UKH

Fell-runner Norman Hadley experiences the transcendent beauty of an afternoon canter above the clouds, while finding himself the unwilling fox in a strange and unexpected hunt.

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Wonderful inversion, but there is something unnerving about a pack of hounds apparently on your trail!

..and I too love walking that Brotherswater path as the light is fading - the perfect way to end a day on the hill.

That sounds a memorable experience Norman. I've met unaccompanied dogs from the Patterdale hunt a couple of times, had a hound join us for a day's climbing at Mart Crag once, but never anything as unsettling as your encounter 

Thanks WaW. It was a great outing but maybe would have been even better without the canine attention. Yeah, those Brotherswater woods are gorgeous. I bet they're full of birdsong right now and it won't be long before the flycatchers and chiffchaffs are back. 

I'm curious to know if anyone other than us  have been pursued up this valley. I'm considering a small investment in aniseed to lay decoy trails.

I have had hound encounters on Rossett Pike and the summit of Whitbarrow, but thankfully I have escaped the attention of the Patterdale Pack.

When was this? I have some remarkable similar images from some years ago - https://johnfleetwood.smugmug.com/Lake-District-All/Lake-District/Fairfield... and https://johnfleetwood.smugmug.com/Lake-District-All/Lake-District/Fairfield....

Lovely stuff Norman.

I think if there's one thing better than an inversion, it's an inversion with a Brocken Spectre, an almost supernatural sight that makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.

Some gorgeous captures there, John.  The hounds experience was two months ago today - the full(er) set of pics is here. https://photos.app.goo.gl/M4pHLsNfkJRYXVPo6

It evoked memories of an arguably-even-finer afternoon running Helvellyn two years earlier https://photos.app.goo.gl/Tw9VmfMFUJaD57ps6 The snow cover then was possibly even closer to your 2015 experience.

Thanks Steve. Yes, I love Brocken Spectres too. I've not yet managed to photograph one that does justice to the experience of having a ghostly doppelgänger.