Synopsis: Wandering around Haldon on a cold but often sunny winter’s day. No pre-planned route, just making up a course as I went.
It may be mid January, but this is Devon, and that means there's no shortage of good walking to be done and splendid sights to see if only I can get myself moving. Yes, it's rained all night long and the weatherman is saying there's a deep depression in the Atlantic is headed our way. BUT! There's a window of opportunity (isn't that a horrible phrase?) to be grabbed.
Rather than drive far I decided to head for Haldon, on the doorstep of Exeter. The sun was shining early on in the day, so it was important I didn’t waste this. I was walking by 10 o'clock.
001 Haldon, Haydon Common
I parked below Haldon and walked a steady climb up to Haldon. I prefer to be walking mostly down hill later in the day. Not sure why that is! The path I chose follows a hill ridge that affords far reaching views all around.
Deer hoof print?
There were numerous deer tracks visible along the walk, but I sighted none.
From Haldon looking down to the Exe Estuary
At times during the walk there were excellent views right across the Exe Estuary with Exmouth just visible in the distance. This scene shows the countryside looking very wintry, but splendid all the same.
So, little more to say, other than what a lovely walk it was. I was mostly 'rambling', picking my route as I went, going wherever my fancy took me. One part of the route should have been a green lane, but it was completely overgrown and impassable; it obviously had not used in an age. I should have simply walked down a nearby field, but wound up walking a circular mile to cover just 100 metres. Ah well, added to the enjoyment - I think. I think I startled a fox over its lunch, which scurried across my track with something I couldn't make out flailing in its jaws.
Please note I have no GPS tracklog for this walk. All the photos held in Flickr are geo-tagged so an approximation of the route I took can be gleaned by examining these.
Walk Statistics:
Total Distance: 12.4m
Walk Time: (moving): 4 hrs 40 mins
Walk Time: (stopped): 0 hrs 56 mins
Total Ascent: 697 metres
Maximum Elevation: 258 metres
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