Dale Abbey 4th June 2025

• 9.38km route
• Rucking with 20kg's
• Difficulty level - Beginner - The route had a well established path all along, although the route was not always obvious so make sure you have a way of navigating like a route map on your smart watch etc. Elevation was also pretty minimal so not too taxing either.

It had been raining all week, so we had everything crossed for it being dry, and clearly we had done something right as it turned out to be a lovely day. This ruck was for Shelly's birthday and we had plans to meet up with Shelly's mum and partner for a late breakfast at a great little place in Dale Abbey called the Cowshed, so we thought we'd start our route at the Cowshed and be back there for a breakfast reward.

The route started on an unassuming path down by the side of the Cowshed entrance which took you out into the Derbyshire countryside, and the further along the path you got the prettier it got. 1st we were met with some Alpaca's which was a nice little surprise. they were quite friendly, but not too sure about Rosie so we kept our distance so not to upset them.

We then stumbled across a lovely little pop up farm shop/cafe with an honesty box, which even had a few picnic benches for you to enjoy the treats you had purchased.

Once we got out into the fields, we were greeted with lovely open green fields with some spectacular views across the countryside, and it felt like were were miles away from civilisation even though it was only a few minutes drive.