Monday 8 August 2011

Day 49- Crowden to Edale

Today we were going to be finishing the Pennine Way and also meeting Mum in Edale so it was quite an exciting day! However, we were told it was going to be a hilly 18 miles to Edale and the man at the campsite said that it usually takes people 10-12 hours to walk this leg so we were prepared for a long hard day. As we knew it was going to be a long day and we didn't want to get there too late for mum we got up at 7:30 which is good for us and were gone by 9:15.

The day started with a steep, long and sweaty climb up to Bleaklow Head- Jade says this was the sweatiest she has been to date and that is saying something as she has sweated a lot!! So a lot of sweat and a good bit of navigation later we made it to the top.From the top the flagstones started again and they led us all the way along to Snake Pass. I like the flagstone paths, they make it impossible to get lost! Walking along here we seemed to pass lots of father son couples out walking...we think there was another convention going on that we didn't know about.

We crossed the road at Snakes Pass and then carried on following the flagstones to Mill Hill. From here we had a short but steep climb up onto Kinder Scout. The view from along the top of kinder scout which is a big plateau was really nice and we could look down to see the resevoir below and also what we think was Manchester in the distance. The top of kinder was really rocky and we were feeling pretty tired but we still seemed to be moving quite fast across here. Up here we walked past a number of people including a topless runner. I will now pass you on to Jade who i think will probably be better at describing exactly what we saw: What we saw has scarred us over the past 2 weeks, was it a man? was it a woman? we don't know, what we do know is that it had had massive moobs flapping around in the wind on the plateau. It was hideous, Becks was walking in front of me so was scarred first, then i saw it running towards me! It looked like a woman and so i went in for the 'hi' as they jogged past me, I couldn't even tell the gender from voice recognition. Bad times, I don't know why they were toppless, getting over the shock of the moobs incident i saw a man carrying a sleeping bag around his neck! Beck didn't see, but it was very strange. Becks back:...i'm pretty sure it must have been a man because it would have been even weirder if it was a woman, anyway, moobs aside i was very impressive that he had run all the way up there!

We then reached the trig point at the top and after posing for some pictures followed the path off the top of kinder and down Jacobs ladder. Jacobs ladder was rocky and steep and pretty painful on the knees but it wasn't really what i expected. As i said it was steep and i wouldn't have wanted to be walking up Kinder that way but from what people had said i was picturing something a lot worse! We were soon at the bottom walking along a flat path and before we knew it we were in Upper Booth, only 1 and a quarter miles from Edale!! Very exciting! We were shocked at how quickly we got here as it was only 5 o'clock, we'd expected today to be a lot longer and harder especially after that guy had said it can take people 12 hours. I think all day i had been waiting for a really horrible bit which must have made it all go quicker. I really enjoyed todays walk.

From Upper Booth there was one more hill over into Edale so we had one final sweat before the day was over. 20 minutes later we arrived in Edale and saw the Old Nags Head pub. We had been looking at the picture of this pub in the guidebook for days so it was really exciting to actually be there!! We posed for pictures outside then went off to find Mum which didnt prove too difficult because the campsite was right opposite the pub and as we were wandering over Mum popped around the corner. Was lovely to see her and me and Jade both got a big hug! Jade had said to me just before, "oh i hope your Mum doesn't go in for the hug....i'm sweaty and i really smell!" Ha! It felt really good to be in Edale because as we had been following the Pennine Way for what felt like ages this was a big milestone!

Mum led us back to her new little tent which was very cute and then she got the jet boil on the go and we had a much deserved cup of tea and a fruit pastel binge! Mum had also brought up with her some gifts from some friends from back home, thankyou very much these were very lovely and very kind :) After me and Jade had put our tent up we went off for showers and Mum said she would start cooking dinner. 3 proved a very tricky number to cook for....pasta and sauce absolutely everywhere!! But it was very yummy and Mum had brought cheese which was a treat!! After dinner mum was a good influence and we did the dishes straight away. Then we went off to the pub and Mum treated us lime and lemonades and teas! We had told Mum that she had to keep a diary as well this week so she would realise what a chore it was to write so we all sat around a table in the pub writing diaries. In here we met a lovely German couple who were down on holiday.












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