Herefordshire, hills and hiking

This weekend Andy and I have been on the annual Methsoc retreat, to Woolhope Cockshoot in Herefordshire. This meant we couldn't go off on a routemarch style 15 mile hike, but we did go out with everyone else for a Saturday afternoon 7 mile walk.

Tim (who took these photos) and Andy had planned the route, and we set off with Andy musing about whether he could make everyone do our Trailwalker pace. I was musing about how fast everyone would catch up and kill him if he did. After a slight mis-start (we walked up someone's drive rather than a footpath) we found the trail and squelched our way up on to a ridge, with really lovely views. Andy had settled for a normal person's quick walking pace and so we meandered along, basking in the amazing weather - it felt like April, not early February!

Despite some dismay when we couldn't find the promised picnic area (hazards of using a 15 year old map) we eventually found a banked field. I made the most of actually being allowed to sit down for lunch - on Andy's hikes it's always an activity done whilst moving! The views were stunning - looking all across to the Malverns, which the team are planning to walk on at some point in the future. After munching, we then set off - and to my dismay, Andy decided the path led down the side of the hill. Normally most heights don't bother me, but with one arm out of action and feeling off balance anyway, taking a path that probably hadn't existed properly for 5 years down the side of a 1 in 3 gradient with little to grab on to suddenly made me rather dizzy! Despite my croaking that we were all going to die (I'm optimistic in these situations) we did eventually make it down to the bottom in the 9 separate entire pieces we'd started off as.

The rest of the walk was really good fun - it was nice to be able to properly admire the surrounding countryside and stop for a drink in a pub. Being able to sit outside in short sleeves in February was a bit surreal! However I had great sympathy for one of our walkers when they got up again and discovered their legs had stiffened up - I'm getting to know that feeling very well! One big hill back up again later, we got back to the centre and scraped off all the mud, ready to resume being contemplative. I really enjoyed the weekend - good to remember that not all walking is intended to kill me :o) !