Today there was a cold north wind blowing and my drysuit is currently at the menders. My motivation to paddle was reasonable but the cool wind and potential wet feet put me off somewhat. Instead, I had a long lie in before going for a walk in the afternoon. We decided upon Ward Hill which offers fantastic views of Orkney.
Ward Hill
The walk up Ward Hill is not a particularly long one but was hard work in the snow. In places it had drifted to 4 or 5 feet thick and I began to wish I had snow shoes! In the end we picked our way through the heather where the snow had been blown thinnest. We were also walking straight into the brisk northerly- chilly on the ears!
Looking towards Hoy
Stromness
As I stumbled through some of the drifts, I was glad that I had my gaiters on. Never did I think I’d need them in Orkney!
The firing range flagpole – NK models her gaiters
Peter looks towards Hoy
Our footprints coming down through the snow
On our way up we saw some old footprints in the snow but more interestingly, we could see that someone had been up onto the moor with cross country skis.
Ski tracks
After our walk, we hot footed it to Stromness to a fine cafe. The Hamnavoe has recently been in winter dry dock and the Hjaltland was sailing the Stromness to Scrabster route. It was unusual to see both ships side by side.
Hjaltland and Hamnavoe
Good blog.
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