All Peaked Out!

So its the mid term break and I wasn't too sure what i was going to do, so when Sarah's friend Liz suggested that we go hiking (walking) in the Peak district I thought that it sounded like a great idea. (I was at first put off because I had thought that Liz had said Peat district and the idea of trudging around in mud in the middle of winter wasn't such a good idea). However when the weekend came around I was ready and rearing to go.

Sarah and I decided to head up to the Peak Distrct on the Saturday morning, before a day of walking and then stay the night in a hostel there before heading back to Cardiff on Sunday afternoon. As I still have not recieved back my license, Sarah was left to do all the driving while I navigated. Starting off at 05:30 on Saturday morning sounded pretty easy enough, however I had forgotten that in Feburary in the U.K., 05:30 in the morning is bloody freezing. Yes, literally freezing


But that didin't stop us and after a journey with a couple of stops for directions and a bit of sleep for me we had made great time in reaching th Peak District. Liz and her fellow walkers had alredy set off at around 9:00 so that meant that Sarah and myself had to double time it to catch up. Fortunatley double time for us ment driving to the top of the hill and waiting till Liz and her hiking buddies to reach us. Cheeky i know, but well worth it at the end of the day.

Sitting on the top of the hill, waiting for Liz to arrive, we watched the sheep with tails, that looked part goat, eat the lush green grass and drink the only unfrozen water in the vacinity. This was in the wheel arches of the various cars that had just parked along the side of the road. This I thought was a great bit of initiative on behalf of the Shoats until Sarah opened her door and wacked one in the head! Oh well, they don't have that many brains in the first place. We didn't have to wait long for Liz and then the walking started.

We started out heading across the plateau straight for a fantastic ridge of upthrust rocks that ran for most of the mornig's leg of walking. So for Sarah and myself, the initial walk involved a gentle walk over to these rocks, then a short climb up onto the top of the ridge, then a pretty much flat meandering walk till lunch. The morning leg gave some spectacular views looking both West and East. The only problem that I had for most of the morning was the fantastic weather that we had to contend with. 5 degrees max. with a wind chill that brought the temp down another couple of degrees and bright sunshine. A perfect day for walking. At times the only thing that I had wished for was my second coat that I had left in the nice and warm car, that could take us to a nice and warm pub, that... Well I hadn't really wished for all that stuff, I had come to the Peak District for the walking and the fresh air. I was getting plently of the fresh air (fresh as in almost bitterly cold).


The walk along the ridge showed us some fantastic views right across the Peak district. Aparently the ridge is quite a popular with the rock climbers so there were quite a few of those hanging around. The thing is that I don't think that I could have even climbed some of the rock surfaces, bascially because it was just so cold, I was having a hard enough time keeping my hands warm in my pockets, let alone climbing on really cold rocks. This part of the walking also led us to Robin Hoods cave, a natural cave that was carved out of the side of the wall. Quite fascinating, especially the grafitti that had been left, mostly chiseled out words or names, quite beyond the chalk drawings that you usually find in a cave. Walking at this time of the year also allowed me to witness first hand the frozen ground that was around. There were many puddles along the path which were frozen, there was also quite a bit of mud around which was also frozen and then there was the ground that remained in the shade all day. At the end ofthe day, if there was a piece of ground that remained in the shade all day, there was sure to be a whole lot of frost on it.


By the afternoon I thought that we had walked quite a long way and therefore a rest was required. Seeing the car form the top of the plateau was a relief as for Sarah and myself it ment that the end of the day was upon us. For the others they had at least another half an hour or so of walking back to their cars as they had polietly, in the British way, refused a lift back to their car. The end of the walking and therefore off to the nice warm pub for a beer and a nice hot soup.

We spent the night in the local YHA which seemed to be full of westie kids on 'adventure' holidays. It was OK as they kept to themselvs and we stayed in the kitchen playing a nice game of spoons to pass the time. After leaving the kitchen we spent a little while playing connect 4, of which I aparently got a little competative, which I believe is completly out of my nature. heheheh, maybe. By that time everyone was completly buggered from all the fresh air, I thought that it was because of the endless miles that we had walked during the day, so we all trundeled off to bed. When I arrived I was greeted in my room with the thunderous welcoming noise of not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 different people snoring the night away. Fortunately for me I was completly tired so I fell to sleep straight away.

Sunday turned out to be a better day, weather wise, with temperatures rising an extra degree to 6 or so. Sarah and I decided to part company from the group and head our own way. We decided to climb the tallest hill in the area, which happened to be the easiest to climb. There were fantastic views and what made it a bit better was that the walk was relatively short.


We sat and drank in the serenity that was ocassionally broken by a loud walker passing near by. It was a nice and peaceful situation, even if you can't get away form people whereever you go. They just seem to be everywhere. After locating the paragliding launch site, as well as the landing Sarah decided it was time to head off as she had a long drive back to Cardiff. We left just as a couple of paragliders decided that it was time for them to have a sledy each. The conditions were mot promising at all and the wind was not strong enough. Just enough to take off for a short flight. A great weekend getting away from the hustle and bustle of london as well as a relaxing start to the mid term break for me.