Categories: uncategorized
Date: 30 October 2005 10:58:07
yesterday with lisa busy in loughborough i charged further north and wiggled my way deep into the peak district.
by the time i parked in edale i was already blown away. hills resonate with me deep within, the sheer solid mass, not soft & spongy. i imagine if you smacked with a giant fist they'd make a noise silimar to thumping your chest. there's something liberating about putting your feet in the most intimate places of these impressive natural constructs.
after a cup of tea i'm pleased to be heading the opposite way to the crowds who are heading onto the penine way that starts at edale. i climb what clearly is an ancient path up to hollins cross on the ridge south of the main kinder plateau, it's steep and well worn. defying naismiths rule i'm surprised how quickly i make it to the top.
a surprisingly nice day makes the views astounding, in all directions, back down to edale and across to the high peak area, ahead down to castleton and either way along the ridge.
i smirk to myself as i turn along the ridge, so popular is this route that the ridge path is virtually paved with a steady stream of ramblers coming the opposite way. Mam Tor is the next peak and uniquely rumpled near the top by the fortifications of an old hill fort. the wind is blowing strongly up from the valley, forcing me to cling tightly to my map and bringing the sound of church bells up with it.
i wonder if i'd prefer to be in one of the big groups that pass me but i dont find this a social thing, i suppose i'm quite solitary really but i like this being just me and the hills. in fact of everyone else would just go away that would be fine!
this thought is backed up as two women with kids go the other way, one wearing an inprctical dress & trainers and the other in sandals.. clutching a can of carling!
descending the other side of Mam Tor I discover the source of all these troublesome people, a massive NT car park. oh well.
time is against me so i jog down to the road, determned to get a little way along the ridge to the excellently named 'rushup edge'. my GPS bleeps a time warning, time to head back, i pause to shelter behind a wall and have something to eat before retracing my steps to the road and taking an obvious bridlepath that sweeps back down to edale.
i do like hills !