Sunday, July 11, 2010
Rainy Day in Dovedale...
How come we have had days and days and DAYS of heat and sun, and as soon as me and my mum decide to take time out of work to go to Dovedale... it rains!!
I knew this wasn't going to be much of an endurance challenge, as mum doesn't like to walk too far and was tired, so planned a 6 mile route through Dovedale to Milldale and back across the hill tops. Mum bought the dogs over and we piled them in my car. We had a slight drama over mum losing her phone when I dropped her off at Morrisons to get cash out, but luckily an honest member of staff had handed it into the store...
Many roadworks and tractors later, we drove down the narrow, twisty road into the car park and paid our two pounds to park (quite a bargain!) As we hoped, it wasn't too busy, and once we had the dogs sorted we set off eating home made ice cream from the kiosk in the car park. The stepping stones were apparently shut so we opted to use the bridge (quite hairy crossing with a kamikaze Jake eager to get to the water).
Walking Into Dovedale
The stepping stones had been sectioned off, and it looks as though what the workmen are doing is cementing thick stone slabs on top of the existing stepping stones... I appreciate that they must be at risk of being worn away but seems a bit of a shame as I'm sure it will detract from their original character.
We let the dogs off; Jake immediately took to the water like a duck and Gemma, as usual, didn't move more than a few inches from mum's feet.
Thorpe Cloud
It was a quiet day in Dovedale (bet it's murder at weekends!!) with only a few hundred schoolchildren in seemingly endless school parties. They all seemed to be walking the other way, and, as they filed past, there were the usual cries of 'Oh, look at that cute little dog!' Gemma got quite a lot of attention!
Me With Jake!
There is a good path through Dovedale, including a short climb with stone steps, a lot of which appear to have many fossils embedded in them- I do remember reading that these rocks were actually under the sea millenia ago!
Gemma has a unique way of walking... if she is tired, she will stop until she is carried for a few minutes (luckily she's a small dog- hope Jake doesn't get any ideas!) If she gets a piece of grass or vegetation stuck to her fur she will stop until it is located and removed. This can make progress rather painfully slow at times!
Doveholes
Just past the caves of Doveholes, it started to rain quite persistently. We took shelter under a large tree for a few minutes, until it eased, and then carried on to Milldale where we intended to eat lunch. There was a shelter with seats in it, but is was completely full of walkers wearing various brightly coloured waterproofs, so we elected to sit on a bench near the stream. I got us a coffee from the little shop which sells food, drinks and maps, and we sat in the drizzle. We were just about to eat our sarnies when Jake started coughing and brought up a wad of green water vegetation coated in white froth- don't you just love dogs!!
We defied the rain, which started again in ernest, and ate lunch- we even had a second cuppa! Typically enough, as soon as we finished the barn emptied. We made the decision to walk back the way we had come, rather than go up and over the hills, as we would have the shelter of the trees and Jake would be able to go back into the water.
We had a few showers on and off walking back, but were largely sheltered. We had a bit of excitement when
mum was convinced she had seen a kingfisher sitting on a stone, and in her eagerness to get a closer look stepped on Gemma- but it turned out to be a dipper (no, I don't know how she could confuse a brown and white bird with a kingfisher...)
Milldale And Viators Bridge
Jake Loving The Water!
We took our time on the way back, taking photos...
Mum And The Dogs
Gemma
We made it back to the bridge and had a welcome hot chocolate from the kiosk. Typically enough, as we drove away the sun bloody came out! Talk about rubbing it in... still, we did manage to have a good day and it was nice walking and chatting with mum.
Saturday I had originally intended to do the 28 mile Little John Challenge Walk, but my friend wanted to walk with me so I set my sights a little lower as she's not into walking distances. We walked about 5 miles in all, as she was feeling the heat, so not quite the training I had intended but still quite nice to walk and chat, and enjoy a coffee and a cake afterwards (and pub meal before!) I will do the Little John Challenge soon...
I have entered the Gym for Heroes challenge which my gym is participating in. There are two challenges for either teams or individuals- 3 hours non stop challenge (1 hour rowing, 1 hour on the stationary bike and one hour on the treadmill or elliptical) or 12 hours non stop challenge (4 hours on each) I was seriously intrigued by the 12 hour challenge, but seriously don't think I'd be up to that (it's more Jo's thing!) so I have registered for the 3 hours, which has to be completed between 24th and 30th July.
I have had quite a tough gym session this morning and have started to use some of the training schedule which was drawn up for me for the MdS, and I managed to do a lot more than I thought I could- so it looks as though the training isn't going so badly!
I knew this wasn't going to be much of an endurance challenge, as mum doesn't like to walk too far and was tired, so planned a 6 mile route through Dovedale to Milldale and back across the hill tops. Mum bought the dogs over and we piled them in my car. We had a slight drama over mum losing her phone when I dropped her off at Morrisons to get cash out, but luckily an honest member of staff had handed it into the store...
Many roadworks and tractors later, we drove down the narrow, twisty road into the car park and paid our two pounds to park (quite a bargain!) As we hoped, it wasn't too busy, and once we had the dogs sorted we set off eating home made ice cream from the kiosk in the car park. The stepping stones were apparently shut so we opted to use the bridge (quite hairy crossing with a kamikaze Jake eager to get to the water).
The stepping stones had been sectioned off, and it looks as though what the workmen are doing is cementing thick stone slabs on top of the existing stepping stones... I appreciate that they must be at risk of being worn away but seems a bit of a shame as I'm sure it will detract from their original character.
We let the dogs off; Jake immediately took to the water like a duck and Gemma, as usual, didn't move more than a few inches from mum's feet.
It was a quiet day in Dovedale (bet it's murder at weekends!!) with only a few hundred schoolchildren in seemingly endless school parties. They all seemed to be walking the other way, and, as they filed past, there were the usual cries of 'Oh, look at that cute little dog!' Gemma got quite a lot of attention!
There is a good path through Dovedale, including a short climb with stone steps, a lot of which appear to have many fossils embedded in them- I do remember reading that these rocks were actually under the sea millenia ago!
Gemma has a unique way of walking... if she is tired, she will stop until she is carried for a few minutes (luckily she's a small dog- hope Jake doesn't get any ideas!) If she gets a piece of grass or vegetation stuck to her fur she will stop until it is located and removed. This can make progress rather painfully slow at times!
Just past the caves of Doveholes, it started to rain quite persistently. We took shelter under a large tree for a few minutes, until it eased, and then carried on to Milldale where we intended to eat lunch. There was a shelter with seats in it, but is was completely full of walkers wearing various brightly coloured waterproofs, so we elected to sit on a bench near the stream. I got us a coffee from the little shop which sells food, drinks and maps, and we sat in the drizzle. We were just about to eat our sarnies when Jake started coughing and brought up a wad of green water vegetation coated in white froth- don't you just love dogs!!
We defied the rain, which started again in ernest, and ate lunch- we even had a second cuppa! Typically enough, as soon as we finished the barn emptied. We made the decision to walk back the way we had come, rather than go up and over the hills, as we would have the shelter of the trees and Jake would be able to go back into the water.
We had a few showers on and off walking back, but were largely sheltered. We had a bit of excitement when
mum was convinced she had seen a kingfisher sitting on a stone, and in her eagerness to get a closer look stepped on Gemma- but it turned out to be a dipper (no, I don't know how she could confuse a brown and white bird with a kingfisher...)
We took our time on the way back, taking photos...
We made it back to the bridge and had a welcome hot chocolate from the kiosk. Typically enough, as we drove away the sun bloody came out! Talk about rubbing it in... still, we did manage to have a good day and it was nice walking and chatting with mum.
Saturday I had originally intended to do the 28 mile Little John Challenge Walk, but my friend wanted to walk with me so I set my sights a little lower as she's not into walking distances. We walked about 5 miles in all, as she was feeling the heat, so not quite the training I had intended but still quite nice to walk and chat, and enjoy a coffee and a cake afterwards (and pub meal before!) I will do the Little John Challenge soon...
I have entered the Gym for Heroes challenge which my gym is participating in. There are two challenges for either teams or individuals- 3 hours non stop challenge (1 hour rowing, 1 hour on the stationary bike and one hour on the treadmill or elliptical) or 12 hours non stop challenge (4 hours on each) I was seriously intrigued by the 12 hour challenge, but seriously don't think I'd be up to that (it's more Jo's thing!) so I have registered for the 3 hours, which has to be completed between 24th and 30th July.
I have had quite a tough gym session this morning and have started to use some of the training schedule which was drawn up for me for the MdS, and I managed to do a lot more than I thought I could- so it looks as though the training isn't going so badly!
Labels: Dovedale Dipper, gym for heroes
