Backpacking.

 As many of you may be aware I am a keen hillwalker/ hiker. My days of actually backpacking are now over since I am not able to carry all the requirements for camping out.  I have been hillwalking since 1958, when with my parents we started to explore the Grampian /Cairngorm region. I often write expressive pieces after a walk or adventure.

It has taken me a while to choose a couple of pieces to include this week. 

HILLWALKING 12/02/1989

Show me a track, Put a pack on my back and the open fields before me. Then away I shall trek, 'til I'm only a speck....For I shall be off and free.

Give me fresh air. The wind in my hair and the mountain tops before me. And away I shall speed - dressed all in tweed...For I shall be off and free.

Give me a good map. Some soup and a bap with the glens before me. Then away I shall stalk, gone for a walk....For I shall be off snd free.

Give me stout boots. For I'll never take roots within the valleys before me. For away I shall stride, my dog at my side...For I shall be off and free.

Give me a stout stick. And I'll be gone quick down the road before me. I'll never turn back, from the wide open tract....For I shall be off and free.

BLENCATHRA IN JANUARY.    15/7/2022

I'll sit by Scales Tarn, above the snow.     My mind recall the clamber from below.    Then I'll glance at Sharp Edge and see the mist that lingered upon Blencathra and gently kissed the summit.

I'll gaze upon the water dark and still- breath in the chill cold air and get my fill of the scene --others resting and eating their fill and consuming the beating heart of Blencathra.

To see again the raven riding the air that drifted up from the tarn - bleak and bare and dark...near my weary feet that clambered through snow turned to sleet by Scales Beck.

Reluctantly I'd turned from my goal that day. A walk to cleanse the soul and rejuvenate. To love once more the fells and dales . My heart now swells with memories.

Thank you for reading. Kath