Both ratbag and myself decided to visit some of the local area today. We gave the shooting a miss for this weekend and decided to yomp up Bleaklow, which is quite bleak but not very low! With my knackered knees and ability to pack large heavy bags for a trip to the toilet alone, this was gonna be a challenge for me!
I set off with my trusty old Swedish pack, the leather straps I have found do start to dig in after a while if you are only wearing a thin shirt. Since getting it, I have often worn a woolen shirt with a Swedish Snow smock over the top. The padding stops the straps cutting in. Still a good pack though, you just have to watch what you pack!
So, from the car park we wandered along the path for a few hundred metres and then went up a goat track. This was already heavy going stuff! After a bit of puffing and panting, it started to get a bit more reasonable, but steadily climbing upwards still through sparse patches of young rowan growing through the moorland plants such as heather and bilberry bushes.
After discovering a dead rabbit and then spying what looked to be a nice watering hole, we dropped down off of the main track and got our feet wet in some ice cold water running down hill. I kid you not when I say aftrer about 5 seconds my feet were in pain, The Ratbag stood in it for about five minutes!
Made of stern stuff, that lad!
Got a few snaps and then we plodded on taking in the sights. There were a few birds flitting about, not sure what they were, and a few other ramblers joined us up on the top for what turned out to be a glorious day. At the cairn post on top, we were subjected to the displays of United Arab Emirates' aircraft displaying its' underbelly as it banked towards Manchester, which was surprisingly visible in the distance. We stopped for a brew of the worst coffee I have possibly ever tasted, so that is getting ditched, an apple or two and then set off back down.
The walk down took its' toll on me. My knees and feet are a bit sore now, no doubt they will be worse tomorrow, but I had a great time. The weather was fantastic, the walk and views were A1 and the company was great too. All in all, a good day. I leave you with a few pics to look at showing a brief look of the area. I think you'll agree that it looks quite nice.
I set off with my trusty old Swedish pack, the leather straps I have found do start to dig in after a while if you are only wearing a thin shirt. Since getting it, I have often worn a woolen shirt with a Swedish Snow smock over the top. The padding stops the straps cutting in. Still a good pack though, you just have to watch what you pack!
So, from the car park we wandered along the path for a few hundred metres and then went up a goat track. This was already heavy going stuff! After a bit of puffing and panting, it started to get a bit more reasonable, but steadily climbing upwards still through sparse patches of young rowan growing through the moorland plants such as heather and bilberry bushes.
After discovering a dead rabbit and then spying what looked to be a nice watering hole, we dropped down off of the main track and got our feet wet in some ice cold water running down hill. I kid you not when I say aftrer about 5 seconds my feet were in pain, The Ratbag stood in it for about five minutes!
Made of stern stuff, that lad!Got a few snaps and then we plodded on taking in the sights. There were a few birds flitting about, not sure what they were, and a few other ramblers joined us up on the top for what turned out to be a glorious day. At the cairn post on top, we were subjected to the displays of United Arab Emirates' aircraft displaying its' underbelly as it banked towards Manchester, which was surprisingly visible in the distance. We stopped for a brew of the worst coffee I have possibly ever tasted, so that is getting ditched, an apple or two and then set off back down.
The walk down took its' toll on me. My knees and feet are a bit sore now, no doubt they will be worse tomorrow, but I had a great time. The weather was fantastic, the walk and views were A1 and the company was great too. All in all, a good day. I leave you with a few pics to look at showing a brief look of the area. I think you'll agree that it looks quite nice.
