We had two choices, go the long way which was an easier walk, or go the shorter way which was quite steep. We face these choices quite often and it always seems like we choose the wrong one. We went with the short and steep router. It wasn't particularly difficult but I had just finished a crazy busy weekend at work, both of us were knackered. On the plus side, Tracy and I were joined by Simon and his partner Amanda. Simon, now a good friend, was our consultant at the hospital during the pregnancy with Emily, he is also a keen landscape photographer.
The weather was overcast (AGAIN), but at least it wasn't raining. I don't think any of us were particularly excited about shooting this location but we certainly were in good company which helped massively on the struggle up the hill! We took a couple of breaks on the way up, we just didn't have the same level of energy as usual, thankfully we only have a week left of the challenge, then it's rest and sleep! There was absolutely no colour in the landscape or in the sky... so that only left one thing... more black and white photography!
I think that the mindset for us both was "let's just get this done, we're not going to get anything epic tonight", in hindsight that sounds fairly defeatist and I suppose it is really, but we were both so tired and were really enjoying the time spent with Simon and Amanda. There was a little bit of rain but not enough to cause us any issues. The sunset was almost no existent, we soon packed up and started the decent. We got back to the car just as it had finished going properly dark. The best part of the evening was still to come; a well deserved drink at one of the local pubs in Castleton! Tonight was all about the time spent with friends <3