Kinder Scout, Peak District

Karen was in Rugby for until tomorrow morning and despite the forecast of rain, I decided to go walking on Kinder Scout. I originally intended to start from Edale car park (really Grindsbrook Booth as "Edale" is the name of the valley). I arrived there just after 9:30 in the morning and found it was now £5 to park and I didn't have the right change as I expected it to be £3.50. So I moved further up the valley near Barber Booth and parked in the large lay-by - which is free!
After parking and putting my boots on, I headed up the road and left it just after a small bridge through a small gate. This led to a footpath next to the stream and through some fields to arrive in Crowden Valley. Continuing along Crowden Brook I kept near the water and could see plenty of signs of recent high water levels where gravel and sand had been swept along by the brook and parts of the path had been damaged.
Reaching the head of Crowden Brook, I climbed the short but enjoyable scramble on gritstone and popped out in the Kinder plateau. Now, despite the forecast for rain, it was misty and windy with
occasional light rain and the boggy bits were very boggy so I followed the edge of the plateau where the going was firmer until I passed through the collection of gritstone boulders known as "The Woolpacks" which have been worn by the weather into a huge variety of sizes and shapes. Not long after this I left the plateau edge and headed fro the large gritstone outcrop known as "Edale Rocks" and stopped to have lunch.
After lunch, I dropped back down from Edale Rocks and headed down the path to intersect with "Jacob's Ladder" which is the usual route from Edale via the Pennine Way long-distance footpath. Following down Jacob's Ladder I was passed by several people pushing and carrying mountain bikes, which didn't look like much fun, and dropped below the mist and wind and after crossing the old packhorse bridge, followed the path until I reach the narrow road back to where I parked the car.