The Stiperstones

 

This is definitely in my top ten walks I have done so far, in shear beauty and difficulty. And silly me I forgot to hit post.  So here is a belated look at some really awesome rocks

This is especially for Kay who loves heather.

This edition of the blog is fraught with frustration for me.  I am trying to use a GoPro for some of the photography and it really sucks eggs. I do not recommend the product. I am also having a lot of fun trying to get the photos and alignment the way that I want to, but the Blogger format is not cooperative. So enjoy the photos, mine and the ones I nabbed online.

A link to the gpx file https://footpathapp.com/routes/a1878b90-634c-4b2b-af71-cae79567ed22

Miles: 3. Gain: 432 feet. Difficult trail of broken stone in some areas. One boggy crossing.

Wheelchair: The first part could be done by a very adventurous chair with assistance.

Dogs: on leash. There will be sheep.

Nothing I can say can match the magnificence of this place. No photographs come close, certainly not my meager photographic skills.   Most of the photos on this post are mine, the exceptions will be noted.  But you can google the Stiperstones and find piles more.

Geologically this area was under massive glaciers. The hills are all smooth, with scoops out where the glaciers traveled. The Stiperstones stuck up out of the ice, small islands of quartzite. They are jagged and rough. Really cool geology. 5 year old J. has an affinity for quartz so she was really thrilled.  

  

  

The afternoon began with lunch at The Bridges  They were out of reservations and therefore meals, so we had some of the best pub grub. I was dubious of Mackerel Pate and Cod cheeks. But they were tasty. We sat outside in the almost rain. It probably would have been better to have eaten after the hike (and more importantly had that pint) but it was not my call on the timing of things.

I did see a shuttle bus dropping off hikers. Note to self, check this out next summer.

Then we drove up to the stones. There is a lot of nothing on the road. Bleak, stony, empty. There was a horse event going on, so we did see some of them.

 We used the Devil’s chair Car Park. 52.57379449285868, -2.9317886941868982

Look at the satellite map. It is an awesome chunk of landscape from the air. The stone is the dominant feature of this landscape.

We took the access on the west of the parking lot. I would really like to go back and check out the easy access trail from the east of the parking lot.

There is an excellent PDF available about this area from Point2guides.

Our hike starts out going up. Significantly up. Thru blankets of heather in bloom. The good thing about an up like this is that taking photos is a good excuse to stop and catch my breath.

 

 It didn’t take long for the granddaughters to want to yomp ahead to climb on the tors. .

At the top of the climb the path goes north east. We walk past the rock piles where various clusters of people had climbed to eat lunch, or sit and look across the valleys.

 And then it got fun. You see there is not much in the way of dirt here. So eventually the path becomes one rock after another. That is the path.

And, well, I should have enjoyed the walk and turned back. But NO, I kept going.

This photo is from an great resource BaldHiker.com

I was sitting and taking a rest when two couples went by. “Mum would have done just fine up until these rocks.” They were talking about their 80 year old mother.” And I asked them if this trail circled back to the parking lot. Yes it did, just a little bit more of the rocks then it circles down to the right. Not too steep.

 I should have been skeptical. Chava decided that she should go with me to make sure I was OK.

The rocks continued for another ½ mile. Then another mile and a half back to the car. For a total of a grueling 3 miles.

Oh yeah and the bog in the middle. I should not have had that beer.

Every time we came around a curve, or topped an up hill we expected to see the parking lot below, and eventually we did. But the cars were much smaller than we expected. Eventually we could hear the kids yelling to us. We had great fun making lots of noise as we went along.

This trail pushed me to the limits of what I am able to do. But it was good to know that I can do stuff like this….just not too often please.