Start/Finish: Grindleford Rail Station
Distance: 11.3 miles
Time Taken: 9 hours
Companion(s): HumperLumper, DonnaNook, Frankie, Yorksgal, Georga, Swampy,
Oscar, Gotmeheadshaved, Lynne, Charlie, Sleepy
Route map:
Today was a little bit of an adventure for me as I'd never been to the Peak District before and having had a particularly bad week personally, I really did expect that even more things would go wrong and that the meet might not even happen!
However, my doubts proved to be unfounded and I managed to set out on the drive on time and I didn't encounter any multi-car pile ups or anything on the way - all good signs for the day ahead.!
I received a phone call as I approached Wetherby services though from HL, Donna and Frankie who needed a lift to the start point of the walk - no problem! However, once I'd collected my charges, a 'scenic' diversion route was followed through Sheffield city centre before we finally found the correct route which would deliver us at our destination. :-)
Nevertheless, despite our 'scenic' diversion, everyone managed to arrive at the meet-up point in good time and the walk began at about 10am.
The walk began with a path through the woodland and then we headed out to the open countryside which led us to a few hills and rock scrambles which I carried out with my usual aplomb - NOT :-)
As we approached Stanage Edge it was fairly obvious that we were entering a 'honey pot' area. It was very busy on this stretch of the walk with walkers and climbers all enjoying the delights of the area. Even the huge black flies were out in force !! :-) [No idea what kind of insects they were but they were very annoying in such large numbers!]
HumperLumper, Sleepy and Yorksgal particularly enjoyed the boulder climbs on this walk while the rest of us enjoyed several extended rest stops while we waited to find out if the adventurers would make it back down from their climbs without injury (oh dear - was I the only one sitting there with my heart in my mouth?!!) - I really am a wimp, even when I'm not doing the adventurous bits lol!!
Once past Stanage Edge, we dropped down and followed out route back to Hathersage where most of the group were going to catch the train back to Grindleford but, Sleepy and I decided to take the scenic route and walk back.
This proved to be a most enjoyable end to the day and we finally made it back to our cars in reasonable time and having totally enjoyed our day in great company, good weather and a wonderful area of the country :-)
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