Win Hill and Crook Hill – Peak District

18 June 2016

We made our way into the High Peak of the District for this walk. Our aim was to summit the two peaks, Win Hill and Crook Hill, which face each other from across the Ladybower Reservoir, and this we did via a 9.7 mile hike. We must be getting fitter as it was not as strenuous as we imagined it would be when we set off, although the Kendal Mint Cake did come in handy at one point!

The GPS track of this walk can be found on our ViewRanger page.

From the car park, we make our way along the reservoir, going past what I can only assume is an overflow system to help protect the local environment from any flooding from the reservoir. In my imagination, however, I believe it to be a cruel Game of Thrones prison for the unfortunate and the innocent. We cross the dam before entering the woods, finding our way through to emerge at the foot of Win Hill.

Enjoy the views for a while – a good excuse to catch your breath before the final push to the summit.

Despite the overcast skies, the scenery from the top of Win Hill remain spectacular.

A cup of tea and half a sandwich, and we begin the gentle descent off the Hill.

We spotted some paragliders from across the Hope valley. And sheep. There were sheep too…

What did the Romans ever do for us? Well they built roads, like this one, for us to walk along, and others to ride (bumpily) over.

The path through Woodlands Valley is an atmospheric one.

As we come out on the other side we walk past Hagg Farm, continue along Open Hagg and beside the Hagg Side, we think “What the hagg!” and prepare for the climb to Crook Hill.

Now, if we’d read the map properly ahead of time, we would have realised that Crook Hill actually has two peaks. But which is the real summit? We’ll have to do both to make sure! Can we be bothered? Doubt and apathy try to weaken us, but we have something stronger to combat against them. We have Kendal Mint Cake! And with that sugar rush comes resolve and renewed vigour, and we bounce our way to the top like goats in the springtime.

With our sense of achievement still flowing within us, we chase it down with the last of the tea and sandwiches, once again soaking in the views around us, this time across to Win Hill from where we had looked just a couple of hours earlier.

And so we descend again, and begin to close the loop.

The locals are there to show us the way, like too many ushers at a wedding, making sure we don’t stray off the path.