Derwent Reservoir and Alport Castles
DATE 21.02.2015 | DISTANCE 17.7KM | HIGHEST POINT 485M
Posted by Matt | Filed under peak district
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Crikey! First hike of the year. Really need to get myself organised and outside more in 2015!
Today i chose something for me and Noah to do that wouldn't exhaust him. It's been a while since he was last able to come out with me. Although today's walk was fairly long, it is mostly level with only one area providing any real exertion. It's also one i have done before, well apart from the last bit.
it was a pretty cold start in the morning at derwent dam and a very changeable day. as we walked along the side of the reservoir, dense dark clouds started to loom in the distance and the occasional heavy snow blizzard would fall. it's not often you will see this in these photos though as i preferred having the camera stowed and my hands sat in my warm pockets.
noah didn't start today in the best of moods. it was his request to do this hike but from the start of the morning there was always something to complain about. boredom, cold, sore feet and even a relentless wedgey was voiced to me. maybe due to him not being out for a while?
as we crossed the moor towards alport castles one of those snow blizzards kicked off again but this time a horizontal, swirling and dense onslaught that reduced visibility to about 10 feet. we decided to stop and huddle together for a few minutes. i said to Noah, "If it stays like this then we should turn back and drop back down to the reservoir as we wont see anything going this way". Noah agreed and we continued to wait out the blizzard. fortunately we weren't waiting for long AND IT TURNED OUT TO BE WELL WORTH IT TOO. 10 MINUTES LATER WE WERE AT ALPORT CASTLES WITH BLUE SKies AND A SPLENDID VIEW. NOw it was either this view or the knowledge that we were now walking in the direction of the car that perked Noah up. Whatever the reason i was pleased he was happier.
last time i did this walk we also visited Crook Hill. Today we chose to follow a path through the woodland back down to the car park/visitor centre at derwent reservoir.
when i asked NoAH AFTER THE WALK IF HE ENJOYED HIMSELF, HE SAID HE DID. i'M NOT QUITE SURE THOUGH.
KIDS ARE PRETTY HARD TO FIGURE OUT SOMETIMES.