Paul Lydon: The Great Ridge, Mam Tor to Lose Hill and back

Sunday 16 February 2014

The Great Ridge, Mam Tor to Lose Hill and back

Leaving the car parked in the layby near Windy Knoll, I got changed into walking boots sheltering from the strong and cold wind at the rear of the car.
It was a nice day in some respects: sunny and dry, but with a very cold and strong westerly wind as I started making my way up to Mam Nick and then following the stone steps to the top of Mam Tor. I was wearing a Paramo Summit Hoodie and over that, a Paramo Fuera Ascent windproof jacket. But it was so cold to start with, I also put on my Paramo Vista jacket which I had brought in case of heavy rain showers.
It was very windy walking up the steps on the side of Mam Tor, luckily from directly behind me, and even windier on the summit. It was windy enough to make it difficult to stand still but luckily there was more shelter as I dropped down the far side of Mam Tor and far less windy.
The ridge was very busy today with lots of walkers and some mountain bikers (the path along a lot of the route is actually a bridleway).
I stopped for a moment near Hollins Cross where the path crosses from the Hope Valley in Castleton to Grindsbrook Booth in Edale to take off the Vista jacket and put it in my rucksack as I was more than warm enough now without it and then continued along the ridge to soon arrive at the short climb to Back Tor. Again this part of the ridge was exposed to the strong wind and it meant being careful placing feet on the rough stone steps on the way up.
Soon I reach the top of Lose Hill at the far end of the ridge and I dropped down to the northern side at the top to try and find a relatively-sheltered spot to sit and have a piece of flapjack and a coffee.

After this short break, I made my way back along the ridge retracing my previous route in reverse. Luckily the wind seemed to had moderated a bit.