Bleaklow in the Peak District was our aim, we met up with Sam and got parked up after admiring his new car. A walk of approx 10 miles was planned! - ha! Weather looked reasonable as we set off but closed in a bit as we started our first ascent up Torside Clough, never mind it gave Andrew a chance to 'test' his new waterproof.
We reached the summit of Bleaklow Head which is marked by a cairn and large stake and decided to seek a little bit of shelter from the breeze and have lunch.
After lunch (OK so I ate more than half of the Mars Bar I was supposed to be sharing!) we set off across a bizarre terrain. The moorland is covered in peat dunes which are shaped and formed by the wind, it is really difficult to navigate or tell where you are amongst these 'dunes' despite the route being vaguely marked by large stakes on top of some of the mounds.
Onwards again across more 'dunes' by which time we were getting a bit pooped trying to determine which way to go and walking up and down and in and out of bogs! So much so that when we saw Grinah Stones ahead with a lovely clear path we just walked towards it like heading towards an oasis in the desert!! Doh! we should actually have headed off to the descent but hey ho - what's another 2 miles between friends!!! Actually it was quite groovy at Grinah and Barrow Stones with magnificent views right down beyond Sheffield across to the power stations (Ferrybridge, Eggborough and Drax) in 'megawatt valley'. We came across a lovely spot where a stream was flowing through a moss plateau and we spotted at least 3 small lizards amongst the vegetation.
We eventually made it back to the right track and after crossing the ford which was quite tricky we managed a short coffee break before the last couple of miles on the flat back to the car park.In total we did 13 and a half miles! Even our Mo was quite pooped when we got back to the cars. A great walk
