The weather during my week was actually fairly dreadful and I was really discouraged from taking to the hills for walks; especially after Keith's fall on Sunday. Consequently I concentrated my efforts on a couple of locations which looked promising on the OS maps and from the weather forecast.
I had my eye on a spot called Winskill Stones which is a nature reserve a couple of miles west of Malham. When I arrived the pavements and features looked really interesting but there was a full blown blizzard at full throttle so I had to dodge in and out of the sleet, rain, snow and gales. However, I was encouraged by the few photos I managed to take. Some of them are here and I have added Winskill Stones to the long list of places to revisit.
The last day of the week offered sunshine! I decided to catch the bus to Grassington and enjoy a walk back up the east side of the Wharfedale valley back to Kettlewell. The views up the valley were wonderful and after spending some more time on the limestone pavement I enjoyed a proper picnic lunch on the top of Conistone Pie.
The most amazing sight was seen on my way back down to Kettlewell. I happened to look behind me and saw what looked like a false sun in a crescent of light. I raced up the hill to compose a photo. I needed my polariser. I raced back down the hill to fetch it and then raced back up the hill whilst installing the filter on my lens which wasn't easy as the thread didn't want to play. However, it was worth the numerous sprints as I managed to pull all the detail out of the clouds. A spectacular end to my week!
