24th July 2021
This was the second hike which Macmillan had to cancel this year when the Natonal Trust restricted the footfall allowed to cross their land to 200 people!
Undeterred as ever I travelled to the Peak District by myself to complete the hike. Unusually this time I was completely solo and due to that I was unable to do the actual Macmillan route as it was linear and I would have had no way to get back to my car after 26 miles (unless I walked back)!
I therefore went online and researched some interesting routes and ended up creating a circular 6 dales route starting and finishing at the Hartington Station NT carpark.
I painstakingly transcribed the route into Viewranger so I would have a proper trail to follow. The route is available free from my Viewranger page if anyone would like it https://my.viewranger.com/route/details/NDA2MDEwOQ==
After some detours thanks to a farmer putting barbed wire across a marked footpath the entire hike came out at 32 miles – by far the longest of the year and a long time to spend in my own company!
The reationale behind starting and finishing at the NT carpark which added an extra four miles to the hike was that I felt uncomfortable leaving my car on a roadside.
The day dawned fine and fairly cool and I got a 5am start. The first two miles were along the Tissington trail to Biggin which is where the real circuit started and finished. It took in Biggin Dale, Wolfscote Dale, Beresford Dale, Lathkill Dale, Gratton Dale, and Long Dale. One of the strangely satisfying things about this hike was that I got to carry all my own food and so had plenty of chopped apple and pineapple – and as a special treat – Cheese and Marmite sarnies and hot pepperamis! I felt my rucksack get lighter and lighter as I consumed the food and drank the water!
Each of the dales were pretty distinct so I felt like I was walking through new terrain every few miles. It was good to see a few other Macmillan hikers out doing their thing.
Extra fun was had when I realised the route took me through the middle of a marsh! I used every pair of spare socks I had – especially after treading directly into a cow’s footprint and sinking! I ended the day happily tired, covered in mud, legs tingling from nettle stings, and craving human company!
I will be doing the official Macmillan hike in 2022 but I have to say that I would definitely do this DIY route again, but would make sure I had a hiking buddy along with me.
Escuse the huge amount of photographs but this hike was just too varied to be able to cut the number down too much!
