Mam Tor: 4 times in 24 hours

I’ve been missing walking uphill since I got home from the last trip at the end of September, so there was no chance that I was going to drive through the Peak District on Wednesday and Thursday (on the way to and from Martin & Sue’s latest presentation for Stockport Walking & Outdoor Group) without stopping for a stretch of the legs and lungs.

I didn’t do anything exciting. In fact, as the title suggests, I was a little repetitive, with the main objectives being hill-based exercise, with the fewest possible extra miles being driven.

So, on Wednesday I went up Mam Tor and over to Lose Hill, before performing an about turn and (passing some people I’d already greeted on the way out, and a few of those who completely blanked me in both directions) returning back over Mam Tor.

Atop Lose Hill. Despite having four opportunities, it seems that I omitted to take a single snap from Mam Tor

I still had a bit of time after I’d eaten my lunch, so I nipped up Lord’s Seat too, where a chap was poised to jump just as soon as the right conditions presented themselves:

Looking back to Mam Tor, from the path up Lord’s Seat. You can’t make out the detail in this snap, but Mam Tor was so busy that in this photo there is a trail of around 30 people heading up towards the summit. Lord’s Seat was rather less busy!

I could have done something novel on Thursday, but Mam Tor still had that great advantage of being only a handful of miles off my driving route, so back I went again. Setting out early in the morning, just as the drizzly start was abating, gave me a completely different (and much better) experience from the previous day, with just one other person seen, and that was within five minutes of setting out.

Not such a nice day on Thursday

Surprisingly, the large car park was empty, save for Colin, when I got back; I don’t expect it stayed that way for long after I left.

 

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As an aside, what are the chances of seeing the same vehicle, in completely different parts of the country, twice in the space of a few months? My gut reaction, thinking of the number of vehicles on the UK roads, would be that the chances would be negligible. However, thanks to the van in question being very distinctive (see below, although it may not be obvious unless you click for a bigger version that the ‘Live Dartmoor’ design is hand painted and has the number 46 in a circle in the top left hand corner), I can say with certainty that the van I parked by in the National Trust Mam Tor car park on Wednesday afternoon was the same vehicle next to which I parked on Honister Pass at the beginning of June:

I’m yet to meet the occupant(s). Maybe next time…