Another hill walk

Mr C said as we'd let our fitness lapse this winter we'd better head to the hills this morning. We left Alwinton at 9.30 am heading for the Copper Snout round. It was wonderfully bright although the wind was biting. We were accompanied by boom of the big guns on the Otterburn range, the roar of two US fighter planes, and much more pleasant, the first song of the larks.

I'd forgotten how punishing the first steep hour is, but we made good time. However as we headed higher up we realised the exposure on the open moorland for the second third of the walk would be considerably unpleasant, and as we had to be in Whitley Bay in the afternoon, at the hut we turned right for the track in the shelter of the lower slopes of the Kidland Forest. At this point we met a truck coming up with a cargo of six portaloos. There was only an isolated farm further on, and the forest. The mind is still boggling.

The route back was down the more boring forestry track to the Alwin burn, which we followed back to Alwinton.

I tried out my Ormon pedometer which is to replace the Fitbit which fell to bits. It says 17,000 steps and 6.4 miles in the 3 hours we walked but the map says 7.5.

Now I must get myself organised as we have to pick up the boys, and I need to pack for an early start for my "Words on the Water" festival at Keswick.

The collage today is -
Top - Still snow on south-facing slopes of Cheviot
left - reaching the forest where we adopted Plan B
Middle - view down the rolling hills to the valley
Right - the last stretch along the burn.