Hiking and Climbing: High heels not permitted

Who knew someone as girly as me would be riding along with my husband on a four hour trip to Hayfield to have a "nice walk" around Kinder Scout. This would result in me being tricked into thinking this would just be a easy walk around a park. Equipped with nothing more than an umbrella, because the weather looked quite dodgy, comfortable footwear, and an extra jacket. I thought I was quite prepared for this little trek. Well, I was wrong, it was not a walk around the park, it was literally climbing and hiking. The umbrella never came out, my comfortable footwear turned into a disaster waiting to happen. I had to watch my step because my ill equipped Sperrys were no match for mud and wet rocks. Numerous times my backside tried to make contact with the ground. Oh and that extra jacket, I shed that ten minutes into the climb.

The beginning of the walk looked quite easy, Kinder Scout welcomed us with open arms.

      A nice walk with the husband.

Enjoying the scenery, snapping away telling Ben how amazingly the weather has turned around. 

Sunshine throughout the walk.

Map in hand we were ready to go into the unknown. Carefully selected sandwiches, water, and fruit bags occupied that bag. 

I was overtaken at how picturesque everything was, the scenery was just Beautiful!

This doesn't make you think "this is going to be hard" 

The Reservoir 

Every view was just amazing.

That looming hill like mountain that just makes the background look amazing...well you see that tiny dot at the top of it? Yeah that's were I would be finding myself. My thinking that the walk would just lead us to circle the Reservoir. Well, it did, just not in the direction I was thinking.  

It was GOODBYE nice easy walk to this.....

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Wait for it....

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This

Once across this small bridge, I was informed by Ben that we were going up...all the way up! So away we climbed. It was the toughest, hardest, exhausting thing ever. If I knew that we were climbing, my breakfast would have consisted of carbs and not a bag of fruit that consisted only of grapes and apples that consisted of only a measly 48 calories. Seriously, I burnt that off walking across the bridge and pushing my index finger down to capture cool shots like this.

Made it to the top! A victory dance was in order, but clearly I was to wiped out to even kick my leg up let alone do a dance. An oxygen tank seemed more appropriate. However, the view from up top is breathtaking, literally.

Although it was the hardest obstacle I had to face, I couldn't help but appreciate how amazing the view from up top was. Ok, there were some moments while climbing I would look down and freak out, because we were unbelievably high and felt like if I wasn't in the bent over hands on the ground stance I was going to roll back. A perfect example of this pose....

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There's me on the left. Dreamy! After my degrading hill crawl I was finally allowed to stand upright and snap away and give you pics to enjoy.

So without further intermission Kinder Scout

All and all I have to say it was an amazing climb and hike. I slipped, fell, grabbed handfuls of grass, and grunted my way to the top, but at the end of it all it was a great experience. Everyone we encountered were friendly as ever, also made the experience amazing. What baffled me the most was seeing some people run throughout the trail...I had two words for them...."Show offs" but also "Holy cow, total admiration for them" 

Altogether, what Ben said would possibly be a two hour, seven mile walk turned out to be actually four hours long, with us taking the hardest route down. To sum it up it was a four hour drive, a four hour climb and hike and a four hour drive back which turned out to be a great experience. The views are beautiful, breathtaking, and the most exhilarating thing I've ever done. I would gladly do it again...well with the proper shoes, carbs, and a less fear of heights.