Wild camping, I thought, was such a novelty, something out of reach or too complicated, until last weekend.
I got a phone call from my good friend, city slicker, and Lord, Tom Pym. He suggested we go camping and I was game! Since I’m located in Sheffield, the Peak District seemed the only sensible choice.
The Plan
We weren’t going to settle for just camping. We planned to park the car up at Mam Tor, a 517m high peak, and walk to Bamford Edge where we would pitch up in the surrounding area.
Google Maps offered multiple routes, of course, we chose the longest, most remote way. According to Google, a 4ish hour walk, just shy of 11 miles. Making it a 22 mile 8 hour round trip.
I was never in doubt we could manage this, Tom had spent Christmas of last year hiking around South America and I was just up for the challenge.
Our Gear
Tom made the drive up from London to embark on this expedition. However, when I found out he was equipped with a blow-up air mattress that weighed the equivalent of a cinder block I wasn’t sure how well this would go.
The essentials we took were as follows: an OEX Etna Mini Stove, with Fire Maple cookware, and a Trinordic sleeping mat for me with only an R-value of 1.8 while Tom slept on a Bestway single Flocked air mattress.
As for backpacks, Tom rocked the Tibet 55L hiking backpack, for me, the OEX Vallo 60+10. The sleeping bag I bought was so old, I think it might have been older than us.
We went on a little Tesco trip and got butter, rice, bundles of breakfast bars, and 4L of water. It was not very long into the trip before we realised 4L wasn’t going to be enough for the two of us.
Most importantly of all, the tent was a little two-man tent from Argo, the Pro-Action 2-person dome tent. Once again, not the most idyllic tent for wild camping.
Day One
We set off at a steady pace from Mam Tor car park. Taking in the scenery, not stopping and loving life. Then we reached Loose Hill and were met by a barrage of uneven steps down. Ruining our knees off after only a short hour of walking.
We were taunted by pubs and farm shops along the way but were determined not to stop, and got to Bamford Edge in good time. Taking in the scenery of Win Hill, Ladybower and the distant sight of Mam Tor, where we had originally come from.
After walking around a little, we settled for a spot amongst the rocks where we could use the stove and put on some rice. After the day of walking, this might have been the best rice of our lives. Little did we know that every inch of Bamford Edge was covered in Midges.
Tom, “We couldn’t get away from them, they were everywhere. Even when we covered most of our skin they went in our eyes and ears.”
These blighters must have been working for the national park since they were as good a deterrent as the guy on the quad bike who told us to pack up and leave just after we set our tent up.
We understood the legality of wild camping in the Peak District so after being ushered on, we didn’t complain, argue or try camp on another piece of land we didn’t have permission to.
Instead, we moved on and rang up all the neighbouring campsites to see if they had room. By this point, it was 9 pm and options were looking scarce, we even debated just hiking back to the car.
Until our saviour, Heatherhill Farm Campsite took us in last minute and let us say for the night. For £14 and a 45-minute walk, we were more than happy to have somewhere to call home that evening.
Day Two
It was onwards and upwards the next morning, we had a little different route in mind. We would take staying at Heatherhill Farm Campsite to our advantage. Moving through Hope to try and find a pub to get some grub before finishing the hike.
We did exactly that and on our third try a pub finally had room and was serving food! The Old Hall Hotel also happened to be hosting a beer festival which was always good for our morale.
Tom, “The food is exactly what I needed, I drank two cups of coffee and had a massive burger and chips, it sorted me out perfectly to go and attack the rest of the hike.”
We painfully made our way back up to Mam Tor, Tom’s hips had given in and my feet swelled from the lack of waterproof footwear. But we made it. It was a not-so-wild camping trip that, in our eyes, we had earned just as much merit, as if we had wild camped.
Tom said, “With this weight on my back, the hiking felt worse than the days of climbing I did in Peru, I was much fitter back then but these peaks shouldn’t be underestimated.
Final Thoughts
There are some incredible locations to wild camp across the UK, and it’s mostly our fault we were unsuccessful on this trip. Always check with the landowner’s permission, other locations are more suitable and tolerant of wild camping. Especially Scotland.
Wild Camping differs from conventional campsite camping. As it is stated in the name, it’s a little more ‘wild’. I would say it is one of, if not, the best ways to experience the great outdoors. You can make it as primitive or as comfortable as you wish. However, We will have to wait till next time before we can say ‘I went wild camping’.
I have to admit that a lot more planning should have gone into this, a bank holiday is always much busier than a quiet winter weekday. I would not suggest wild camping on a whim but if you can pull it off, it will be one of the more rewarding and enjoyable trips you ever do.
Tom’s top tips he took from this were: “Beware of bugs! Bring bug spray or some kind of deterrent. Also, bring boots. My New Balance didn’t cut it and some extra ankle support goes so far.
“We both have boots we just chose not to bring them, don’t make that mistake. Also, bring more water, the 4L we brought would be fine if we were just camping, but to camp AND hike, bring more.”
