It’s our first Mellow Expeditions feature of the new year so we thought we’d start with something quite close to home for us. @_edensaranga talks us through her recent trip to the Peak District where she took a hike up to Kinder Scout. Here’s what she had to say about it..
After seeing my instagram flooded with pictures that looked straight out of narnia, my friend Aidan (@aidanhennessey) and I went to The Peaks in search of snow. We decided to hike up to Kinder Scout via Jacobs Ladder on the day of winter solstice. As someone who struggles with SAD, the prospect of longer and brighter days ahead was a real mood booster.
We parked up in Edale and started our ascent up through fields of sheep and green rolling hills, no sign of snow yet. The melted snow in the valley below had created some real boggy conditions; however, we navigated our way through managing not to lose our shoes in the process!
We then reached our second obstacle of the day - a river with no clear route around or through. It was deeper than boot height and we didn’t fancy continuing with wet socks. Aidan managed to jump across, but we were still presented with the problem of me getting across. With a sprained ankle there was no way I was making the jump and decided that a ropey looking wooden fence was my best choice. I clambered across and made it to the other side, dry.
As we continued up the steep stone staircase of Jacobs Ladder, we got closer to the top and came across the very last of the snow, a big frozen puddle. We soon realised it had taken us a lot longer to get up than anticipated and decided to continue straight on to the summit of Kinder Scout, leaving Kinder Low behind. We took a moment to appreciate how far we’d come. The views were breathtaking: clear blue skies and beaming sunshine over the fields below.
As we ploughed on, we tried to find the route up but the cutting cold wind became unbearable, battering us from all angles and we became lost. After walking round for what seemed like forever, we decided to seek shelter behind some big rocks. We ate some lunch and drank our teas (kindly made by Aidan) until we were ready to brave the wind again. Although a shameless plug, the handmade balaclava made by yours truly, kept me so warm n snug!
We made our way across to a big playground of rocks and became so excited like the big kids we are and naturally, we began climbing and jumping across them. By this time we were nearing the last few hours of daylight and and decided to make our way down and back to the car.
Although we didn’t make it to Kinder Scout we weren’t disheartened and had a belter of a day with lots of laughs. A great reminder that it’s not always about the destination but the journey.