yes indeed readers, such are the extremes of our unique climate as most of you will know
we started our edale skyline plus (24.5 miles/4000ft) outing at 0700 to get ahead of steam before the madding crowds appeared.it was a lovely morning..so much so i totally caught the sun throwing caution to the wind not using any suncream.
what i love about what we do is that each run, even in the same area is totally unique. today as we contoured round to Winhill the air was full of the fragrance of freshly logged pine from the forest above the reservoir
by the time we got to the trig at Winhill we still hadn't seen a single soul..other than the best part of a thousand hill sheep
as we made our way over to rushup edge and beyond the paths were becoming a little more populated so it was time to leave folk behind and head over the peat bogs to kinder
this is where, in a split second and out of nowhere, came the first assault of hailstones from the sky at a vicious rate too. dressed in a tee and shorts it wasn't pleasant. not only did each direct hit on me really hurt, the sheer volume of them combined with the gusty wind sent me from being beautifully warm to bloody freezing in a matter of seconds. we stopped at the trig where i donned the only protection i had..a very lightweight montane windproof jacket (see mr weatherman we weren't expecting anything like this at all)..it did a job to cover my arms but my poor legs had to take the battering without protection. eventually it subsided as we reached the pennine way junction at kinder.
only minutes passed and once again the sun vanished and it started all over again..this time harder and for longer. so hard i started to get a frozen head so my flimsy hood was called into action this time.
but we wouldn't want it any other way. give us predictable and well, it all becomes a bit predictable. and i guess that's why being a weatherman in britain has always probably been one of the toughest jobs going..bless everyone of them and their totally inaccurate forecasts
10 comments:
Had similar weather-filled fun on Friday. Having hailstones bounce off the top of my head was interesting as I've not a lot in the hair department and didn't have a hat. Resorted to running with my hand on my head. Love it!
Haha, funny I was thinking the same yesterday Dave as I was suddenly soaked after a few hours of intermittant sun. Rain hadn't been predicted till late afternoon. It then proceded to shower most of the day. Although we only had the 'dilute' East yorks version of weather cos all the hailstones have usually been used up by time clouds get this far over ;)
haha, your blogs are good for the soul. keep it up.
cheers
4 winds..i had one hand shielding my face..i couldn't run with t'other on my head mind!
de..we'll save some for you next time then
js..cheers mate
Well said. I'd take the unpredictable too. It makes for epic and memorable runs. Of course, I haven't been caught in a hail storm in the fells:) Another great dispatch. Thanks.
yup, that pretty much sums it up brilliantly :) we went to scotland this wkend, possible hill snow, came back with sun burn!!
...we should really try and meet up for a run around edale soon.
Thankfully Michael Fish didnt say there will not be a storm.
Very reckless not taking sun cream.
Good stuff UC.
The wonders of enjoying nature, a bit of a crap shoot sometimes. Glad you are okay. My dogs look at me as though I'm brutally punishing me the couple times that we've been caught in hail storms.
Sounds like a bang up day!
jerry..looks like it would be a long journey for you to the fells!
kate..that would be great
sbrt..in his defence very true..you'd make a canny barrister
jessiepants..be great to get into the minds of our dogs for real
That isn't good at all but as you say, also don't want it too predictable. What does Charlie do in a hailstorm?
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