Hiking through Sheep Fields and Sliding Down Mountain Sides in England's Peak District

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This morning, we woke up early to beautiful sunny skies, and took some peanut butter and jam sandwiches with us on the hiking path (it was too cold to sit still and eat!). We decided that since we had scaled the mountains on the south side of the valley the day before, that we would spend today hiking the mountains on the north side. As per usual, the hike started by going through a series of sheep fields. It was lambing season, so there were hundreds of baby lambs around. We saw one that was so young it still had its umbilical cord and could barely walk! While hiking along the famous Pennine Way (a major hiking route through the region), we met another little lamb. "3-1-7", as he became known, was either a little confused or just very friendly. Our theory is that 317 (which was the number spray painted on his side) was too young to tell the difference between people and sheep, and that is why he ran up to us and started ba-ing at us! He wanted to play! We tried feeding him some of the fruit we had, but he wasn't too interested - I guess still too young - so we carried on our way.

The route we were following was a big circle that took us away from our campsite, through a series of fields, over a river and then up the mountain and along the ridge. When we were hiking the ridge, we made our way through several patches of snow left over from winter.

When we had travelled along the ridge until we were above our tents, we had to climb back down the mountain to get to the camp. This particular part of the mountain just happened to be very steep, and very grassy. Perfect for sliding on one's bum. We're not sure how he got the idea, but Will noticed the perfect sliding conditions, sat down and began racing down the mountain! After seeing how much fun he was having, we all decided to give it a go. Before you knew it, there were four grown ups, luging down the side of the mountain. As it turns out, it took way, way less time to go down than it did to hike up!

Once we got back to camp we had to pack up and hike back to the train station for the four hour journey home. For whatever reason, the first class train tickets were cheaper than the coach ones, so we sat in first class (with a little bit of mud/grass on our pants from sliding down the mountain!) and played a few rounds of 'Dutch Blitz' at our table. All in all, it was a great weekend and a fun way to see northern England!

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