Every so often, there’s a day comes along that’s one to remember. This was one of them. An absolute belter. Video on my channel here

Reasons? Well, firstly, the plan was ambitious but succeeded, showing me that I had learned from the previous walk. The Peak District is pretty merciless to those who choose not to learn from their mistakes.

Secondly, the weather was simply incredible – a scorcher but with one of the finest sunrises I’ve seen. Forecast screenshot below gives you a good idea of what it was like.

I also met someone on the trail who noticed my filming kit and asked me if I had a YouTube channel and what I was filming. He was mountain biking with his dog who was busy looking for a watery place to cool down, splashing about in a bog behind him. I explained my project, also realising that it is the first time I had done this to a complete stranger, and not only was he enthusiastic about it, he also just checked out the video, so huge thanks to him!

Then, a little later on, I was on the Pennine Way and got talking to a guy who approached me and asked… ‘so mate, quick question, where did you get your hat?’

A decent sunhat is surprisingly tricky to find (you go and find one, for less than twenty quid, which is packable, quick drying, close to the neck at the back, solid brim at the front with a chin strap that doesn’t make you look like some sort of crap extra out of a cowboy film. See, not easy is it?)

Quality Hill and Moorland Day.

So what did I actually do then? Where did I go?

Here’s the map for section one. I managed to identify a couple of different types of heather, and navigate off a 1:40k map which is good practice for different scales.

My aim was to use a different map for each section of the trail. I can only do this in dry weather as I don’t have enough map cases for more than two maps!

Section two is below:

I then practiced taking a bearing using a compass and walking on it. I have done this many times in all sorts of conditions (see my winter series ‘Below Zero’) but I wanted to show viewers the basics in good conditions. I am a big believer in starting a skill in easy terrain and ace weather before needing to use it when you’re in trouble and really need it to work perfectly.

Section three:

From Chew Reservoir, it was a case of using a 1:50k map to locate the Pennine Way and have some lunch. I have done this bit before but must have lost the path entirely as I remember mostly heather bashing my way to a ‘thank God’ stile. This time I actually navigated properly and had an easy time.

Lastly:

On this last bit I was feeling on the verge of dehydration actually. By the time I reached the trig point I had finished almost three litres of liquid (plain water, lucozade sport and flavoured water). In the future it would be best to plan a water refill spot somewhere.

Stay tuned for the next adventure on Kinder Scout…