Running past standing stones

An eery tour of the standing stones on a night fellrun was an experience. After weeks of wind and rain on the fells, it's light relief not to feel like you're living inside a washing machine. The ground was frozen, so getting wet feet wasn't a problem...
I ran past the Cop Stone, on Askham fell, out to the Cockpit, a flat-lying stone circle which is so subdued that you have to know where it is. The low height of the stones somehow draws the eye to the surrounding sweep of the fellside rather than into itself. What a peaceful place at night time.

Running in the dark

The fog hasn't lifted in three days now. Might try and get above it later today.
I like running in the dark. It seems to give you the illusion of speed. Last night I joined the running club for a "festive lights" tour of the town. The style of house and garden adornment certainly varied from street to street, and in my opinion, seemed to be rather too tasteful in places. Still, here's a particularly fine example of the genre. And what's with the helicopter? Beats me...

Snapshots from Sardinia

Sometimes, perhaps all too rarely, a place exceeds all expectations. Sardinia was such an experience- as if we were given something we didn't deserve. Two weeks of unadulterated climbing pleasure. Fifty eight routes; more than a vertical kilometre.
Sardinia is a fascinating, craggy mountain fortress of an island. It fires the imagination to think that for millennia, Sardinians would retreat into the mountains when successive waves of invaders threatened their way of life. Tiscali, the village hidden in a sinkhole at the top of a hill, a good two hours' walk from anywhere, is a place that resonates in the mind long after the actuality of it. The vestige of a past culture's survival instincts lingers on in the collective memory. After all, that may be ultimately why we climb...

Getting off the ground

It's much harder to start one of these things than you might think. Still, no one will read it, so should it matter?
Anyway. Somewhere to rest for a while, contemplate, and poke around this curious planet of ours, much like the butterfly I saw while out climbing.