Things to remember:
- I had to move at 4.10am as it started to rain and the beech trees I'd hunkered under started dropping blobs of rain on the roof. I hate this scenario and can't sleep through it. I'd taken a gamble and lost. At least the spot I moved to a few hundred metres away was good. I knew it already but initially resisted it as it's at altitude and very exposed, and the camper isn't nearly as good as coping with high winds as the truck. Anyway, once I'd shuffled, I slept soundly.
- So, to the Forest of Bowland and its intertwined tales of the Pendle Witches. It really is all I'd imagined. It's very sparsely populated and features some amazing upland moorland vistas as well as more than a few babbling brooks and tree-lined valleys. It's apparently a stronghold for ring ouzel but I didn't see any. In fairness it's late in the season and most are probably in or heading for Africa now. I did spot a merlin, though, as well as the more common and expected upland-dwellers. I also marked a few spots as potential overnight stays and may well return ...
- The bumble (and it really was) took up all morning and after a snoozy lunch on the tops I visited Gisburn forest; a place reputed for its bike trails. Even though the weather was a bit mizzly I heroically got changed and thrashed around for an hour. Some of the formal route sections are most definitely set up for MTBs and MTB skill-sets and though I tried a couple, my graveller (not to mention me) were at the raggedy edge of capability. I (and my graveller) made our own fun instead on the much faster and only slightly dangerous forest tracks. The forest itself is not as pleasant as some, it's all a bit enclosed and even-aged. I did have a good roe deer encounter, though.
- After physically wrecking myself yet again (before fully clearing my current virus) I headed for Wigglesworth, well, why wouldn't I? It's only the second time I've been and it's all very evocative. It's odd to think that I may have more historic kinship with the hamlet than most people currently living there.
- At the spot shown, now. It's a place I've used before as pre-race stopover, but it actually punches above that status. The vistas are excellent and though I've seen nothing unusual I did see a buzzard leap from a drystone wall onto some unsuspecting prey. Seems like soaring at height for hours on end is all deemed a bit energetic around these parts.
Post composed at 21:15 on Wednesday 16th September from my intended overnighting spot N 53.92893°, W 02.10554° / http://maps.google.com/maps?q=loc:53.92893%2C-02.10554
