The Pennine Way – Day 1 – Kinder to Crowden

We awoke this morning to a frosty covering on our tents, the wind had been strong and the night had been long. I awoke a fair few times during the night but still felt pretty refreshed and ready for another day. We made breakfast, numerous brews and Stuart (@LoneWalkerUK) arrived at around 8am. He had caught the train at an ungodly hour and walked up from Edale to join us for the day.

It was around 9am once we had got our tents packed away and moved off. The weather was pretty grim, strong icy wind and we were in the cloud. We headed north along the edge path until we reached Kinder Downfall, I recorded a quick video, took a few pictures and we continued on to Sandy Heys. Out of the mist appeared my regular Peak District walking companion Andy (@andymiff), he had parked at the Snake Road and walked south to meet us. All 4 of us then proceeded along towards the north western edge of Kinder. We dropped down the snow covered slopes and then carried on towards Mill Hill.

We took the obligatory pictures at Mill Hill but didn’t stay long, we moved on swiftly towards the Snake Road. Once we reached the road itself we decide it was time for another quick brew. Chris got his excellent Back Country Boiler out and made a warm drink.

After a short while beside the Snake Road we carried on towards Bleaklow. Devil’s Dike still had lots of snow covering so we had to weave from side to side to avoid the worst of it. We parted company with Andy at Hern Clough, he went back towards his car and the warmth of home.

On our way up to Bleaklow Head we weaved from side to side, up and over lots of snow drifts. Some of the drifts were huge, caution was needed so as not to slip or fall through. We eventually made it to Bleaklow Head where once again we took some more pictures and video.

We then headed off the top and worked our way down to Torside Clough. Sadly it was very hazy today so the views were being obstructed. We wander along Clough Edge and then descended down to the reservoir. Stuart said his goodbyes at this point and headed down to Hadfield to catch his train home. Then there were two….

Chris and I had a short break on Torside Reservoir dam wall where got mobile signal for the first time in a while. We called our partners and then uploaded some media. I uploaded last nights YouTube video update and then stuck my iPhone back in my bag attached to my PowerMonkeys Extreme.

We decided the best plan of attack would be to get the major climb up and out of Crowden over with. We still felt pretty good so we carried ourselves up the final slog of the day to the top at Laddow Rocks. Once again the views down Crowden Great Brook were obstructed by haze.

At this moment in time I am relaxing in my Wild Country Zepyhros 1 by the side of a gently flowing Crowden Great Brook. We have found a great little wild camping spot at grid reference SE 0608 9552. We are out of the wind and I’m looking forward to a nice relaxing evening. We are fed, watered and I have even edited today’s YouTube update. Sadly there is no signal whatsoever here, we knew there wouldn’t be… This blog post and the YouTube update will arrive at some point tomorrow as and when signal permits… Thanks for following.

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