Excellent walk if difficult around Kinder Scout from Edale.
Planning
- I basically planned the route so I knew where I was going, distance and rough timings. This was fine for the first 1/3 of the route but not planning properly was a big mistake behind Kinder Scout hand-railing the streams. Paths were very poor, boggy and eroded. This making it very hard to navigation as I found out by overshooting the crossing of the stream and ended up way Beyond. this easily corrected but soon found me off path over the peat bogs. All could have been avoided with detailed panning of headings and accurate timings.
Navigation
- Navigation was most the way easy however over the peatlands it got very hard and I ended up rather lost. Tested me a lot finding my way again. This included getting a rough bearing of where I needed to go and walking on it. Eventually, the low cloud cleared momentarily where I could identify some rocks that showed on the map which was just to the left of where I needed to be. Took bearing and followed and soon found me back on the path. Navigating in poor visibility certainly tested me but would love to practice this more.
Safety
- 60% of the route was perfectly safe no issues.
- High winds in places were a possible risk, especially where exposed. having some walking poles would have helped with stability.
- Peat bogs were another, very undulating and ground giving way. Possible risk of injury. This avoided by treading carefully and careful route selection.
- The final descent was the most risk. Especially at the top was basically a scramble in a stream. rocks where quiet slippy and unstable. The highest risk of injury and great care and time was taken with this downclimb.
Weather and ground conditions
- Weather was very poor until mid-afternoon. very low cloud, rain and strong winds made walking and navigating very difficult at times.
- Ground conditions were good apart from the peatlands round the back of kinder scout where it was boggy and unstable.
Overall very good and challenging walk with lessons learned. Definitely will fully plan next walk for one. Navigation Skills practised, especially in poor visibility.
Area :
Dark Peak
Is situated between Sheffield and Manchester. The underlying rock is Millstone grit which is often exposed at the edge of the higher peat bogs for which the area is famous.
