Another Walk To Scaleber Foss

Introduction

I try to do this walk each time I come to Settle and this was my post about it last year.

This year the weather has not been good, plus my phone decided that it was dying so Fiona has bought a new one for Christmas so I have a working reliable phone now, a Google Pixel 6.

So Time to Go

This morning it was cold but bright. The sky was almost cloudless but I saw some amazing clouds and chemtrail formations.

This one looked like a rocket had taken off locally. I don't know what had happened but there is probably a reasonable explanation for it.

I think the one below actually looks like a plane crash, maybe that is just my overactive imagination.

I didn't realise how hard the walk just out of Settle was, but it is steep and you need to be reasonably fit to just get out and when you finally get to the start of the real walk you see this.

That is a one-in-five gradient and it can be disconcerting because that really takes it out of me, but I got around it by taking stops to rest and slowly made the ascent being watched by sheep and avoiding large SUVs and tractors as I walked up. Below are some of the sheep looking as though they have been stuck to the hill like fuzzy felt.

The steel gradient gets attle easier going from 20% to 12% which is one-in-five to one-in-eight, though that is still fairly hard, or I find it hard.

You sometimes think maybe I should give up, but when you see the road flatten out at the top you feel really good and feel you have succeeded although there is still a way to go.

On the level the puddles were completely iced over, so it was very cold.

There were many great sights on the walk up like the sun shining on this pond.

Eventually, I got to Scaleber Foss and saw the falls.

I published some selfies with a video of the falls on Instagram which you can see here.

When I got there I was happy I had got there to appreciate the falls and the woods. Out in the fresh air, I felt good and had proved to myself that I am still reasonably fit.

I spent time enjoying the surroundings and then turned back. Coming back was obviously a lot easier as it was almost all downhill. I remember seeing two guys older than me a few years back actually cycling up, they were a lot fitter than me. That was something I would not even consider.

Walking back it was nice to get a view of Settle knowing that I would be back at the Talbot for their festive pie which you can read about here. It was very warming and tasted amazing. I may be tempted to have some again tomorrow.

Concluding Thoughts

This has taught me that you have always got to try even when it is so tempting not to do it. If I hadn't done it I would have most definitely regretted it. I know I have done it before, but the stuff I shared on Instagram has had a lot of great reactions from friends.

The music is, appropriately, "The Walk" by The Cure.

I hope that you have enjoyed this story and the pictures, and I hope they may tempt you to visit if you are ever in the vicinity.

As I say, this has been my most difficult walk this week, but I enjoyed it and I am so glad I did it.