28 June 2016

Rock Climbing in the Peak District

After getting turned around in the fog a couple of weeks ago, I made another attempt to see the beautiful sights atop the rocky promontories on Hathersage Moor.  My wife, younger daughter, and I experienced a lovely day in the Peak District this past Sunday.  No fog got in our way!

We began our hike southeast of where the A6187 meets up with the Burbage Brook.  Carl Wark was our first destination.  My younger daughter likes to describe herself as a mountain goat because of her skill navigating over and up rocks and boulders.  She's certainly our family's best climber!  I snapped a photo of the Hathersage Moor while on the way down from Carl Wark (click on the image for a larger view).
We then made our way to Higger Tor.  The photo below was taken from Higger Tor and shows Carl Wark to the left (click on the image for a larger view).
Is that a gorgeous view or what?!?  We had no climbing equipment, so we avoided the sheer rock faces and hike up the scattered boulders.  That might have been more fun than climbing with ropes.  We had to think about which path to take and where to step.  My daughter did a great job leading her proud dad up to the top.

Not content with two promontories, we left Higger Tor and hiked up to Stanage Edge.  The photo below shows millstones made from gritstone and some of the sheep we met on our hike (click on the image for a larger view).
We had a lot of fun walking through the tall bracken; some of it was as tall as my daughter.

The walk back gave us a couple of interesting moments.  I was leading my daughter as we neared the Burbage Brook when I stepped in a sink hole.  Before I knew it, I had mud a few inches above my boots.  I didn't panic and sink any more than that, and I was able to get myself out.  I'm glad my daughter wasn't leading; she would have sunk in to her knees at least.

We had to jump across the Burbage Brook.  I did fine, but my daughter slightly lost her nerve as she jumped from the bank.  I caught her, but her trailing boot landed in the water.  I pulled her out quickly.  She then sat on a boulder and took off her boot.  I couldn't help but laugh when she turned her boot over and a bunch of water spilled out.


After all that fun we had a great meal at the Fox House pub.  We've never had a bad meal there!

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