Author Topic: Walking at night.  (Read 1414 times)

BuzyG

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Walking at night.
« on: 22:47:12, 09/01/19 »
It was such a beautiful day here today.  I had to head out on Bodmin after work.  As I parked up near sharp tor the sun was low on the horizon and by the time I had climbed to the ridge accross to Brearah it was setting to my left.  I headed accross to Killmar in that wonderfull golden afterglow and wrapped up warm on the summit, sitting for while and munching on a few peices of rum and raisin dark chocolate, I had stowed in the waist pocket of my rucksack. After taking a few more snaps I headed back to Sharp tor by the light of the Cresent moon,  the savage glow of Plymouth 15 miles away obscuring the lowest star in the constlation Orion ahead of me.

Back at the summit of Sharp tor I found my favrite spot out of the breeze, buttoned up and sat for over an hour admiring the waxing Cresent moon, as it gently lowered itself toward the top of Stowe hill.  I truly love that spot.  I have spent many an hour there just enjoying the view in all seasons.  Having the heavens lit up above on a crisp clear winters evening was just perfect.


How about you?
« Last Edit: 23:01:37, 09/01/19 by BuzyG »

richardh1905

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Re: Walking at night.
« Reply #1 on: 08:11:19, 10/01/19 »
Walking at night can be a wonderful experience - especially here in Orkney where we have very little light pollution (I cannot see a single street light from my house). I particularly like walking the dog on moonless nights when the stars are revealed in all their glory - I use the red light on my headtorch so as not to spoil my night vision. And very occasionally I am treated to a display of the Aurora Borealis.
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gunwharfman

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Re: Walking at night.
« Reply #2 on: 10:24:47, 10/01/19 »
I took two of my wifes friends children, an 11 girl and a 12 year old boy, along with the 12 year olds mum, for a walk in the dark early last week. I drove them to a small lay by on the edge of a wood, it was 7.30pm, pitch black, cloudy and no lights anywhere. We all carried two torches and I walked them on a circular one mile track through the wood. At one point we agreed to switch off our torches, stand still and just listen for any woodland sound! Mum was the most nervous and she was the first to lose her nerve and switch on her torch again. The kids loved it! As mum said afterwards, it was better for her son than just looking at screens. The girl and her mum came to us for a meal on Monday night and it was very much for the child a topic of conversation. I used to do this when my son was young, his friends always got a thrill out of it as well.

sunnydale

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Re: Walking at night.
« Reply #3 on: 22:34:57, 12/01/19 »
Walking at night can be a wonderful experience - especially here in Orkney where we have very little light pollution (I cannot see a single street light from my house). I particularly like walking the dog on moonless nights when the stars are revealed in all their glory - I use the red light on my headtorch so as not to spoil my night vision. And very occasionally I am treated to a display of the Aurora Borealis.


Sounds divine Richard 8) 
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nick949

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Re: Walking at night.
« Reply #4 on: 19:21:05, 15/01/19 »
Across the North York Moors at Night:



Three hours later I was wide awake. My body was telling me it was
morning and time to get up and get moving; my watch told me it was
9PM. It had started to drizzle. I couldn't just lie there, wide awake, for
another 10 hours until sunrise, so I quickly packed my gear, dug out my
head lamp and headed out across the moor.


You might think that hiking across the North York Moors in the dark
in the rain was a bit daft, pointless or perhaps even dangerous, but
actually it was really rather magical. Away from major sources of light
pollution, night time visibility can be surprisingly good. I could see the
general shape of the moorland all around me, it's edge punctuated by
numerous pinpoints of light from farmhouses and street lights, while my
head lamp illuminated the path ahead.


After an hour or two of steady walking, I stopped for a quick snack
and a chance to savour the night. All was quiet and calm, the broad flat
shape of the moors now visible whichever direction I turned. Looking
back along my path, I could still see some specks of light from
Ravenscar, one of which caught my attention as it seemed to be moving,
flickering, and gaining and losing intensity. I stood for a long time
looking at that light but since I couldn't make any sense of it, started
walking again.


Every so often I would stop for a few moments. Yes, the light was
still there and it still seemed to be moving. Was this some trick of
distance, light and atmospheric moisture, or was someone actually
following me? Who else would be crazy enough to be walking across the
North York Moors in the middle of the night by the light a of head lamp?
I stopped to look again. Yes, the light was still flickering. I could only
think of one (other) person daft enough.


While I was back in Canada I had been in touch with John – the
hiker I had originally met on Black Hill during my Pennine Way walk.
By an amazing coincidence, he was going to be leading a hiking group
on the moors a few days ahead of my arrival in Scarborough. Once he
was done with them, he was going to return home briefly, then catch the
train to Kirkby Stephen so we could walk the second half of the Coast to-
Coast together.


I constructed the theory that John found out my train time, looked at
the map, figured out my plan and decided to follow me. I thought of
waiting but I was still unsure whether the light truly was moving or
whether the distance and air moisture were playing tricks on me. The
gradually increasing tempo of the rain encouraged me to walk on. If it
was John, he'd be able to follow my tracks easily enough in the soggy
ground and knowing the speed he traveled, he'd soon catch up. If it
wasn't him, then there was no point in hanging around.


In some places the path was a narrow gravel road, in others, little
more than a well trodden soggy divot in the surface of the moor. My
head lamp illuminated enough of the path ahead for me to be sure of the
direction I needed to travel. From time to time, I would look at the
Memory-Map Ap on my phone and the little red ring showing my GPS
location confirmed that I was still on track.


Hours passed, the intensity of the rain increased and the ground
became puddle strewn and soggy. Passing near the fence above RAF
Fylingdale I wondered whether my middle-of-the-night passage was
being monitored by video or motion sensors, but if it was, nobody was
sufficiently interested to brave the wet weather to check me out. My
unsynchronized circadian rhythms were also letting me know that it was
time for a proper sleep this time. I found a section of fence where the
Goathland Road meets the A169. Strung up my tarp, rolled out my bivvy
bag and fell to sleep to the sound of the rain pattering down.


Nick


extracted from (see below)
Book: "Actually, I'm English: rediscovering my homeland on foot and by motorbike" (http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01AGQIX1K)

richardh1905

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Re: Walking at night.
« Reply #5 on: 22:52:05, 15/01/19 »

Sounds divine Richard 8)



Can be Sunnydale - but it can also be utterly vile. Recently endured horizontal wet snow in the dark (the dog only got a mile that night) - but even then there's something a bit special about seeing the snowflakes dancing in the headtorch beam.
WildAboutWalking - Join me on my walks through the wilder parts of Britain

BuzyG

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Re: Walking at night.
« Reply #6 on: 18:33:05, 16/01/19 »
Not all night walks go to plan A.  Our last group walk at night had been planned for a short full moon lit summer night ramble to the heart of Dartmoor.  After a hearty meal, at the pub in Lydford we set off into the gloom, for a six hour foggy damp trudge in the dark.  We eveń managed to follow the GPS in completely the wrong direction adding two miles and 700ft of climbing to the planned route.  ;D

At least as I climbed into my car and drove towards home, at 3:30am, I had the pleasure of a distant warm glow, followed by a beautifull sun rise ahead of me. O0

 

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