Walking In The Rain

Diggle end of the Standedge Tunnel has delivered some crazy weather. With leaden skies, lightning cracks and rolling thunder the moors have looked dark and menacing.  There was walking out there so we anoracked up. Torrential rain meant a quiet hike down to Uppermill yesterday where we trudged through Java in our wellies before steaming under patio heaters with birthday Pimms, Murk there too…as always.

Squelching off again this morning, up past the Diggle Hotel we could see where we needed to be and it was pretty much straight up the side of a craggy hill come mountain. The footpath soon fizzled out and realising we were somewhere we probably shouldn’t have been we carried on. By the end of the semi-treacherous, free-fall boulder climb we were at a chilly height where bilberries are king. Saddleworth moors screamed vast and remote as we poked our way along rugged tracks, discovering gigantic walls of rock and dodging huge holes below the heather.

Clueless, we wandered the wilderness before checking for the unlikely possibility of a Geocache nearby in the hope it might set us back on track. Sure enough, there it was and after crossing a final boggy patch we arrived at Sykes Pillar, despite standing 1489ft above sea level, arriving at the trig felt like landing right back in civilisation. The remainder was a doddle – a few miles along the top of the moors along to Pots and Pans then down to find ourselves two villages from where the boat was moored.

Very quiet up here, just one boat has passed by all weekend.

 

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