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Walking Group One 25th April 2024
Five hardy souls collected today at Happy Valley for the first Hill Walk of the year .The temperature was cool with a North Easterly wind blowing and a hint of rain on arrival.
Off we set heading towards Russadale Quarry, spotting a Buzzard on the way.Turning into the footpath we remained sheltered from the wind all the way to the top of the hill.
The sun was out at the Quarry and a Greenshank was feeding at the edge of the Lochan. Then it was up the Peat road to the summit with spectacular views across Stenness and Harray Lochs, plus a view of the Closed Road beyond the Watch Stone. On the other side we looked over the Flow and down towards the Oil Platform and South Ronaldsay
Then it was back down after a stop for a snack and finally a walk around Happy Valley itself. The Daffodils planted by James and others were looking lovely and the Bluebells are days away from opening. Then it was on to a well deserved lunch at the Pier Cafe, having walked 4 miles and gone up 800 feet (and down again )
The next walk will be on Friday 24th May and hopefully more hills and views.
Keep moving.
u3a Walking Group One - June 2023
by Tim - 07:09 on 03 June 2023
Seven of us met at the Kirk in Orphir on a wonderful sunny morning with no wind . After examining the Millennium Stone by the Kirk in among the bushes ,we took two cars to the top of Scorradale . Setting off up the track we noticed that there had been a small fire in the heather since we reconnoitered the walk on Monday . Luckily it seemed to have been confined to a reasonably small area . We walked along the ridge of the hill with the paths much drier than in the winter .Arriving at the bottom of Ward Hill ,we had a rest before tackling the steeper path to the Summit . With a couple of pauses, we all got to the Witches Hat post on the top where we had our snack .The views were a little hazy but stretched from Waulkmill around to Stromness and then to Brodgar and the Standing Stones. Out in the Flow a couple of tugs were herding one of the Oil Rigs down past Hoxa .Rested we made our way back down past the Shooting Range and the Guide Hut to the road and eventually the Kirk .A good 4 mile walk in exactly the right conditions and no midges .
The next walk will be Thursday 29th June . I will send a reminder a week before .
Keep moving , Tim.
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