Alpine Yorkshire

The thaw has well and truly set in down in the valley, with most of the snow around the town now disappeared, but it's an entirely different world up on the moor. Waking up to sunshine again I went out for another walk before sitting down in front of the computer for the rest of the day. Again, being out in the fresh air I felt fine. Once back inside I've since felt quite groggy.

The snow in the dunes has become quite firm and in places it is possible to walk gingerly on the surface without breaking through, although it's never too long before you encounter a softer section and find yourself disappearing in again. Once that's happened is difficult to regain your composure because you have to lever against the one foot in order to extract the other, which means that foot gets swallowed in the process. It must be quite comical to watch. Fortunately there was no one around to witness these antics.

It reminded me of a story from my first experience of Alpine mountaineering. I had no climbing expertise or ability so in return for being pulled up the difficult bits and generally being looked after it was my job to cut steps on the arduous trudges up long snow slopes. I was the fittest in our group - but also the lightest. This one morning, leaving very early from the hut as is the norm, there was a good frozen crust on the surface of the snow which supported my weight - but no one else's. They were cursing from behind, although it wasn't long before the sun got to work and I started to break through too.

This shot, more than any other I took, sums up the scenery up there at the moment. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for all this snow to finally melt away.