Roseberry Topping

Last Saturday, I went on a hike with the a branch of the Ramblers club called Get Your Boots On. Basically, GYBO (Gi-boo) is Ramblers Lite. Well, not in the sense of easier hikes, but definitely the children's table of the Ramblers club. (And by 'children's table' I mean 20-30 somethings. We were the youngest there, I think.) We went to North Yorkshire, and the first accomplishment of the day was me successfully guiding my two companions through public transportation all the way up there. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to get there, and we took two trains and a bus. But by golly, I was rambling come hell or high water.

The hike was 11 miles, rated 'moderate', and led by a very nice woman named Louise. I'd like to spend a minute, dear internet, lamenting the term 'moderate'. This hike was many things: beautiful, breath taking, exciting, but not moderate. Turns out that the ratings are rather subjective, and each hike leader rates it themselves. By the end of the hike, Louise turned to me and said, "Well, now that I've done it again, I suppose it was really on the harder side of moderate."

No kidding. We started with a hike up the side of a hill, which brought us to the ridge we would be hiking across for most of the day. From that angle, Roseberry Topping (our ultimate goal) seemed quite imposing. Haha! little did I know that we had quite a round about route to go before we would tackle the topping from the other side. Instead, we skirted around the topping, across some pastures, and, down and up, over to Captain Cook's Monument, where we stopped and had lunch.

View from up on high

Lunch!

From there, we made our way across the moors. It was quite windy, and you could hear the wind sweeping through the heather, just like in The Secret Garden. Growing up, hearing stories set on the moors, I could never understand how a place full of plants and animals could be described so starkly, so lonely and cold. But walking up there, seeing nothing but heather for miles, seeing no one but our group of hikers, hearing nothing but the wind, it all made perfect sense.

I loved it.

A view across the moors

After a long walk across the moors, we suddenly (and quite unexpectedly) popped out on top of Highcliffe Nab, which had great views across to the North Sea.

Then we wandered down, through a forest, and up to Hanging Stone, a punishing climb up, and the back down. From Hanging Stone, we could see Roseberry Topping, seemingly miles away, looming ahead and taunting us. (In reality, I think it was about two miles away, if that.)

But we pressed on! I should pause and mention that Louise and the others were great to talk to and really good sports about letting us take our time up the steep bits. Some people were in really great condition and bounded along the moors like mountain goats. And some people walked a little more sedately, and took their time going up and down. So we always had company, or some one's heels to lock our eyes to when the ups seemed a little too daunting.

Roseberry topping (and much of the walk) was paved with what I can only describe as a cobblestone street that's barely survived an earthquake, then shaken out and tacked on the side of a mountain. Switch backs? The Brits don't need no stinkin' switchbacks! They just go straight up the sides of mountains, clambering over rocks specifically laid out in a pattern optimised to be as unhelpful as possible.

And then coming down, those rocks aren't wide enough to be stairs, so you feel like only mountain goats could get down without breaking an ankle.

We made it! (Becca, Beth and Brie. No, seriously. I am doomed to be in a trio of Bs)

And then I managed to finagle rides for us back to York, which was so appreciated. I think we could not have managed public transportation. Brie and I went with Louise, and in fact, I'll be driving with her on Sunday down to Roche Abbey for a second attempt at this Rambling thing.

I just absolutely love it. All the people are really nice (we had a GYBO pub night on Wednesday), and it's really fun to talk to people from across Yorkshire. I also just love walking and hiking, and the views are so extraordinary, I had a hard time keeping my mouth shut. I really am falling in love with Yorkshire, and I can't wait to show my parents when they come out in March!

I have several more pictures, so if you're interested in seeing them, let me know! I'll try to post them on Picasa or facebook, for all to see.

-b