Hiking in England 101

DO's (things Rachel is proud of herself for doing)

• do go to the Peak District
• do stay in hotels/B&B
• do remember that a full english breakfast means backbacon, egg, sausage, toast, cereal, and beans and that it's assumed you want milk in your tea
• do talk to as many local people as you can
• do know how to read a map (and use a compass - yes I can do both of these)
• do bring good base layers (it makes a world of difference)
• do buy those leg gator things (I would've if I could afford them)
• do watch for where the sheep have been
• do accidentally walk in on traditional folk music and dancing in the pub downstairs in your hotel that is packed with people who came over on the folk train (and leave two hours later on the same train with the musicians playing all the way back)

DON'TS (nobody's perfect)

• don't eat fish'n'chips anywhere near bedtime
• don't bypass learning 'English' map vocabulary (ie. meanings of: stile, clough, fords, plinth, hamlet, grange, sheepfold, etc.)
• don't go on your own unless you posess the confidence to eat alone at the pub (I got used to it!)
• don't think you're the lucky one who won't get rained on
• don't forget to bring the special hiking pants that you brought to England specifically for such occasions

Anyways, here are some pics. I stayed in a village called Edale. It is in the hope valley between the dark and white peaks. The peaks are mostly peat soil, with only heather, grass, ferns and moss growing on them. There are some treed areas, as well as streams and waterfalls where the water collects and flows down the hills. The land is littered with farms, farmhouses, and little villages, and of course, more cows and sheep than people.

The Rambler Country Hotel

Farmhouse along one of the trails.

There are gates and stiles everywhere to keep the sheep grazing in their proper place.

At the top of 'Kinder Scout' peak (very windy)

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