Kirkhill forest and a Wolf Moon

As usual Colin managed to make the January Cosmic’s headtorch run coincide with the full moon, a so-called “Wolf moon” – just the right kind of night to introduce two newbies to night running Cosmic’s style. And, no we didn’t lose them.

First the science part – pay attention….

The January full Moon is often called the Wolf Moon. Other names include Old Moon, Ice Moon and Snow Moon, although this name is usually attributed to the February Full Moon. While an average howl from a single wolf lasts from 3-7 seconds, a chorus by a pack can last from 30 to 120 seconds and longer during the breeding season in February. So wolves are particularly loud and vocal in the first months of the year, which is probably why people associated the month of January with howling wolves. In ancient times it was common to track the changing seasons by following the lunar month rather than the solar year, which the 12 months in our modern calendar are based on. Some years have 13 moons, which makes one of them a Blue Moon, as it doesn’t quite fit in with the traditional Full Moon naming system.

Traditional full moon names…..

1.     Wolf Moon – January

2.     Snow Moon – February

3.     Worm Moon – March

4.     Pink Moon – April

5.     Flower Moon – May

6.     Strawberry Moon – June

7.     Buck Moon – July

8.     Sturgeon Moon – August (the fish, not the First Minister)

9.     Harvest Moon – September or October

10.  Full Corn Moon (Harvest) – September

11.  Hunter's Moon (Harvest) – October

12.  Beaver Moon – November

13.  Cold Moon – December

(info from https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/wolf.html)

Appropriately enough it was an icy cold night with the frost settling on the grass as we headed up the track into the forest and then, crossing over the bypass into another part of the forest and climbed the hill up above Dyce and then ran across the field towards the Tyrebagger stone circle. The stones standing in spooky darkness on the hill set against a backdrop of bright lights from the built up areas below.

After poking around the stones and speculating about the reason that they were built (someone cheekily commenting that Ewen would probably know as he was around at the time) we posed for photos looking for all the world like those BBC adverts for up and coming programmes, you know the ones I mean, the ones of “hill runners in the Mourne mountains” and “kayakers in Tobermory”.

"Hill runners from Aberdeen..."

 We set off back down the hill and back over the bypass into the forest, eyes adjusting to the increasing darkness. Next we followed the large track round the hillside in the darkness of the trees then turned left up the narrower path leading out on to the open hillside, then dropping back down on to the wide track before tackling the final ascent up to the Tappie.

Frosty grass

After the obligatory “summit photo” and dodging the crazy mountain bikers it was the nice long sweeping descent back to the finish before heading off for a curry.

Strangely the two newbies haven’t been seen since…