Snow Scenes near Swainby(2012-02-05)

Even though our coach was cancelled last Sunday (2012-02-05), some individual groups managed to get out for a trek under their own steam! We (JT and PB) undertook a circular walk from Swainby that took in Swainby Shooting House.

Our route took us from Swainby to the Shooting house via Scarth Wood Farm, Shepherd Hill, Limekiln Bank and Stoney Ridge. Because the sunshine was so warm we sat outside the hut and had our morning coffee and a breakfast bar!

From the shooting house we headed south along a good track towards Faber's Stone where we turned right onto a westerly bearing to cross the moorland terrain near Leystone Ridge. We made our way to Solomon's Lane and its junction with High Lane. Turning right, we progressed along the edge of the woods near Pamperdale Moor - where we stopped for a short lunch break at {SE 472 983}.

Leaving our lunch-stop location, we continued on a northerly bearing to reach the cattle grid at Scarth Nick. The road here was in a treacherous state - in terms of the snow and ice that we experienced. I slipped over - even though I was wearing my MICROspikes! We also came across two abondoned vehicles - one of them a 4x4 which had skidded full-circle off the road!

Continuing our cautious descent we arrived at Scarth Nick Farm and followed Back Lane until we reached a footpath at {NZ 473 016}. Turning right onto this, we trekked across a snow-laden field in order to arrive back at Swainby at 14.58 pm.

We set off from Swainby at 10:34 am and took 4 hrs 24 mins to cover our 8.2 miles circuit. Our moving average was 3.1 mph and our overall average (which includes stop time for photos) was 1.8 mph.

The 'snow scene' photos that we took can be seen by clicking on the yellow button:


The photos that were taken during a similar expedition last year can be viewed using the pink button:

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