Lose Hill, Castleton skyline, Winnat's pass, The Buttresses, Snow, snow, QUICK QUICK - SNOW!

.....or; 'slow, slow, sat nav, slow'!

Our first day off in THREE WEEKS! We had worked hard, and we deserved it. It dawned (for a change) JUST how the weather men said - cold, sharp and clear - PERFECT for walking. There was a sprinkling of snow on the high ground, so I decided we'd do the Castleton skyline walk.

Sue had been given a new sat' nav for Christmas, so we turned it on. ( http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nWFj3fPLx8I ). We knew the way, but just wanted to see which way it would go. A big surprise was; 'at the end of the road - turn LEFT'????? We ALWAYS turned right, but we let her have her head, and followed the instructions.
I wish someone had told her that it had been snowing;

I soldiered on, but it WAS very dicey! It's probably a great way to Castleton in good weather, but I think I'd give it a miss on the way home, and go via major roads.

The views across the fields gave us a taste of what was to come. The skies were clear, pristine and bright
We soon arrived in Castleton, found somewhere to park, and set off.
To say it was cold was an understatement. Sue didn't start to feel her feet for about an hour, and it hurt my teeth to breathe, but that was all just small asides - what mattered were the SUPERB conditions.
A quick look left, and there was Mam Tor - the 'shivering mountain'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mam_Tor

We saw this young Shire horse in the frost and snow.

The sun, as it rose, came through the trees with a magical light. The fields had that frosty mist on them, the one where you KNOW it's damn cold just by looking at it.

We walked along the road to Lose hill hall, and set off on the climb to Lose hill.
This track doesn't look steep in the picture, but believe me - it WAS!

A glance back to the Hope valley revealed the only carbuncle in the area - the Hope cement works.

Ah well, just keep looking forward then, there were PLENTY of great views today.

I had been given a snowman hat for Christmas, so I thought I'd give it an outing.

It seemed like ages since I'd heard the 'creak' of fresh snow underfoot. Today I was reminded just how much I love that sound. Every footstep brought pleasure!

Looking right, we could see the tip of the Derwent edges.

But it was time to press on for the top. Sue is just about there in this picture.........

....and her reward was this spectacular view along the ridge to Mam tor (left), with Rushup edge beyond, and Brown Knoll to the far right.

Not many people about today, but I managed to get two walkers in this pic with us!

The Edale valley, and the southern edge of Kinder Scout. We thought there'd be even more snow up there, but as you can see, not much more than where we were.

We set off, with huge smiles on our faces, towards lunch at Mam Tor. I had packed my favourite canned soup - Heinz tomato - JUST the thing, with a hunk of fresh bread, to warm the cockles of your heart on a day like today.

Deep and crisp and even.

The shivering face of Mam tor, from Back tor.

Looking back to Back tor.

The old, collapsed road was a sliver of silver with the coating of snow.

This picture of the sky tells it all, what a GREAT day to be out.

We eventually reached the top of Mam tor. The sun was now beginning to get lower, and the final hundred feet or so we walked in shadow. NOW you could feel the biting cold eating into even the warmest of clothing.
(We still had another layer though, just in case it got any worse)

Someone, the Peak Park, I imagine, had added six icons, or pictures, depicting events on Mam tor.

Again, the Sparrowpit road, like the old road, was picked out in the snow, snaking across the moors.

Our next destination - the gorge of Winnats pass.
When the old road collapsed the last time, the road up this pass was improved to take the increase in traffic, and the old road was abandoned.

Come on Sue - get the snow shoes on!

Looking back to the face of Mam tor in the lengthening evening shadows.

A solitary vapour trail over Winnats pass.

The road, as it snakes down the pass.
These limestone cliffs make for a really impressive walk at any time of year, but when there's snow, it's probably at its best.

You just have to be careful, and watch where you put your feet.

SUE!! I said CAREFUL!

Oh, now she's just plain showing off!

Towards the end of the walk, and this is cave dale.

Soon, we were surrounded by the smoking chimneys of Castleton, and back at the car.
The light was fading, and the sky was turning pink in the evening glow of the sunset.

It had been a super day, and when we woke the next morning, it was drab and wet, so we felt even better that we had 'stolen' another good day to walk.

We felt it was well deserved!

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Snake Pass, Blackden Brook, Kinder Scout northern edge, Crookstone Knoll, Ollerbrook clough

Although running low on stock after a very busy period in the cafe we run in Bakewell, we decided that we MUST walk on Tuesday. Sue asked if we could go up onto Kinder Scout. For those of you that don't know, this is NOT a benevolent young lad in a uniform, but Derbyshire's highest point. Not a mountain in the accepted 'pointy' form, but a high plateau consisting mainly of peat - yes, the stuff you put on your garden! It can be a dangerous place in bad conditions (it has it's own mountain rescue service to prove the point), but today it was as benign and beautiful as I've ever seen it. We set off after parking the car on the A57 Snake pass, a winding road that runs between Manchester and Sheffield, to the sounds of skylarks and curlews. Oh what a delight this day was already. The streams down from the moor were looking quite healthy too after recent rains, so we had plenty of bubbling, dancing water sounds to accompany us on the climb up. So, we booted up, and got ourselves ready for the ascent up to 1,000 feet.

Don't forget, if you left click on any of the pictures, you'll get a larger version of it.

(Just click on 'back' to return to the blog afterwards)

This was where we were going - the Northern edge of Kinder Scout.
On day like today, where else in the world could be nicer?
Just time for a quick self-timer........
Before the serious stuff began.....

As I said, the streams were lively, and we saw a few nice waterfalls (VERY inviting on a warm day like today).

This is the lower approach to Blackden brook, so sheltered that even the May blossom was new here. In most places it had died off by now, but the height, coolness & lack of sunshine here stunts it.

Even Sue couldn't resist the water.

But the hard climb took its toll, and we had a rest stop.
WHAT a backdrop though.

As Sue said, when you sit and take the time to look (we quoted that 'what is this life, but full of care, we have no time to stand and stare' poem), you see all sorts. We spotted this very well camouflaged moth on a rock. Can you see it, centre picture?

(Left click to enlarge the picture)

The final push to the top - was all that hard work worth it......?

You tell ME.........

By the look on Sue's face, I have my answer.

Mind you, it DOES take it out of you a bit, so a lunch stop was now in order.
Sue.....SUE!.......are you awake???

If you can't beat 'em.........

Even in this inhospitable place, there's beauty. Bog cotton grows in huge patches, and seems to love the arid and acidic peaty conditions.

The wind up here can tear lumps out of you, I've BEEN up here when it's difficult to stand up. Not today though, today was just perfect, with a very light, cooling breeze on us.
Look at any of the rocks though, and you can see the weathering effect the wind and blown grit has on them.

The peat also suffers from the same thing, plus feet tend to wear it away quite badly.

The view from the edge to the Alport valley

At last we reach the turning point, Crookstone knoll. The path here does a 90 degree right, and heads West, towards Edale. The views all around from this point are stunning. This is Ladybower reservoir, Bamford and Stanage edges, plus Win hill.

As the path turns, you get the full view of the Mam Tor to Lose hill ridge. This is a zoomed shot of the footpath up Mam Tor. This local beauty spot is a victim of its own accessibility, and there's a LOT of erosion on it.

Now we had to get down off the plateau.

We decided on Ollerbrook clough, a steep but 'fun' way down!

It soon evened out though, and the decent became more relaxed. We hadn't seen another person for HOURS at this point, we had the whole world to ourselves.

No sooner had we reached the bottom of the clough, than the scenery changed.
We now had the verdant meadows and holiday cottages. A pretty variation to what we'd had on the top of Kinder.

Rhododendron lined the route now.........

.....and, as usual, the bees were taking advantage of the blossom on this warm day.

Lose hill, from the Edale valley path

...and Back Tor, it's face looking remarkably like a smaller version of the Southern face of Mam Tor. The limestone and gritstone of the Peak District meet at this point, so the whole ridge is relatively unstable, and there have been many landslips in the past. You can see the evidence of this one below the face, if you look carefully.

People often talk about the 'pearly gates', and I wonder if this would be MY version, if I went to heaven?

We then turned west again, and along the Roman road towards the car. This is looking back from the road.
One trial remained though.

We decided to try and pathfind the final couple of kilometres along the banks of the river, as the only alternative was to walk along the Snake road. I didn't fancy this, so I had poor Susie wading the river Ashop a couple of times before we finally got back to the car at 6:30PM. She forgave me later though, when I cooked her a nice Thai prawn curry!

A couple of videos from the walk;

The fantastic view as you top out Blackden brook on Kinder's Northern edge.

A cooling face wash in a Blackden waterfall.

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