I had planned another walk on Kinder Scout and was first up at 08:00 and after breakfast and making up some lunch I headed for the car park at Barber Booth. As I drove there it was cloudy with some light rain. The forecast was for a damp start but clearing later in the morning and also a bit windy. As I parked the rain was a bit heavier and there were two people sitting in a car nearby presumably waiting for the rain to stop.
I started getting my boots on and as the rain wasn't getting any lighter, decided to put my waterproof trousers on and also my rucksack cover rather than wait like the others.
Just as well as the rain didn't stop until I was nearly back at the car after 14:00!
Anyway, I headed across the fields towards Grindsbrook Booth (Edale village) and then up Grindslow Knoll. Near the top I caught up with a guy who was walking in front and had stopped for a breather and we joked about what idiots we were doing this in such horrible weather!
I had decided to try and get to Kinder Downfall on the opposite side of the plateau so when I reached the start og the stream which heads down Grindsbrook, I followed that for a while heading North-North-west until it started to veer off towards the West. I then continued NNW for a while crossing heather and luckily not many groughs (deep channels in the peat worn by streams) as these are great to follow along their usually sandy and rocky bottoms, providing they are going in a direction you wan to go. If they are crossing your intended route, however, they are a pain as they have very soft sided and crossing them is not easy.
There were also stretches of flat peat bog with a lot of standing water but surprisingly, I didn't sink in them as I thought I might. The worst bit was only boot-deep or so. At on point I found a Christmas Tree growing in the big all by itself except for another very small example nearby!
I headed generally in a NNW then changed to NW hoping to intersect the main river which flows down to the edge of the plateau and then down the Downfall. Well my navigation was spot on as I spotted the wide, sandy bottom of the river some 100 metres away and as I joined it I was right next to the obvious landmark of two large gritstone buttresses known as Kinder Gates.
I followed the river downstream for a short distance and was soon at the Downfall where I saw some more walkers.
Sitting down on a rock near the top of the Downfall, I took my Paramo Velez Light Smock off and put my Karrimor Alpiniste fleece jacket on then replace the Velez and made start on lunch as the rain had started to get lighter. Unfortunately, it then changed back to fairly heavy and I got my two person “bothy bag” out to provide a bit of shelter while I finished lunch. As it was more of a pain than a benefit due to my position between boulders, I soon gave up and stuffed it back in its stuff sack and back in my rucksack.
After lunch, I continued on my way following the edge of the plateau heading towards Kinder Low. I noticed that the Kinder Reservoir in the distance looked pretty full unlike some other reservoirs I had seen lately.
I passed various landmarks en route such as Red Brook and Kinder Low and then stopped at Edale Rocks where I took advantage of the roof provided by a section of the gritstone formation to sit in some shelter and have a second helping of lunch and finish off my flask of tea.
Once that was finished I made by way back down via Jacob's Ladder where I managed to slip on a slippery rock and fall on my arse and bank my elbow on the nearby wall!
At the old packhorse bridge at the foot of the steps of Jacob's Ladder I stopped for a few minutes to remove my fleece jacket, waterproof over-trousers and put away my walking poles before continuing along the track and small road back to where I had started at Barber Booth after a pleasant walk of about 9 miles.
Unusual place for a Christmas Tree ...
Kinder Gates
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