Day 2/20 The Pennine Way 429km - Crowden to Standedge - 29 Jul 2009

19.6km, 773m ascent, took 7 hours (no rest)

A full English breakfast at B&B before continuing the Pennine Way walk. Once started, slipped and fell in a tunnel which was so slippery. Bad start! It started drizzling half an hour after I began walking. What a let down! Prepared for the worst today, as forecasted.














The walk towards Crowden reminded me of Scotland. I felt that the Peak District shares some similarities with Scotland's landscape. I prefer this to Yorkshire Dales. The gradual ascent out of Torside to the gritstone outcrops of Laddow Rocks lining the Crowden Great Brook (stream) characterised an area of classic south Pennine countryside. Bright bilberry bushes adorned the hillsides while below them dried and soggy bracken took on rich coppery hues. I found the ascent easy. Probably I've already developed the 'climbing muscles' from yesterday's walk. My stamina was good, surprisingly. The narrow path which contoured the hillside precariously was scary with strong winds. I didn't dare to look downwards to the valley bottom. Heights again, my fear.






































The worst section arrived when I was going alongside the river. It was the muddiest path I've ever come across. No slabs! Just deep and muddy paths, worsened by the rain! Both my boots were soaked soon after. Couldn't help it at all! After a terrible 30min of overcoming this terrain (also involving the crossing of rivers with stepping stones underwater), it was a great relief to see slabs again, leading to the peat-soaked morass that answered aptly to the name of 'Black Hill'. Fog floated in when I was at the peak of the hill.









It was followed by a long, yet beautiful descent towards Wessenden Head, across the highway A635. Even though most walkers didn't like the idea of traffic bisecting the Way, I felt it was a good break from the continuous moorland which gave me a sense of insecurity after hours of wandering.

















With my totally soaked boots, I carried on, quite happily. The successive hours strung together a necklace of reservoirs: Wessenden, Swellands and Black Moss, a series of holding tanks serving the former industrial towns. Along the way, I had to cross a few waterfalls which were actually very slippery and therefore dangerous. All thanks to my already-soaked shoes, I grew more daring without having to worry about getting my feet wet. I crossed the water by stepping on stones underwater and letting more water enter my shoes. It was fun! My morale was very high today, despite getting so wet from the terrain and weather.





































I finally reached Standedge and was 'welcomed' by a thick fog over the town and an extremely heavy downpour - not very common in UK. My waterproof jacket did not help this round, and my clothes were all soaked. I was completely drenched when I finally found my way to Diggle - New Barn B&B. I was glad they helped me do the laundry and drying. I went to 'Diggle Hotel' for my dinner - Salmon Fillet & San Miguel. Then, back to B&B. There was network reception, so I contacted Faith and Sun Wen. The 2 days had passed very slowly. 18 more to go! OMG!