|
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Running in the woods in the dark
The weather's been a little wintery recently, so, when yesterday afternoon turned out to be lovely and sunny, I decided to stop off at Gummer's Howe on the way back from work to go for a run in the woods. The drive up there is really nice, and as I climbed up above Lake Windermere, the sun was low in the sky behind the summit. I parked, got changed and set off into the woods. I'd never been in there before, but I had a rough idea of where to go.
After 15 minutes I'd pretty much got to the end of the track so I had two options: turn back or carry on into the unknown. I still felt pretty strong, and I didn't want to turn back, so I carried on. After 35 minutes of running through the trees I got to a big track that led downhill and I happily ran along enjoying the wonderful views, thinking it was taking me back to the start. As I got further down this track it became clear that the view I was looking at didn't contain Lake Windermere, which meant I was going the wrong way. I stopped, looked around, and realised I was totally lost. I had absolutely no idea what that valley ahead of me was, I couldn't see Gummer's Howe, part of the route here had been 'off-track' and I couldn't be sure of finding it again and it was getting dark. Bugger.
So I retraced my steps as best I could, leaving the track at a well-hidden footpath sign that looked like it headed in the right direction. It turned out I had no idea which was the right direction: it led me past a huge pond which I'd not seen before, out to the edge of the woods overlooking yet another valley that didn't contain Lake WIndermere. By now it was proper dark and I still hadn't got anywhere I recognised. But I had reached the edge of the woods and it wasn't quite so dark, and I could see a farm in the distance, so I headed for that. From there I followed a little track that led to a road which I sprinted down to finally make it back to the start 1 hour and 15 minutes later.
It was the longest run I've ever done, and the most stupid. Might do it again tonight!
.....posted at 7:47 am permalink
babyatom's
old BIG BLOGS
|
