Peak Pilgrimage Day 3

Today was our longest walk on the pilgrimage at 21km with 400m of ascent. We also moved into an area we are more familiar with. Just on the outskirts of Monyash we took the path down Lathkill Dale. Over the next 5 km the dale changed from dry and grassy, to damp, narrow and oppressive and eventually to deep with a significant river.

Small falls along the river

Along the way various streams emerged from the valley walls and floor to strengthen the flow. In the valley near Over Haddon there used to be mills powered by the water. It was a fair ascent up to Over Haddon village and its welcoming pub. Along the way we passed the church on a small level piece of land. Once on higher ground, and fortified, it was a short walk to the exceptionally busy town of Bakewell. This is a handy place for provisions for the last quarter of the journey, should they be required. The church is on the far side of town, up a rather steep road.

Once again, sunlight highlights detail in a church

From Bakewell we were on a route we knew well, across the ridge to Chatsworth. We were relieved to see the village of Edensor as we descended from Calton pastures knowing that we had only a few kilometres to walk into Baslow. The guidebook suggests that one might like to detour into Chatsworth House and its gardens. We've been a few times over the years but I'm not convinced that a stately home visit sits well in a pilgrimage, in whatever way you wish to experience a few days of peaceful walking.

Although Baslow is a substantial village with 3 hotels I found very few spaces when I booked. Ultimately we were not impressed with where we stayed, especially in view of its price. On the bonus side, there are two little shops that supply chocolate bars and bananas into the evening.

Review of Alcatel Pop D1 for navigation: 3. ViewRanger further testing

In part 2 of this review I reviewed ViewRanger on a basic Android 4 phone.  I've used it on and off frequently now and have found that it even works well as a 3G modem as a tether to a tablet on a budget £5 Virgin SIM.

This post is just as a brief update to comment on today's use. This is the first time that I've used the GPS all day as my principle mapping and GPS device. We walked for a little under 18 miles in around 8 hours. The battery was freshly charged before setting off and at the end of the hike it was down to 69% charge. That implies it might mange 24 hours. I checked the route occasionally but I must confess that I know much of the route from memory and so the screen wasn't activated very often.  The GPS was being repeatedly activated by a helper app but the phone was in 'airplane mode' to disable 3G and WiFi sections.

Note that this is a 1:25 000 OS map

 The screenshot gives an indication of the GPS accuracy. The wooded section in the Haddon Hall estate just east of Bakewell has substantial tree cover and the contours are such that it is in a gulley. This is as good as one could expect from a retail GPS unit.

The sun was mostly screened by mist although I'd classify the day as 'bright'. The screen was readable throughout.