It has been a while since I posted anything, this is due to work commitment, but I thought let me take a breather and start writing again. So I thought I would post about the recent social meet I have been to at the usual Monsal Head(as the basecamp). Well as part of the tradition I got stuck in a some heavy traffic, but it was nowhere as bad as the one before.

Arriving at Monsal Head I pitched my tent, which I somehow still have problem with, then meet up with everyone. It was very interesting meeting new faces like Geoff, Shaun(Rosenrott) Shaun and Tony(Sawyer Filter), all interesting to chat with and enthusiastic as well. We had out dinner on the camping ground and then went for a drink at the pub. I must say I was completely knackered with the driving and soon started nodding off, but it wasn't before having a couple of pints of apple juice and a whisky. After that we went back to the camp and I probably had the best sleep of my life.



The next day we got organised and off we went for our day hike at Stanage Edge, which was decided the night before and as well due to the low level it would suit my dodgy knees. As you can see from the photos we were lucky with the weather, as it was not really good the night before. I must say that I had been itching to hike at Stanage Edge for quite a while and it sure did not disappoint me. It is truly a beautiful place to hike and camping as well. As the saying goes, a photo is worth a thousand words, Peak District keep surprising me all the time.

 

 

 

 

 

Winter meet

Hello guys,

I have recently been on my first winter trek and I don't think I have seen so much snow  in my life. But first lets start with the beginning of my journey which started as usual from colliers wood. I left home on that Friday at around 10.30-11am and there was barely any traffic at all. I reached Leicester at around 13.30 that day which actually was not bad at all, until I encountered this endless queue of cars on the M1. I think I had only about 60-70 miles to reach destination and I'm used to being stuck in traffic, well guess that was not just any normal traffic, the M1 had been closed because of some accident. Yup it took me nearly 10 hours to reach Pindale farm that evening, I was on the verge of a mental breakdown, thinking of turning back, but luckily I stuck with it. The relief on my face when I reached the farm and went to the pub to meet the guys. Lets get back to that winter meet, it was nice meeting up with the usual bunch again as well as meeting new hikers. That night I got the pub, I managed to get only one pint of  'Apple Juice' as some of the guys, who managed to get there earlier, had finished the whole stock, so I had to switched to the Farmer's Blonde, we got back later on and kept on chatting in the bunkhouse to catch up and as well to finalise where we were hiking the next day.

As we got there we started getting our kits ready:

Then we started our trek and as you can see there was a bit of snow, but the further we went, the more snow we saw:

 

After a while we got to the point where it was uphill, quite steep and slippery (wish I had some type of snow crampon, the trekking type of course):

 After a while of ascent, we decided to stop for lunch and as well to enjoy the fantastic view:

 

 This was my first winter trek and never had I seen so much snow, but guess what that could easily one of my most enjoyable trek. I was so beautiful and silent up there (which reminded me of the song enjoy the silence by Depeche mode). It didn't feel like I was in the Peak District, which to me seemed just as good as being trekking abroad.

All I can say is that it was worth the traffic jam, really beautiful up there with the snow and I thanks the guys that were present for having organised it, a big thank you to everyone.

Haglofs Barrier Pro

Hi guys,

Lately my mind has been tormented by the thought of investing either in a Down or Primaloft jacket. Since the temperature has been plummeting lately, I decided to get myself a Haglofs Barrier Pro hood, made with 60g of Primaloft1, now don't expect me to get into all the techie stuffs as I'm not a professional hiker or such. I only do this as a hobby and not many times a year, though I'm trying to be as frequent as I can. So this is just my common man opinion, I have only had it for a week, seems good quality and very light, try it under the tap and looks like it has good DWR coating. I only got to wear it properly today when I was out and about walking near the Wimbledon common, ok I know it's not the Peak district or on any hills, but it was about 1C which was cold enough for me. I only had a T-shirt, micro fleece and the PL1 jacket. I must say it was not as warm as I thought it would be, but it was not really cold, surprisingly for it's thickness. I know the Jacket is part of a layering system (needed to wear a long sleeve base layer rather than a simple T-shirt), hence not made to be worn on it's own. But still I can't complain as I got it for a bargain of £100 from Blacks sales, but I must admit that I'm still thinking of getting a down jacket, why?? Guilty pleasure?? or maybe because I'm worth it. But for now we'll see how this jacket goes.

Hi guys, just been on a really nice camping trip lately, one which I have been wanting to do for a long time but never really had opportunity to. Bleaklow, is one place I wanted to visit for a very long time, probably nearly 2 yrs coming. The reason is when I looked at the photos I could find, on the net or from other people’s blog, looked like something out of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s ‘Lost World’. As well there is the crash site of the B29, which I have heard so much of.

Now then I took Friday off to drive to the Park house campsite, at Monsal, as if I wanted to get there by 6pm to pitch my tent. So I drove to my friend’s place, Mehdi during the afternoon and then off we drove. It’s always nice to be driving on these windy roads and beautiful scenery.  We arrived at the campsite at 6PM plus that evening and the weather was not really good..

After pitching off we went with Mike and Andy to the pub for some nice dinner but as well some nice Apple Juice. We had a couple of pints and some nice grub that night plus, we had some weirdo joining our table, or if I may say forcing himself upon us. Luckily with a bit of persuasion from Mike and our mutual silence, we managed to force him away. Next day, we got up early and notice that the weather was not that great, but still were spoilt with a nice scenery: 

Saturday morning

So after breakfast, we drove off to Bleaklow, and the weather was still holding up. But arriving at Bleaklow I could feel the wind cutting through my clothes, we decided that it would be better to wear our waterproof over trousers (well Mehdi and Chris did not, god knows how they managed):

Beginning of the walk

 Off we went and I could see why the area is called Bleaklow, well it is bleak, but still beautiful:

Bogs everywhere!!

 We continued our way following the path, while getting 'Bleaklowed' at times!! This of course did not detract us from the beauty of this place and it kind of reminded me of the the Depeche Mode song ' Enjoy the Silence' :

Beautiful alien landscape!

Mike, Chris (aka the man who was never there) and Andy

Soon we arrived to the top and took some photos and some rest as well:

Kissing Stones

Soon after we reached the place I 've been longing to see, the B29 crash site and I was not to be disappointed as it was as impressive as in photos, from the web. It was an impressive site as well as a sad, putting life in perspective, it was quite a humbling experience:

Piston engine

Landing gear and tire

Mike checking the chill factor.

 After that we decided to have a lunch break, shielded from the wind , for like 30 mins and then decided to get back to the car. We soon arrived at the car and sat down for a bit to chill out and to get our boots of and gear off. Soon it was time to part ways with Chris and for us to get back to camp to clean up, then go in search of a pub for a nice meal and pints of "Apple Juice".

Saturday evening sunset

We all had a good time that evening, couple of pints of Apple Juice, well me and Andy, while Mike was enjoying his lager and Mehdi being a non-drinker a lemonade, nice meals and a good banter. I must say I had a fantastic time with the guys and a very big thank you to Mike for organising this trip.

Sunday Morning!

Windows 8 installation

Finally I decided to format my C drive and install Windows 8 Enterprise version. I must say it was quite a lengthy process as it involved backing up  my profile and the system image just in case I wanted to go back to Win 7. It was pretty easy to install and most of the drivers were generic, only some of the hardware needed to have their drivers downloaded. Well so far I'm quite excited and it looks more stable and seemingly faster. But the layout still takes time to get use to. Well we'll see how I feel in about a couple of months time.

Why this blog?

Hi there, I just wanted to start this blog, mainly for fun, but as well because I haven't met any ethnic people wild camping and trekking during my trips. Saying that I just want to post my trip and photos, basically more like a diary.