Walk: 10am to 2:30pm - 10.5 miles
A first for me today, a walk with my close mate Darrell. I'd done one walk alone before which was ok, and part of this route would trace those steps, and as readers of my blog will be aware I do all my walking with my good lady wife and soul-mate Donna. So walking with a friend would be a new experience, and would again prove to be different - I still can't decide whether walking alone is for me, but I can see the benefits it brings and understand those that are swayed by it's obvious advantages.
My mate Darrell's New Year's resolution was to take up walking, and as my wife works Sunday's, and Darrell's partner often does, it gives us a great opportunity to get out into the fresh air and hit the hills and dales. Also, Darrell is one of the group of 4 of us who who hiking up Ben Nevis in April so we need to get lots of practice in. Darrell is also in the fortunate position of living on far western edge of Sheffield so the beauty of the Peak District is on his doorstep...how good must that be!
As the forecast wasn't that great for the day ahead, although clearer weather was promised for later in the day, I chose to 'tog' up with my heavier Goretex coat, a selection of hats, gloves, and for the first time I wore some tight ladies leggings that my wife had bought me with my Sprayway waterproof trousers over them. I didn't put the waterproof trousers on until we started the walk, so when I pulled in to pick Darrell up, and he caught first sight of me in ladies tight leggings - he said "I hope you've got something to wear over them as I'm not walking with you in them" - he was safe as I wouldn't have dared.
We drove the 20 minutes or so and parked up at the top of Ladybower Reservoir in the car-park at the visitor centre, and set off at 10am. As we walked past the first dam I was gobsmacked as it was the first time I'd seen the reservoirs coming over the top of the dams - a fantastic sight. We headed up the eastern 'shore' of Derwent Reservoir until we reached the outflow of Abbey Brook and then set off up Howden Dean. This is where the climb started and for the next couple of miles or so it was generally a steady incline, a mix of steep rises and more gentle paths. As we rose higher we now started to notice the promised heavy winds, the rain kept coming and going, although never that heavy. This path is great as it's always so quiet up there, a bit of a hidden treasure in my view.
We reached a right hand turn and headed south for about a mile, and this bit I found hard - probably as hard as any walking I'd done before. It was a steady incline over rough moorland, but what made it so hard is that the wind was very strong and blowing straight into your face making it so hard going. It took your breath away, and on occasions the gusts took you off the path. After about 30 minutes we picked up the path east past the cairn to Back Tor where we pitched up and had our lunch. Oh what joy to take a seat and have a rest for 15 or 20 minutes. That said, it didn't take too long before the sweat that had built up inside had started to evaporate and we'd started to feel cold, so we made our getaway.
We then set off south along Derwent Edge, until we reached a point just past the Wheel Stones. What did seem odd is that the walk along the 'Edge' is a popular route and normally lots of people are walking along it, but today we only saw one person. In fact, we hardly saw a soul at all when high up. Maybe they'd seen the weather forecast and taken the sensible option...lol
The original plan was to carry on down towards Ashopton, but instead we took the path back down the hillside towards Ladybower, it only took about 1 mile off our planned walk but we thought that 10.5 miles was enough for today considering the buffeting we'd taken. It always amazes me when the folks on mountain bikes are casually cycling up these steep rocky tracks - they must be mad! The last 1.5 miles or so was along the path on the eastern edge of Ladybower, so a steady end to the walk, and soon after we arrived back at the car. A short break for a drink then back off via Hathersage to drop Darrell back off home. An enjoyable walk, and one that did make you understand how challenging it will be going up Ben Nevis if the weather isn't in our favour.
Click here for photos of the walk
A first for me today, a walk with my close mate Darrell. I'd done one walk alone before which was ok, and part of this route would trace those steps, and as readers of my blog will be aware I do all my walking with my good lady wife and soul-mate Donna. So walking with a friend would be a new experience, and would again prove to be different - I still can't decide whether walking alone is for me, but I can see the benefits it brings and understand those that are swayed by it's obvious advantages.
My mate Darrell's New Year's resolution was to take up walking, and as my wife works Sunday's, and Darrell's partner often does, it gives us a great opportunity to get out into the fresh air and hit the hills and dales. Also, Darrell is one of the group of 4 of us who who hiking up Ben Nevis in April so we need to get lots of practice in. Darrell is also in the fortunate position of living on far western edge of Sheffield so the beauty of the Peak District is on his doorstep...how good must that be!
As the forecast wasn't that great for the day ahead, although clearer weather was promised for later in the day, I chose to 'tog' up with my heavier Goretex coat, a selection of hats, gloves, and for the first time I wore some tight ladies leggings that my wife had bought me with my Sprayway waterproof trousers over them. I didn't put the waterproof trousers on until we started the walk, so when I pulled in to pick Darrell up, and he caught first sight of me in ladies tight leggings - he said "I hope you've got something to wear over them as I'm not walking with you in them" - he was safe as I wouldn't have dared.
We drove the 20 minutes or so and parked up at the top of Ladybower Reservoir in the car-park at the visitor centre, and set off at 10am. As we walked past the first dam I was gobsmacked as it was the first time I'd seen the reservoirs coming over the top of the dams - a fantastic sight. We headed up the eastern 'shore' of Derwent Reservoir until we reached the outflow of Abbey Brook and then set off up Howden Dean. This is where the climb started and for the next couple of miles or so it was generally a steady incline, a mix of steep rises and more gentle paths. As we rose higher we now started to notice the promised heavy winds, the rain kept coming and going, although never that heavy. This path is great as it's always so quiet up there, a bit of a hidden treasure in my view.
We reached a right hand turn and headed south for about a mile, and this bit I found hard - probably as hard as any walking I'd done before. It was a steady incline over rough moorland, but what made it so hard is that the wind was very strong and blowing straight into your face making it so hard going. It took your breath away, and on occasions the gusts took you off the path. After about 30 minutes we picked up the path east past the cairn to Back Tor where we pitched up and had our lunch. Oh what joy to take a seat and have a rest for 15 or 20 minutes. That said, it didn't take too long before the sweat that had built up inside had started to evaporate and we'd started to feel cold, so we made our getaway.
We then set off south along Derwent Edge, until we reached a point just past the Wheel Stones. What did seem odd is that the walk along the 'Edge' is a popular route and normally lots of people are walking along it, but today we only saw one person. In fact, we hardly saw a soul at all when high up. Maybe they'd seen the weather forecast and taken the sensible option...lol
The original plan was to carry on down towards Ashopton, but instead we took the path back down the hillside towards Ladybower, it only took about 1 mile off our planned walk but we thought that 10.5 miles was enough for today considering the buffeting we'd taken. It always amazes me when the folks on mountain bikes are casually cycling up these steep rocky tracks - they must be mad! The last 1.5 miles or so was along the path on the eastern edge of Ladybower, so a steady end to the walk, and soon after we arrived back at the car. A short break for a drink then back off via Hathersage to drop Darrell back off home. An enjoyable walk, and one that did make you understand how challenging it will be going up Ben Nevis if the weather isn't in our favour.
Click here for photos of the walk
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