Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Hadrian's Wall 2014 - Movie Trailer
Hadrian's Wall 2014 - Movie Trailer This is the trailer for the video of my Hadrian's Wall walk that I undertook in May 2014. 100 miles along the wall from Bowness on Solway to Wallsend and the on to Whitley Bay. My Websites http://www.DeanRead.net & http://ift.tt/13fpNq3 Twitter http://ift.tt/17hz6pN & http://ift.tt/13fpNq5 Subscribe to my channel http://bit.ly/YouTubeDeanRead Don't forget to watch in HD! Thumbs up, Comment, Share, and Subscribe! :)
Friday, May 16, 2014
Peak District - Wild Camping - Sandy Heys on Kinder Scout
Peak District - Wild Camping - Sandy Heys on Kinder Scout Another week, another Wild Camp... This time we set off from Bowden Bridge near Hayfield and made our way up to Sandy Heys on Kinder Scout. We were extremely lucky with the weather and witnessed another great sunset. Sandy Heys is a very interesting spot, it has an important significance for the Aetherius Society and if you'd like to find out more about them you can head to http://ift.tt/1jl3JnH. My Websites http://www.DeanRead.net & http://ift.tt/13fpNq3 Twitter http://ift.tt/17hz6pN & http://ift.tt/13fpNq5 Subscribe to my channel http://bit.ly/YouTubeDeanRead Don't forget to watch in HD! Thumbs up, Comment, Share, and Subscribe! :)
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Thursday, May 08, 2014
Peak District – Wild Camping – White Edge
As is usually the way with my shift patterns, the great weather comes when I’m at work and the rain arrives just in time for my days off. Well, it certainly feels that way at times and this week was no exception. My mate Ray and I managed to select perhaps the best day however to head out for a wild camp this week. The plan was to find a forest somewhere, pitch the tents, hang a tarp, then relax and enjoy the surroundings regardless of the weather. This was still the plan as we drove towards the Peak District from Chesterfield, as we came down the hill to Robin Hood I suddenly remembered a video I had seen recently. The video was by Luke aka OutdoorEnthusiasts101 on YouTube and he was Wild Camping in the Peak District. He had set off from Robin Hood, gone over Birchen Edge to Big Moor and Wild Camped somewhere up there. I then remembered that the last time I was on Big Moor I saw a herd of deer, It was then that our plans for the night changed and I knew we had to head there to see if we could catch the deer on video.
Sunbathing Lambs in Baslow
Looking down to Chatsworth in the Derwent Valley
We managed to get parked up in Baslow at around 16:00, got all our gear together and then set off in a race against the weather. The rain was due to arrived at around 17:00 and I though it would be handy if we could at least get pitched for 18:00 to avoid the worst of what was expected. We headed straight for Baslow Edge up the track marked as Bar Road on the Ordnance Survey Map, we then continued along the track past the Eagle Stone where we met the Highland Cattle that graze there.
Highland Cattle on Baslow Edge
Highland Cattle on Baslow Edge
After walking along the track at Baslow Edge we came to Curbar Gap, if you just wanted to walk around this area then you can park at the nearby car park but I wouldn’t fancy leaving a car there overnight, hence why we chose to park in Baslow.
Curbar Edge from Baslow Edge
We proceeded along Curbar Edge while enjoying the views in all directions, we were very pleased to see that the rain appeared to be missing us. The torrential downpours that had been forecast seemed to be further down in the Derwent Valley near Chatsworth, there was lots of rain up in the Hope Valley too so we were feeling really lucky indeed.
Trig Point on White Edge
We turned off the footpath along Curbar Edge at SK 2548 7574 and then walked over the boggy moorland up towards White Edge. The Trig Point on the edge stands at SK 2637 7585 and you get some great 360 degree views.
A Herd of Deer on White Edge
I mentioned earlier that I had seen a Herd of Deer on my last visit to Big Moor, I had spoken to Luke aka OutdoorEnthusiast101 and he mentioned that he had seen them too on his recent wild camp. Luckily, I spotted them today as soon as I looked north from the Trig Point on White Edge. They were gathered around a clump of Gritstone so we walked over to have a look. We were up wind of them so as you can imagine they spotted us straight away. I managed to get a few pictures and a little video footage before they moved away.
Discreetly pitched up on White Edge
The clump of gritstone near where the deer had been gathered looked like a great spot to discreetly pitch the tents. That the name of the game for me when wild camping, I want to be as discreet as possible so as not to attract any attention. As I’m sure many of you will know, Wild Camping isn’t strictly legal. In Scotland you are allowed to wild camp in many places in the hills providing you follow a set of guidelines, in England and Wales the story is a little different. The rules/guidelines are obviously there for a reason but all I will say is that I act responsibly at all times. I always make sure we pitch in the late afternoon and are gone early in the morning, I also make sure that we treat the land with respect, leave no rubbish, damage no property and I would happily obey any requests to move on by land owners and rangers. I have never been asked to move on if I’m honest, as I say I always make sure I’m discreet so my presence seems never to have been noticed in the past…. anyway, back to the subject of tonights wild camp.
The GoPro Shooting a Time Lapse
After we had pitched our tents on a small piece of grass between the gritstone I set up the GoPro ready to time lapse the clouds. I knew that we weren’t going to get much in the way of a sunset tonight so I figured the clouds/rain moving across the landscape might look good in the video instead.
Looking towards Carl Walk and Upper Burbage Edge
Bamford Edge on the left, Stanage Edge on the right and Derwent Edge in the centre
The Karrimor X-Lite & Wild Country Zephyros 1
We really had dropped lucky with the weather this evening, the rain was passing either side of us and I was so glad we didn’t stick with the original plan which was to camp over near the Vale of Edale. The rain looked really heavy and the clouds looked menacing as it moved over the top of Win Hill towards Stanage Edge.
Rain over Win Hill & Bamford Edge
We pitched the tarp over a nice convenient bit of gritstone to enable us to be sheltered if the rain did head our way. Thankfully it was in the perfect orientation to allow us to be out of the wind too as it had begun to pick up as the night went on. We eventually retired to our tents at around midnight where I had a great nights sleep, I don’t think Ray was so lucky 
Sunrise from the door of my tent
I awoke at around 05:15 and stuck my head out of the tent to see what the views were like, there was a thick layer of cloud over on the eastern horizon but their colours were beginning to change as the sun began to rise. I immediately took the picture that you can see above and then jumped out to set the GoPro up for some more time lapse footage.
We also pitched a tarp next to the tents where we sat during a shower in the evening
As I mentioned earlier, the general rule that I stick to when wild camping is pitching late and leaving early. We stuck to that rule again today as we were packed up and on our way by 06:15. As we left we spotted the herd of deer again and they were gathered around the Trig Point on White Edge.
Herd of Deer on Big Moor
Herd of Deer on Big Moor
Trig Point on White Edge with a Herd of Deer behind
The deer had began to move away from the Trig Point as we arrived and I don’t think they were too bothered by our presence. I took the obligatory shot of the Trig and then we carried on along White Edge for a while longer. We eventually came to the path which leads from White Edge to Curbar Gap, we passed another herd of Highland Cattle as we made our way across the fields.
Stone Marker Post at Curbar Gap
Curbar Edge
We walked a short section along the road from the Curbar Gap Carpark to the start of the path along Baslow Edge, yesterday we had walked along the track which is back from Baslow Edge itself, we chose to walk back via the edge path this morning to enjoy the views down into the Derwent Valley.
The Famous Anvil Stone on Baslow Edge
In no time at all we were heading back down Bar Road, we had been very lazy this morning and not cooked the food we had bought in favour of grabbing a full english breakfast somewhere. I could almost taste the coffee and bacon etc at the Chatsworth Farm Shop as we arrived back at the car in Baslow
The Sheep came to greet us as we arrived back in Baslow
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Peak District - Wild Camping - White Edge
Peak District - Wild Camping - White Edge This video sees my friend Ray and I head up to White Edge in the eastern Peak District for a Wild Camp. Thankfully, we managed avoided the worst of the weather and were lucky enough to see the herd of deer that live up on Big Moor. My Websites http://www.DeanRead.net & http://ift.tt/13fpNq3 Twitter http://ift.tt/17hz6pN & http://ift.tt/13fpNq5 Subscribe to my channel http://bit.ly/YouTubeDeanRead Don't forget to watch in HD! Thumbs up, Comment, Share, and Subscribe! :)
Thursday, May 01, 2014
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Monday, April 21, 2014
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Peak District – Wild Camping – Grindslow Knoll on Kinder Scout
It’s the school holiday’s, the weather is getting better, so that means only one thing…. Convince my daughter that the best way to spend an evening is up a mountain somewhere. As it’s Peak Routes, that somewhere is naturally the Peak District, The Glorious Peak District. Let me tell you folks, the UK’s First National Park certainly lived up to the title of Glorious once again on this overnight trip.
My daughter trying to hide from the camera while walking in the Vale of Edale
The Vale of Edale from Grindslow Knoll
It took us around an hour to get up to the top of Grindslow Knoll, I didn’t want to walk too quickly as this was the first steep walk I’ve taken my daughter on in a while. She did Snowdon when she was 8 years old but I’m always conscious not to walk too quickly, so she doesn’t get put off for life by the ordeal
“Let the Time Lapsing commence” – Recording a Time Lapse with my GoPro Hero 3
We had both the tents pitched in no time at all so it was time to sit back and enjoy the views… oh yes, while time lapsing them with the GoPro too. I had taken my improvised GoPole with me again this time, so I used it as a monopod by driving the end of the walking pole in to the ground, it worked very well indeed and the footage I recorded was nice and smooth.
Mam Tor in the distance and the tarns above Broadlee-Bank Tor in the foreground
The “2 year old but never used” Karrimor X Lite in the foreground and my trusty Wild Country Zephyros 1 in the background
Gritstone rocks on Grindslow Knoll
The Karrimor X Lite in the foreground and my trusty Wild Country Zephyros 1 in the background
I honestly can’t put in to words how stunning the sunset was, the colours were absolutely amazing and I guess i’ll just have to let the pictures and video footage do the talking.
The GoPro Hero 3 shooting a sunset Time Lapse
At the going down of the sun…
Red Sky over the Kinder Plateau
After enjoying a great evening it was time to retire to the tents and get some sleep, I managed to get a reasonable amount of sleep and woke up a few times and checked out the views as we had a full moon tonight. The temperature dropped to around zero degrees during the night as when I woke up just before dawn I discovered that the tents had a layer of frost on the western side. I got some water boiling using the Caldera Keg stove and then proceeded to set up the GoPro once again to time lapse the sunrise.
Early morning light in the Vale of Edale just before sunrise
Camp Selfie… in every sense of the word
Early morning light in the Vale of Edale just before sunrise
Brew time with the Caldera Keg
A touch of frost on the western side of the tents
Once again, I think i’ll let the images and the video do the talking here as my limited vocabulary really won’t do the views justice. The light was superb down in the Vale of Edale as the sun rose and I sat there with a very strong coffee soaking up all that lay in front of me. It was yet another one of those “Wow” moments that makes me feel so lucky to live within a close proximity to such a spectacular place.
Sunrise over the Vale of Edale
GoPro Hero 3 recording a time lapse of the sunrise over the eastern flanks of Kinder Scout
My daughter admiring the sunrise while she waits for me to get a move on making her hot chocolate
Sunrise over the Vale of Edale
The Hope Valley Cement Works hiding behind the Great Ridge
Once the sun had risen and we had both eaten some breakfast it was time to pack away and head back down to the car. We had lots to do during the day so sadly we couldn’t make the most of the sunshine by going on a longer walk, I let the tents thaw out in the sun for a moment before rolling them both up and leaving no trace of our visit at our camp location.
Looking down towards Grindsbrook Clough from Grindslow Knoll
Descending back down in to the valley
During the morning I had been watching the smoke rise from a fire down in the Vale of Edale, the wind had slowly begun to blow the smoke to the west, then to the east and it had swung back to the west once again by the time we were descending down in to the valley.
Smoke from a fire showing the ever changing wind direction, it changed 3 times that morning
It didn’t take us very long at all to reach the bottom of the track which eventually proceeds along the fields back towards Edale, my daughter informed me she much prefers the descent to the ascent…. fair enough. I’m the opposite way around personally, I much prefer ascending as I get in to a rhythm and it is less harsh on my knees
Edale was very quite this morning, we only saw a couple of walkers and the postman doing his deliveries. It really was a shame to have to head home but duty calls and there will always be another day. The trip had been a great success in many ways, the weather had been great, the views had been stunning and most important of all my daughter had enjoyed it. As always, thanks for reading, listening, watching and taking the time to share and comment if you chose to do so. Fingers crossed opportunities will arise again very soon to get out for another Wild Camp, I’m walking Hadrian’s Wall in a months time so at least i’ll get my camping/outdoor fix then
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