Peak District

I took a train to the Peak District National Park today to do a bit of hiking, and I have to say, it was quite a unique hiking experience. The name of the national park is a bit misleading; there are no real peaks in the park, it is more a collection of hills, none of which top 500 feet (I don't think). Hikers are allowed to roam almost anywhere they want to, and if you go off the beaten trails, which of course I did, the terrain gets interesting. The hilles are covered in this thick rough shrub that provides a thick and springy surface to walk on. The hills are alos covered, however, in peat bogs, which ae extremely cool. They are areas of rotting vegetation, and in consistency are like a cross between mud and quicksand. Amazingly cool stuff when they are out in the open and you can see them and avoid them, but sometimes this rough brush covers a particularly wet and nasty bog, and then you sink in way up past your ankle before you can even think of pulling out. My foot got soaked. The wind was also extremely powerful. At some points I was able to stand 50 degrees from the ground facing the wind, and the wind help me up. I got pushed around quite a bit, and if I were more thin-boned, I'd be flying high as a kite. All those factors together, even though the hike was not particularly steep or rigorous, have me completely exhausted. I met a real Northerner, Tom, who was hiking in the hills as well, and we joined up for a bit. Nice guy, older, getting close to retirement, missing a bunch of teeth and extremely difficult to understand because of his thick, old-school Northern accent. Great day, but draining. I hope I have more energy tomorrow, as I am going to the Lake District National Park (also a misnomer as there is only one lake in the Lake District) to climb Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in England.