The night was very calm and quite cold. Before first light it dipped to -1degC. An orange coloured crescent moon was just above the horizon but it remained very hazy. As the light increased I could see less than a mile in distance. My plan was to leave the tent here another night and go and investigate a rock strewn formation below Bush Howe known as the Black Horse of Busha. I took my time over breakfast and enjoyed a couple of mugs of tea before starting to get ready.

Black Horse of Bush Howe

Afternoon view from my tent.

Skylarks flew overhead and there was still hardly a breath of wind. I followed a faint sheep track along the east flank of Long Rigg which took me into the head if Crooked Ashmere Gills. There was a reasonable trickle of water which I noted as a possible source to top up my waterbag. Across the Gills the track improved and I had a pleasant walk to the saddle at Windscarth Wyke. The main path runs up Bush Howe and I could see a cyclist pushing his mountain bike up ahead. I didn't want to go over the top as I was following the 550m contour to take me to the boulder feature.

It's difficult knowing what to call it as it’s visible from many miles away as a dark shadow on the fell side. I followed the contour for a while then descended to the large area of stones which cause the so called horse shape. I walked round the outline with my GPS unit to record the profile. I looked carefully but couldn’t se any clear outline or evidence of the stones having been placed by man. The stones looked more like overlapping piles of glacial debris looking a bit like a similar shape on the west side of Crooked Ashmere Gills. I descended into Stranger Gill and climbed up the NW side of White Head Fell to get a better look.

Just before sunset

Sunset from the tent

I could see the feature in full and would in no way say that it looked like a horse. I continued up and followed the main path back over Bush How and back down to Windscarth Wyke. The weather continued hazy and the wind had got up a bit over the top. I followed the easy sheep track back to the head of Crooked Ashmere Gills and stopped to fill my waterbag and return to my tent. During the afternoon the wind continued to increase and fortunately blew the haze away. By early evening I had some nice views and a nice sunset. High cloud kept the temperature above freezing.