I like riding in the countryside. The countryside goes past quicker and I get to see more generally, when I’m not watching the trail so I don’t crash of course. But sometimes I like to walk into the country, with a heavy bergen on my back and just wild camp and explore the sights.

It’s all about the A to B normally, you’ve got a time slot away from work and family, and no doubt many here will require a pub somewhere along the way. But sometimes you need to just go out where there’s no one, and stop on that route and just stand and admire the landscape.

This is one such time:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=A65&daddr=Unknown+road&hl=en&sll=54.02794,-2.035904&sspn=0.20368,0.617294&geocode=FXK3NwMd-Nzf_w%3BFW11OQMdDwPi_w&oq=Gargrave&dirflg=w&mra=prev&t=m&z=11&layer=t

I got out of a car and walked up and up into the Dales. The sound of traffic and homes went away. You could hear the bees lazily hovering in the grass, anguished sheep bleats spooking me for a bit. The mobile phone masts still produced the buzz in my head that only places like Top Withens will remove. The odd RAF jet breaking the peace.

I was walking out of Grassington down Moor Lane when a couple of scandinavian girls dressed in colourful clothing, skipping down the lane shouted for me to follow then, so I did, exhausted, up and up this little lane, until it opened up onto a massive encampment and I took my boots off and camped at the end of my journey with what ended up a couple of thousand people over the camps life.

One day I decided to walk NE up the plateaus and into desolation. I needed some peace (and to cook up some meat since the community was veggie and I heard I’d get lynched if they smelled bacon grill) I think I only went about 1.5miles, but the following pics record my journey:

Dales walk

I was armed with OS maps and compass, plenty of water and a couple days of food just in case, and I was generally following the farmers ATV trails and where his fugly sheep were living, so I wasn’t in any danger.

You can drive to the end of this lane, put your car to the side and walk up yourself, maybe even cycle up there, although it’s not a long distance thing, so maybe Skipton to there might be more appropriate, and you’re be using main roads. The route I walked in from Gargrave was extremely steep and I didn’t exactly keep to the paths I’m afraid, using map, compass and binos to pick shorter/interesting routes.

What are your walks that producing life inspiring moments?