A short break in Cropton Forest: staying in a cabin in the woods, cycling forest trails, looking for beautiful photographs, and soaking in a hot tub at night.
Taking my mountain bike along a beige gravel forest road away from the cabin, I’m climbing gently towards Spiers Bank.
Mature pine trees limit the view of the sky above, and the world around. Yet the dark brown of the hills beyond Rosedale Abbey can occasionally be glimpsed wherever the forestry teams have been harvesting. Trees – sliced and stacked – look like the colouring pencils of moorland giants; though not for mortals to play with.
The gravel climbs gently at first, then a short steep section needs my lower gears and I wonder about the ‘family friendly’ description on the ‘map-of-few-details’. The map shows a wiggling dotted line on a suspiciously flat page with the text, “Meander through the forest on this family route with great views of Rosedale Valley and Spaunton Moor”. The description isn’t wrong, but maybe lacked some details novices might appreciate. The safety instructions (for example), contain the brief but comprehensive: “Expect the unexpected”. What else could you possibly need to know?
The climb isn’t really that long, or that steep. I merely think back to family holidays where our cycling aspirations were beyond the legs of adults and children alike. It’s possible to hire a bike here, I feel for parents hoping to encourage their fledgling adventurers to ‘just keep pedalling’. Once all the up is done, only the down remains: back to camp, hot chocolate, cake and coffee. Rolling along a gentle descent with clouds threatening rain, this 7km route took me an hour and a half. Mainly because I was playing with my 35mm film camera, and trying to capture the sense of moodiness in the trees.
Soaking in the hot tub at night as the rain falls… plans afoot for tomorrow’s adventure.
