2015.07.18 – Orton Hears a Hoo

Last night, we made it to Orton: the town without internet.

Yesterday was a surprisingly full and exciting day, considering we moorland is often discredited as boring and unexciting. We awoke in Bampton Grange to the standard English forecast: overcast, chilly, and wet. The remnants of yesterdays winds were still blowing over the moors at a steady 20-25 mph, gusting to 30 mph. Luckily, those winds were at our back for the vast majority of the day. Our trail picked up across the street behind the Brampton Grange church, which was definitely older than the United States. It snaked through fields littered with sheep (and their poop), over timeless bridges, down country roads, past neolithic stone circles, and over the M6 motorway. The rain that we were expecting never came, so we ended up only having to deal with cooler temperatures, sustained winds, and a patchy sun. In effect, my perfect day of hiking. Well, I guess the winds were a bit excessive, but everything else was great!

The day before, we had challenged ourselves to look at the moors as a new photographic challenge. The Lake District was too easy. Panoramic views abounded in every direction. The moors are just as beautiful, but their scale and grandeur can be difficult to capture. Luckily, we had some of the best light of our trip to work with. Hopefully, you will enjoy the fruits of our labor. We spent our wifi-free night piecing together pictures and reading. Despite its lack of internet, Orton, our home for the night, did have a chocolate factory. I guess beggars can be choosers.