Hiking in the Peak District

Ah yes, hiking. I grew up with it; as a child I loved it, then hated it for a while, and for the last few years I've loved it again. It's simply wonderful to hike through nature, discover different plants and animals, and enjoy the downtime.

And I always find that hiking is particularly worthwhile in Great Britain. There are national parks of all sizes everywhere, including the Peak District. It's been on my travel list for ages. Parts of the national park are quite difficult to reach, though. So I used my trip to take a day trip to the outer edge.
We took the train from Sheffield to Hathersage.

It was clear from the train ride that many people were heading in my direction. Equipped with a backpack and hiking boots, I wasn't the only one. And indeed, I later saw people from my train again on my hiking route.

Hathersage is a small, quaint village with typical English stone cottages. However, I didn't look around any longer, but walked straight into the beautiful countryside.

I had chosen a 12.5 km route for my hike.

The first part of my hike followed this small stream. In the forest, I slowly and somewhat unnoticed began my first ascent, only to be rewarded with this first beautiful view at the end:

The route then continued through a fern field to a rock face at an altitude of approximately 400 meters, in order to enjoy this beautiful view over the Peak District.

It was quite busy up here. But you simply can't miss this view. As I mentioned, the way there was mostly through woods and meadows. The way back led through heath and fields. I even found a few blueberries.

Many of the hiking trails are simply public paths, marked as such. However, they sometimes also lead across private property. I walked across several pastures, with animals grazing there!, and even a private farmyard. This allowed me to see sheep, horses, and cows up close. To be honest, I was a little scared of the cows, as they were out in the meadow with their calves. I made a real effort to get out of the meadow quickly.

And then, after a good 13 km, the hike was already over. I'm really glad I decided to hike alone. Actually, my rule on this trip was always to find someone to hike with, just so I wouldn't be completely alone in case something happened. I was always a little worried about that, but since I wasn't staying in a hostel but in private accommodation, I didn't have anyone to hike with, and I definitely didn't want to miss the Peak District. So I was always very careful, but I still managed to go for it, and it was definitely the right decision!

Nature in all its diverse forms and colors, and those views across the vast landscape, were so beautiful. I wouldn't want to miss this memory for anything. Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith.