So with the London Olympics and Paralympics over for yet another year, its time to get outdoors once more. So with the theme of legacy very much in the mind’s of me and Helen, we have decided to try and inspire a younger generation with the challenges offered by the Peak District (Molly who is an old hand at this sort of thing, did her bit too).
So after parking and picking up the Thornhill Trail, the first real challenge was the stepped (sort of) and very steep climb up towards a plateau on the ascent to Win Hill. This really sorted the men from the boys, or more specifically the boys from the girls, as the fairer sex were left trailing in us macho types wake. To be fair Molly wasn’t exactly showing much loyalty to her owner either. Although to be fair she did lower her tail to half mast until the laydees eventually came into sight. Anyway the point with something like this, is that it isn’t a race and everyone should enjoy it at their own pace (oh and for the record I was first to the top).
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The final ascent to Win Hill was a bit more easy, and had some outstanding scenery if you turned round to look at it. Molly for her part was being punished for her earlier mutiny by being shackled to our slowest member.
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Once at the top, we were joined by dozens of other people (haven’t they got anything better to do on a Sunday), so we decided this was as good a place as any to have our sandwiches. Joining us at our table, were two woolly sheep things, that didn’t seem the least bit scared of our dog (another black mark for Molly). However once they realised how mean we were when it comes to sharing food, they eventually buggered off. Molly in the meantime retrived her reputation by learning how to drink from her fold up bowl that we bought at last weeks Chatsworth fair, all the while sporting her new ‘spiffy dog’ collar purchased at the same establishment.
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The view from Win Hill really was spectacular (even if there wasn’t quite the carpet of heather we saw last time up here), and the ascent was no less impressive. Eventually we turned off into what I would call ‘Christmas Tree Land’ (come early and pick up a bargain) before eventually ending up by Ladybower reservoir. There Molly learned (or perhaps showed off) the art of retrieving two sticks from the water at the same time, by having one in her mouth whilst pushing the other with her chest. Ally pointed out that another woman was smacking her dog for going in the water, although personally I think she was hitting it because it wasn’t as clever as ours. Anyway we eventually came across a concrete, upside down, walnut whip sort of thing on the reservoir, which I believe takes you to the centre of the earth. With that it was a case of staying on the trail back to the car park, which I had to do a few circuits of to get the GPS (on one of its better days) to show 6 miles.
So after parking and picking up the Thornhill Trail, the first real challenge was the stepped (sort of) and very steep climb up towards a plateau on the ascent to Win Hill. This really sorted the men from the boys, or more specifically the boys from the girls, as the fairer sex were left trailing in us macho types wake. To be fair Molly wasn’t exactly showing much loyalty to her owner either. Although to be fair she did lower her tail to half mast until the laydees eventually came into sight. Anyway the point with something like this, is that it isn’t a race and everyone should enjoy it at their own pace (oh and for the record I was first to the top).
.
The final ascent to Win Hill was a bit more easy, and had some outstanding scenery if you turned round to look at it. Molly for her part was being punished for her earlier mutiny by being shackled to our slowest member.
.
Once at the top, we were joined by dozens of other people (haven’t they got anything better to do on a Sunday), so we decided this was as good a place as any to have our sandwiches. Joining us at our table, were two woolly sheep things, that didn’t seem the least bit scared of our dog (another black mark for Molly). However once they realised how mean we were when it comes to sharing food, they eventually buggered off. Molly in the meantime retrived her reputation by learning how to drink from her fold up bowl that we bought at last weeks Chatsworth fair, all the while sporting her new ‘spiffy dog’ collar purchased at the same establishment.
.
The view from Win Hill really was spectacular (even if there wasn’t quite the carpet of heather we saw last time up here), and the ascent was no less impressive. Eventually we turned off into what I would call ‘Christmas Tree Land’ (come early and pick up a bargain) before eventually ending up by Ladybower reservoir. There Molly learned (or perhaps showed off) the art of retrieving two sticks from the water at the same time, by having one in her mouth whilst pushing the other with her chest. Ally pointed out that another woman was smacking her dog for going in the water, although personally I think she was hitting it because it wasn’t as clever as ours. Anyway we eventually came across a concrete, upside down, walnut whip sort of thing on the reservoir, which I believe takes you to the centre of the earth. With that it was a case of staying on the trail back to the car park, which I had to do a few circuits of to get the GPS (on one of its better days) to show 6 miles.
