to enjoy and reflect upon a great day's walking.

SEAHOUSE SAUNTER FIRST DAY

Friday 21st February 2010. At 3pm I'm walking up from the North Yorkshire village of Kilburn to it's famous White Horse - see picture, to the start of what is billed as the longest "anytime challenge" walk in the NYM National Park. From the horse it heads north-east for 43 miles to the one time fishing port, now holiday resort of Whitby, traversing from a horse to the sea, the route has been given the name of "The Seahorse Saunter" My description talks of a kaleidoscope of moor and dale crossing the heart of the North York Moors, the colours are subdued today and tomorrow they turned out to be mainly white. I walked eight miles before making a wild camp by the woods on Ox Pasture Lane near Murton Murton Grange. A cold night passed in tea-brewed comfort with hooting, hunting owls for company along with my favourite Radio 4 podcasts. A good early start to Saturday morning saw be away from camp at 8.45am into a lovely bright morning, which only improved as the day wore on. All this is very enjoyable.

BEER AND A BLETHER

Friday 12/02/2010. Today is my wife Joy's birthday time was when we would go out and celebrate that but we are now passed the stage where birthdays are celebrated. I have got her a cheapo digital camera and will do my best to get her conversant with it's use. I would love her to keep an ongoing record of what she achieves in the garden, fingers crossed and we shall see. At lunch-time I went into Middlesbrough to meet up with an old mate of mine from my part time work with the Debenhams Department Store over the Christmas/New Year period of 2008/09. I worked with Keith (Hutcheson) in the warehouse department and we got on very well and he borrowed a book of mime - Crush the Cell by Michael Sheehan the guy who ran the New York counter terrorist operation following 9/11 - we share an interest in these things. Sheehans platform is that we need to get clever by infiltration of terrorist groups and understanding them rather than indulging in wholesale eradication of civil liberties etc., he makes a good case too.

Anyway we had an hour or so in Lloyds Bar in Middlesbrough chewing the cud and discussing the people at Debenhams and life in general. It was good to see Keith again and just chill out a bit. As can be seen in my picture, we are having a nice time.

SAMARITAN WAY DAY 3

Monday 01/02/2010. Another cold night on the moor, in the morning my water had frozen in its bottle inside the tent and my boots were iron-hard, it all adds to the time I take to get packed-up and away. I find in winter it takes me a minimum of two hours between waking up for the morning brew and getting back onto the route. Still we have another wonderful day the sun is back still shining in it's heaven, the trail beckons and I have a couple of lovely gentle miles over the two Hograh Moors into secluded Baysedale. From here I took the easy option of walking up the road to join the Cleveland Way on Battersby Bank for the final six or so miles to Guisborough. There is a more direct route steeply up the hillside but I chose the snowed up road rather than the snowed up hillside on the basis thta the road is slightly less likely to collapse under foot! At the top of the escarpment I met a group of walkers out for the day and on asking me about what I was doing, I don't think they quite believed me when I told them I had been camping! A mile of so or wonderful (level) walking along the top of Battersby Moor and I begin the descent down Park Vale to the hamlet of Kildale. There is a good cafe here, but I approach with some apprehension as I always seem to arrive here on the day the cafe has it's closing day, I can never remember which day of the week it does so. (No problem today, it closes on Thursdays). After some tea I climbed back uphill then keeping faith with the Cleveland Way made my way to Captain Cook's Monument. I have been here many times so usually don't hang around, but this is the first time I have seen the Cleveland hills stretching across the Teesdale plain to the far Hamblton Hills under a layer of perfect snow and it's quite beautiful. I spent some time with a couple of walkers having a break we chatted and I took some photographs. After that it was along to Highcliff Nab and then down through the Gisborough Woods back to town ending a quite exceptional walk thanks to the perfect winter conditions, this is one for the scrap-book if ever there was.

SAMARITAN WAY DAY 2

Sunday 31/01/2010. Very cold overnight but I slept and rested well enough but was glad to get moving and get the blood circulating with a good tramp in morning sun up onto the moorland plateau. Today the weather started of wonderful and only improved as the day wore on. Sunshine clear sky little wind and not a soul on the moors, sometimes it all comes together to make a perfect day and this is such.. My route covers a couple of miles before dropping down to traverse Little Fryup Dale to it's head where I made a stiff climb - I'm sure I was off-route here but couldn't see a better alternative, up onto the plateau to the north of Trough House, I passed the House then down into Rosedale and on to the Lion Inn on Blakey Ridge, a pint of shandy didn't half go down well, it's Sunday lunch-time and despite the isolation of the Inn it was full to brimming with families taking the easy way to the Traditional English Sunday Lunch. I should have liked to join them, but mine is a harsher road to travel! From The Lion it was a brief walk down the road to Farndale Junction then along the trackbed of the old Middlesbrough/Rosedale mineral railway which in it's day delivered ironston to the blast furnesses of dirty industrial Teesside, but now it's main use is recreational. It was only on this section with the conveniently placed pub and parking, that I encountered other walkers on the 18 miles of today's route, so most folks seem to be keeping close to civilisation if they venture out at all, strange the conditions are perfect here, or maybe the moors are just so much quieter than so many other places, but after the buzz of the Lake District, this is no complaint. On then into quiet Westerdale where I had a bit of unscheduled fun crossing the river near New House then uphill to spend the night near the mouth of the dale. My picture is of Trough House.

SAMARITAN WAY DAY 1

Saturday 30/01/2010. Today sees me off on another anytime challenge walk round the North York Moors. My walk is called The Samaritan Way and supports the Middlesbrough branch of the Samaritans, a charity dedictated to assisting those contemplating suicide - a worthy cause and I'll be happy to send a small donation after doing the round. The route starts in the lovley town of Guisborough, famous for it's Priory, but I'm keen to get on with my hike so will leave a closer inspection for another visit. The route is given as 38 miles but "from bus-stop to bus-stop" I clocked 42 miles on my GPS, so obviously in a couple of places my route choice proved longer than essential, though I have to say route finding presented few problems and I was blessed by wonderful weather and perfect visibility which helped with navigation and in making the walk such a pleasure. I started at 12.15pm and completed eleven miles before pitching for my first wild camp on the moors south of Danby. The full route from Gisborough takes a clockwise direction to visit Commondale, Danby, Castelton, Rosedale Head, a short refuelling stop at The Lion Inn on Blakey Ridge, across Westerdale to Baysdale, up onto the Cleveland Way and north to drop down to Kildale (a grand tea stop) back up to Captian Cooks's monument, pass Roseberry Topping, surmount Highcliff Nab and finally back down through Gisborough Woods to the town and the finish of the walk. My walking time was 20hrs. 40mins. with two nights wild-camping. My full photo-diary can be seen on my Flickr page. My picture shows the town of Gisborough from the summit of Gisborough Woods.