Pennine Way 2 Snake to Crowden

I know that most people walking the Pennine Way do the whole 17 miles from Edale to Crowden in one go, but by doing it over two days we were able to enjoy the experience more and also the weather on day 2 was warm and sunny, a complete contrast to the previous day.

I managed a quick look around Castleton before breakfast and took one or two pictures of the area. The approach to Peak Cavern and the sun shining on the distant hills. The sun kept on shining all day long; we were very lucky!

This time Ray was leading the 'B' walk and again we had the benefit of a slabbed path for part of the day. The alternative would have been very boggy as you can see in this picture of the old route before it was improved.

Today's section of the walk took us to Bleaklow Head where we had fine views over to Holme Moss and the outskirts of Manchester.

If you have good eyesight and look very closely at the next picture you might be able to see the flock of geese in formation that flew over us as we had our lunch.
Our route continued along Clough Edge with splendid views of Torside Reservoir and Longendale. We had plenty of time and the sun continued to shine so that is was a very relaxed party that arrived at Crowden. So relaxed in fact that quite a few opted to sit in the sun for an hour rather than extend the walk on the Trans-Pennine Trail!

All in all it was a very pleasant weekend away in good company and with excellent walking. It was good to see some new members joining us and I'm looking forward to part three in November.

Pennine Way 1 Edale to Snake

Well here we all are again off on our next little challenge, 256 miles along the backbone of England from Edale in Derbyshire to Kirk Yetholm in Scotland. Not in a continuous strength sapping slog but in easily digested portions enabling us enjoy the experience and savour the wonderful countryside as we pass through.

According to my book there is 40,000 feet of climbing to be done! But don't let that put you off as it also says that most of the gradients are 'pretty tame' and there is only 31/2 miles on steep slopes of more than fifteen degrees.

We were based in the lovely Derbyshire village of Castleton and I chose to stay in the Youth Hostel. It was very old and a bit creaky and rambling but was good value for money. It had an interesting pair of 'lucky' gates which you may have noticed.

The weather was dull but warm as we set off along the stone slabs that marked the way. As the day went on we had mixed feelings about these recycled mill stones, some found them very boring to walk on, but others, myself included, were very pleased that we didn't have to pick our way through the peat bogs.

The views were magnificent as we climbed steadily up to Jacobs Ladder, the first steep climb of the walk.

As we got on to Kinder Scout the weather began to close in and the splendid views disappeared into the mist and drizzle. This made navigation much more difficult but we eventually made our way across Kinder Downfall and over the moorland slabbed path at Mill Hill arriving eventually at Snake Pass a little later than planned! Weren't we pleased when as we made our weary way down the road towards the Snake Pass Inn to meet up with the 'A' party we saw William heading our way in the coach to pick us up!

So the first day was over without mishap and we arrived back in Castleton a bit damp, but in good spirits and ready for a nice hot shower.