Died and Gone to Heaven

I had a big run planned today and wanted to be out at first light. It's the best part of the day. Kit was packed last night to help quicken my departure. After breakfast I poked my head out the roof skylight to see...... nothing! The valley was shrouded in mist with moisture clinging to everything. I decided to have a coffee as there was now no rush to get the best light.

I've learnt an important lesson in that a day in the hills requires a slow start...speed early on is wasted energy. I jogged out the village, on to the zig zaggy trail, parallel to Long Lane and up to Charlesworth. Wow! The village had been in a cloud inversion and I was staring to emerge into a bright sunny morning the further I ascended.

There wasn't a puff of wind, even as I ran around the ridge-line of Coombes Edge! I turned to look at home and could see nothing apart from a shadowy runner following me at pace. The chap soon caught me, saying that he could see me appear and then disappear between bright sunshine and mist! It was amazing light, with moisture dripping from the tips of the long grass, glinting like diamonds. The chap told me his wife was 8 months and 26 days pregnant so he was only allowed out for an hour! The last baby had popped out in 40 minutes so he couldn't be long. After a wee chat, he disappeared towards Chisworth and I headed down the other side of the hill to The Grouse.

The panorama was stunning. Bright blue sky with all the valley floors surrounding Hayfield being carpeted by white cotton wool clouds. It was such a beautiful scene, resulting in me stopping regularly to capture the scenes with my camera. I'm so glad I bought my wee Sony compact as the biggie Nikon is too awkward to carry. As I descended towards Lower Rowarth I was again enveloped in cloud with visibility being negligible. Two shadows moved towards me, one the outline of a man and the other a wolf. Fortunately, it was a man, a farmer type with a deer stalker and mutton chops, and a hairy Alsatian rather than something more sinister. "Morning" I said "a very beautiful one just up the hill". "Aye" he said "Have a good run". Full of chat, these Peak farmers!

Moving towards Chunal, the sun started to ray through the mist, casting light beams across the road. Strange but magical light. I didn't see much for the next half hour, with the sun being diffused in a strange way rendering me blind! Reaching the top of Mill Hill I struggled to see Kinder Scout. On the track intersection between Mill Hill and Hayfield a tent had been pitched, a checkpoint for a scout event. For the next few km there were small groups of teenagers travelling in the opposite direction. They were simply teenagers, some being overly enthusiastic in their greetings, others putting their heads down to avoid saying hello. I said "morning" very loudly to the more socially inept ones!

Hitting the Kinder plateau, I was greeted by the smell of bacon! It was the next scout checkpoint! "Torture innit" said one leader as he smilingly sunk his knashers into a bit of poor departed rasher! "It was for the pig....I'm a vegetarian" I said to much hilarity! 5 minutes later, I found a flat rock to sit on to eat my Nutella and banana sandwich and called Rosemary. She was slightly alarmed thinking it was an emergency but I assured her that I just wanted to tell her how much fun I was having. Earlier in the year, at a similar point on the trail, I was nearly crying with pain rather than joy because my hands were so cold; Rosemary even had to force-feed me!

Time to go again and I headed down towards Jacobs Ladder and Edale. I was joined for a few minutes by two fell runners but I was unable to keep up when the descent steepened. I thought for a second about taking the Mam Tor trail but decided to go straight to my destination as the train home was only every 2 hours and I didn't want to risk missing it. I upped the pace as the terrain evened out, buoyed by the fact that it was only a few km to the cafe. The legs were now a little sore but I'd travelled over 20km in the hills so it was hardly surprising.

Soup, a toastie, Bakewell tart and a latte awaited me. I needed it! Then I caught the train to Marple to visit my mate James who was back for the weekend from Switzerland!

I've got to say that it's probably been one of the best days ever! The sheer beauty of nature... perfect light and the sheer clarity of thought! Humans continue to want stuff, yet a day like today shows that living in the present and appreciating the simple things is more satisfying than all the wealth in the world.

Bit cheeky but here's my other photos: Other photos