17.5km of gales and wind-blasted rain with Stuart around Dove Dale last Sunday. All good character-building stuff. We somehow managed 1000m of ascent, mostly by descending into the Castern Wood nature reserve only to find that it’s probably the only dale in the entire White Peak with no path running down it, or bridges across its river. After several attempts to escape we had to admit defeat and reverse our route out.
There’s normally a path here. © Haydn Williams 2015
Even the alternative route was flooded. © Haydn Williams 2015
Looks dramatic, but raindrops in a gale sting like you wouldn’t believe. © Haydn Williams 2015
Steep descent. We had to go back up it ten minutes later. © Haydn Williams 2015
