Having had a wonderful stay with with one of my oldest friends in Cheshire we set off towards the Peak District maybe more hungover than recharged but still very excited about continuing our travels especially considering there were rumours of a “heatwave” or at the very least a dry weekend ahead!!
Our drive was to take us about 1hr30mins and very soon after we started we were in the Peak District gazing over hills cross crossed with dry stone walls within which sheep stood grazing. It was pretty much what you find on the postcards. Along the way we sussed out where we wanted to stay to be able to enjoy some nice hiking and headed off in search of a campsite. Unfortunately we weren’t the only people in the area to have decided to enjoy the countryside in nice dry weather (in autumn it’s always possible that it may be the last dry weekend until spring!). So it took us a few attempts to find a campsite which had space for us.
We should have been more suspicious. Not only was there space but so much that we had the choice of pitches from the whole site so decided to park away from the busy road and in a private corner. Next to the train line. Now we have heard of strikes and a lack of train services but I can assure everyone that the stretch of train line that we were camped next to was very well serviced indeed. 24hrs a day.
So we weren’t exactly refreshed when we awoke the next day to don our hiking gear and set off exploring. We decided to hike to a nearby village called Edale and then catch the train back to (literally) our campsite. A quick check of the weather shown that the slight drizzle should clear and by the end of the afternoon the wind would die down.
Our ascent of the first peak was in the lee of the wind and gave us views over the Derwent reservoir and while we were breathless there were some fantastic views from the top of the surrounding area. Our hike then took us along a ridge for a few kms and the drizzle didn’t abate and neither did the wind. It was pretty harsh.
We saw in the distance a copse and decided to take shelter and assess what on earth we were doing. After a quick snack and a look at the map we decided to cut out a fair chunk of our planned walk and get down off the ridge as soon as we could. And we did.
Once we were sheltered from the worst of the wind the walk returned to being really lovely once again and we had a lovely day wandering through farms along the valley heading out towards Edale where we enjoyed a well earned beer.
Day 2 we awoke and the weather had indeed cleared and we set off this time by bus to Hope to do another hike. It was Saturday and was great to see people heading off in all directions in their hiking gear or on mountain bikes to enjoy the area.
The hike we had chosen had also been chosen by many others, particularly certain sections of it and as we climbed out of the valley and up to the ridge we could see people everywhere along the route reminding me of ants scurrying along a path.
We could see why the hike was so popular though as the views were spectacular and we had a thoroughly fantastic day enjoying the countryside before we caught the train back to our campsite. T
