Day 1/2 Edale 11.3km Walk - Rushup Edge & Mam Tor - 14 Feb 2009

These 2 days in Edale marked the most memorable and challenging walk I've ever done before. I'm very thankful to the newly founded 'brotherhood ramblers' founded in Feb 09...consisting of Ah Neh, Lawlaw, Faithie and myself for making this hike a success and the completion of it was purely through persistence, endurance and encouragement.

6am: Left home and made our way to Megabus stop, where we boarded the bus to Sheffield Meadowhall. The train then took us down south to Edale.... No one expected what was coming. We just knew that there was a small adventure awaiting for us. No one expected how tough the hike was going to be. All of us, except myself, had never done anything like that before. Myself, I was just afraid of getting everyone lost. It only occurred to me on the train that the tracks were going to be covered with thick snow, and navigation would impose a big problem. Oh dear...getting worried...but no turning back....


Arrived at Edale. It began with Faith's classic pose at the Edale signboard during phototaking. Then...field paths and quiet lanes led us across the Vale of Edale, before the snowball fights commenced along the rough track (Chapel Gate) which climbed steeply up onto the broad ridge of Rushup Edge. At the peak of the climb, we took a break - banana, muffin, ...poses by the 2 male partners...the littering and burying of banana skins in the snow...

The never-ending and super tiring walk continued along the narrow ridge with stunning views down across the head of the valley towards Kinder Scout. If it had not been winter, the walk should have been a simple one. But the thick snow which was probably as high as my chest level was slowing everyone down. Every step we made, there was high likelihood of our legs sinking straight into the deep snow up to knee level. Imagine how exhausive the walk was: Every step we took, we had to lift out legs high up to make our next step. Phew...the ridge walk seemed endless.








The ridge finally took us to join the road at Mam Nick at the foot of Mam Tor. A short but steep climb led up onto the summit of Mam Tor (517m high) where a path headed across the ridge to Hollins Cross. A rough path then dropped steeply down to join a track near Hollins Farm that led down to join the valley road. During the descend, the ice was so slippery and it was scary to start sliding down, yet we had to admit that it was really ...fun .... :)



Finally, field paths led us back to Edale. It was at this point where the 'cow dung' adventure started. Lawrence and I took the muddy track, while Faith and Ah Neh went into the fields thinking that it would be less muddy...yet not expecting it was full of cow dung!!! So...it happened that Faith's shoes went into the cow dung and got stuck inside. Foot out but shoe still resting comfortably in the cow dung. After getting the shoe out, she tried wearing it back with the help of Ah Neh's finger, which got STUCK in her cow-dung shoe after she managed to wear it! Wahaha!!! Classic!!!!!!!!!!

Day 1 walk ended after 5.5 hours of adventure. Humorous and memorable experiences, though tiring. We eventually returned to Edale safely but wet (from the snow) and cow-dung-ish. Had dinner at the Inn/Pub -Old Nags Head. It had obviously turned dark when our dinner ended. Then the next problem was: How do we find our way to the Youth Hostel? It was about 2.4km away, and the path there would be through pitch darkness. If we were to take the road route, it would be a much longer distance. By then, we were quite helpless. So and SO fortunately...Ah Neh and Faith were daring enough to approach a car driver to ask for directions, while hoping that out of pity, they would offer us a ride to the Youth Hostel. And...tata!! We did it! We arrived at the Hostel SAFE AND SOUND.

What an adventure! More adventure coming up tomorrow....and no one expected that the walk the next day would be much much tougher! Stay tune!