The weekend of 8/20, we drove up to a National Trust property called Ilam Park for some hiking. The park is located at the foot of the Derbyshire Dales in the Peak District National Park. You drive into the grounds of the old manor house, which is now a hostel, and park the car. We bought a map of the local area at the shop, and there are miles and miles of trails around the park.
It was raining lightly, but we were prepared with our plastic ponchos and sturdy shoes. Kevin was in charge of the map, and we headed off along the river to start our hike.
The view from the hill
The first part of the path took us up a slight rise in the hill, through some open trees, and then into open pasture further up the hill. Unfortunately, the path then went straight up the hill (no switchbacks here), so we carried on and eventually got to the top. We followed the farm roads along the top of the ridge until we got to a slight descent, where we stood under a huge oak tree and got our bearings.
A bit futher on, we encountered some cows blocking the road. The just stood and stared at us and wouldn't move, even though we were trying to encourage them to get out of the way. We ended up climbing over a fence to get around them. Being the city slickers that we are, we were afraid they'd run after us or something, so it was a while before we quit looking over our shoulders for them.
The hall at Ilam Park, now a hostel
All in all, despite being a bit soggy, it was a beautiful place to go for a hike. We were out and about for 2 hours or so.
Part 2
The next weekend, we decided to return to Ilam Park for more hiking. This time, we had much better weather. It was mostly sunny, with the occasional clouds floating by. It was hot in the sun, but luckily the breeze was nice and cool, and it was cool under the trees.
Pretty!
This time, we headed south along the river from the village of Ilam and walked through some lovely pastures, listening to the river babbling along next to us. After about 45 minutes or so, we reached an old stone bridge that had been part of the farm road at some point in the past--it had grass growing over the roadbed. At the middle of the bridge stood a group of people, about 15 of them, families with children looking at the river. And then the idyllic scene was shattered when one of the kids started screaming her head off as her older brother threatened to throw her into the river. We should have taken this scene as a warning...
We crossed the bridge and headed back towards Ilam on the other side of the river. At the river's east fork, we turned east and headed through a farm field that had lots of people camping. We saw some of the biggest tents we've ever seen. I didn't know they made tents that big! Seriously. They were nearly the size of a mobile home.
Anyway, as we followed the river up into the canyon, we noticed that more and more people were around. Tons of people. The further we walked, the more people we encountered. Now, we knew this was the last bank holiday weekend before the kids go back to school, but we never anticipated this many people. It probably had to do with the weather being so pleasant and the park's proximity to the city of Derby, which is a decent-sized city.
We got to a point in the canyon where there are stepping stones laid across the river. And, of course, there was a queue on both sides as people took turns crossing. This was also a major picnic destination for the hordes, and kids were splashing around in the water just beyond the stones. Ack--too many people. So we decided to carry on.
The hordes
We walked along the path next to the river for quite a while before we got to the next crossing. We ended going almost straight up the hill, about 300 meters, and finally reached the top. Then we had to carry on across the top (at one point the trail was about a foot wide and the drop was nearly vertical) before we crossed over the summit to head back to the village of Ilam. We hiked to the top of this small outcropping and the view was amazing! We could see for miles and miles and miles...
Kevin on top of the world
The descent was pretty hairy since the hills were steep, but we made it unscathed. We had been out just under 4 hours! Whoa!
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