As it slowly transits from spring to summer, I have finished my collection of beautiful spring pictures, many flowers of which I am unable to name. Incidentally, I am also already past the halfway mark of my exchange. Spring is a wonderful season, and this was the first time I experience a proper spring. A sunny day and beautiful flowering trees will be sure to brighten anyone's day. I spent a long time trying to get a perfect frame of some places in Sheffield...

I guess I am used to living in Sheffield now, I know where to get all I need, and know what I cannot get. I am also getting comfortable with the people I know here. Seems that all is well. I like the life here, and I am definitely going to miss it. I have this feeling that I have not travelled enough. I did increase my 'cooking level' a lot, however.

Kinder Scout Peak District

Not intending to waste the wonderful weather that is to come, I planned a quick hiking trip to Peak District. Looking at all the possible walking trails, I ended up selecting one of the harder ones that will take me to the highest point in Peak District, and that is the Kinder Scout, a flat high peak.

6th May 2015, Sunny, Kinder Scout

The day began with me walking around Sheffield to collect spring pictures. I thought I had a lot of time, but I got too complacent. I arrived at the train station five minutes early, but queuing to collect the tickets made me miss the train. I had to wait an hour for the next train, setting the whole schedule back by an hour. The train took less than half an hour to reach Edale. I started the hike from here. It is very difficult to hike in UK because there are no road signs along the hiking trails. I basically navigated my way using memory from the routes I saw last night, and by looking at where most people are walking. The sun was hot, and I regret not using sunblock lotion. After walking through green pastures, the path led into a valley with small rapids and waterfalls. Here is where the climbing began. It was a rough climb over large rocks beside the waters. After about half an hour, I reached a gathering area. The view up here is quite good,

I took a wrong turn and I ended up cutting the route short. I kinda felt that I was on the wrong track and kept trying to walk to the correct track by walking over the grasses, but I always end up walking into wet bogs. After trying to about half an hour, I gave up and walked the regular (wrong) path. I did manage to locate the highest point in the area, the Kinder Scout trigonometrical station with a little bit of detour, so all was not wasted. After that, it was the descend. I descended till I reached Jacob's ladder, which was proper stone steps down, to a long path, and to a small village.

Here, I walked the wrong path again. I ended up not walking on the Penine Way trails, and instead, walked on the main road in the area. I guess I am too used to having signboards telling me where to go, and this was just absent in the Peak District. I reached the train station and realized that the next train is in an hour and thirty minutes. Hence I just walked around the village for a small exploration. Soon, the train arrived and it brought me home.