Green – travellingzombie.com

Mam Tor, Peak District UK

I’m still undergoing my hiking training in preparation for the trek in Transylvania to raise money for Mind. So in search of seeking out some good local places to walk, we set off for the Peak District, which is about an hour or so away from where we live.

Mam Tor was our destination; a rather large hill in Castleton. With an elevation of 515m, it was the perfect training ground for me.

We’d decided to take the circular route from Castleton as this would give us a total walking time of around four hours. Ignoring all sound advice from the lady in the visitor’s centre (because who wants to do things the easy way?!), we set off in the opposite direction, towards the steep climb out of a fairly dramatic looking valley. Walking up the side of the road towards Speedway cavern and Blue John Mine, the scenery was impressive, making me feel quite ‘hobbit-like’ due to the size and greenery of the hills surrounding us.

After a bit of creative navigation (we were following this brilliant guide but the signs aren’t great for the path), we found two routes up Mam Tor. We pot-lucked our way up the path to the right, eventually reaching what resembled a slight scramble up the hill to reach the main path. About half way up, I heard one woman remark to her walking partner “Oh I’m glad we are coming down this way rather than scrambling up, that route would have been awful“. Gee thanks lady. As you’ll have guessed, she was travelling in the opposite direction to us, making me wonder if I should have chosen the left path after all.

At the top of the scramble was a clearer path, steeply rising up the hillside. Given that we were fairly near the edge, my unhelpful feeling of ‘wobbliness’ started to surface. I’m not necessarily afraid of heights, but they do make me feel incredibly unstable. I fixed my eyes to the ground and just focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Before I knew it, we were at the top with an amazing view. We stayed for a while watching people paraglide whilst we had lunch.

A little side note: John West tuna lunch pots seem to have become my hiking lunch of choice. There is a gluten free / dairy free one and it’s easy to pack in a day sack. It’s either that or chocolate spread on gluten free bread – either way, I seem to have become stuck in a kind of lunch ‘dead-end’ – if other people have better hiking lunches – let me know!!!

At the top of Mam Tor was a trig point surrounded by little stone images of faces and huts – if anyone knows what their meanings are, I’d be interested to learn!

Looking over to the right, we could see the other path up the hill, which looked far easier and much less steep, but at least I’d had a good work out and pushed myself on a couple of ridge edges.

Once we were suitably fed, watered and recovered from the climb, we set off to the left along the marked stone path. This was much easier going and it became clear why the lady in the visitor’s centre has suggested to take this route. Coming up this path was a much gentler incline and would have much more clearly marked the route.

Passing Black Tor and Lose Hill Pike, we then started to cross a beautiful wooded area which was more stunning (to me at least) than the moors and fields. There is a pull I feel towards trees and woods that I just don’t experience in fields and out on the moors. It’s like an automatic ‘mood-boost’ and I feel much more connected to my surroundings.

Whilst the valley had been beautiful to drive through on the way to Mam Tor, it was the small tree lined area that stuck in my mind long after the walk.

Heading out of the trees and into the fields, our sense of direction failed us again as the path became unclear. A mother and daughter pair were also struggling with the route and we took it in turns to follow each other, sharing confused discussions on the same maps we were using.

Eventually, we crossed Spring House Farm and headed back towards Castleton. Next time, I’d look to extend the walk by heading to Hope first and then back to Castleton and maybe also taking some time to visit Peveril Castle, which looked intriguing, perched up high, keeping watch above the village.

National Tree Week

Apparently, last week was national tree week – who knew? Mind you, we have all sorts of ‘national weeks’ (‘national talk like a pirate’ week is one of my favourites!) so why not one for trees?

Skipping through twitter, I found loads of posts on trees and it got me thinking about the most beautiful trees I know: those in Yosemite. There’s something about the noise of the wind through those tall, solid trunks and the smell on the breeze that captures my soul.

Although I’m generally in love with the trees in Yosemite (ours just don’t seem to cut it over here), flicking through my photos reminded me of the most impressive specimens I have ever seen: Mariposa Grove.

Mariposa Grove is a Sequoia grove filled with giant Sequoia trees, and when I say giant, I mean humongous! These things were like massive pillars, rising up to cut shadows out of the sky. The grove is home to some of the most interesting trees in the park, including the tree that is now a tunnel, the grizzly giant, the fallen giant and the telescope tree.

Standing in the middle of those trees was like being a tiny ant; insignificant and very humbling. We often take trees for granted, despite knowing their importance on the eco-structure of our planet. If it takes a hashtag to remind us to marvel at the trees around us, then I’m happy to bump #NationalTreeWeek up my list of favourite hashtags.

Emerald Lake

Avoiding visitors to Emerald Lake in Canada

It’s in all of the travel pictures – stunning, calm, serene emerald waters, but what is Emerald Lake really like?

On our road trip around parts of Canada, we took some time to visit Emerald Lake as a stop off en route towards our next location.

The first thing that struck us about this place was the different approach it had taken towards visitors to the lake. Many of the other places we had stopped at were full of cars, visitors and camping vans, parked up as close as possible to the edge of the water. Whilst this is great for getting a viewing spot, it’s not so great for trying to find a calm, quiet place to absorb the beauty of the view. Some of the places we visited were busier than their town centres!

Emerald Lake differed in this respect, as cars were not allowed over the small wooden bridge towards the accommodation. Instead, a car park and shuttle bus was provided to support people too and from the cabins. This resulted in the lake being a little less crowded – not that it wasn’t busy (it certainly was), but it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as some of the places we visited (Lake Louise we’re looking at you!).

The trip over the little bridge was also quite exciting, it made the lake feel a little more hidden and cut off from the rest of the world.

We were staying in one of the cabins alongside the lake and they were beautiful! Looking out of the window, past the balcony (yes we had a little balcony!), the colours of the lake were so vivid, even from a distance. The rooms were basic but fairly spacious and included a little log fire which would be lovely in colder weather. They were beautifully designed to blend in with the blue skies and green waters.

The main lodge was a great place to hang out in the evenings – a mixture of pool, beer, TV and music made sure that we were all well entertained (one night a little girl jumped on the piano and she was incredible!).

The path around the lake is the jewel in the crown when visiting Emerald Lake. We only did the lake circuit (you can head up to the basin for more stunning views) but it was one of the most memorable walks of our trip. The lake trail is around 5km and is a fairly easy walk in most places – although there are some muddy, forest parts which would be challenging for someone with accessibility needs.

The start of the path takes you out on to a gravel path and as soon as you get past the first couple of yards, most of the visitors to Emerald Lake fade away. We only saw one or two other people for the rest of the walk – this was brilliant as the escape from the crowds left us feeling much more immersed in nature.

The first half of the walk keeps you close to the shoreline on a gravel path and gives a close-up view of the path the glacier follows as it melts down to the lake. Whilst making our way around the lake, a fire helicopter made numerous visits, filling up the water bucket on the way to a nearby forest fire.

The wooden bridge at the far end of the lake marked the start of the return journey. The path ran through a forest area for most of the walk home, giving very different views. This was my favourite part of the walk as it was fairly dense and almost had a jungle-like feel to it.

Staying on the lake is an excellent idea if you want to grab some photos that don’t include 20 other visitors. Once everyone goes home, you get a much more natural experience of the environment.

Evenings by the lake were beautiful, particularly once most day visitors had gone home. We were lucky enough to find a pier without anyone around and sat looking out on to the lake in silence, admiring the colours and stillness in the early evening.