This is another one of those fantastic Peak District routes that I have been wanting to do for some time now, I had seen it on the map and while out walking I could see there was a clear route all the way around. I decided to name it affectionately after the “Ring of Steel” in the Mamores in Scotland.. It is the Peak District’s very own “Ring of Mild Steel”.
I set off this morning from home and headed for Hope, I parked the car and got myself suited, booted and ViewRanger running ready to record another walk on Social Hiking. I set off along the footpath towards LoseHill Farm and then headed up to the top of Lose Hill. The weather today was absolutely perfect, a nice breeze and beautiful sunshine. You can get a fantastic panoramic shot in any direction from Lose Hill as it stands alone in a perfect position at the end of the ridge.
After a short picture break on Lose Hill I made my way along the ridge to Back Tor and then via Hollins Cross to Mam Tor. A coach load of kids were on the summit of Mam Tor today so I didn’t hang around, I kept on going down to the road and then began the climb up to Lord’s Seat. A couple of guys were flying rather large scale model Airplanes/Gliders at the summit so I paused to watch them very briefly as I was amazed at the control they had as the caught the wind rising up Rushup Edge. After walking over Lord’s Seat I swung North West and headed straight for Brown Knoll. The Cotton Grass was blooming today and dancing in the breeze.
Brown Knoll was its typical boggy self today as we have had rain in the last few days which makes path finding on here a pain at times, luckily it’s a pain I’m willing to endure
The next stop Edale Cross where join the Pennine Way for a short time on your way to Kinder Low Summit, I decided to have a lunch break at Pym Chair which is a fantastic looking rock formation. After my short break I kept on going over the boulder field at Crowden Tower. This area is the perfect place for Navigation exercises in bad weather as it can be pretty disorientating at times if you get caught out, We have used the area north of here for map and compass practice many times.
Next you head over Crowden Brook and then along the top to the top of Grindsbrook Clough. I love Grindsbrook Clough in all weather as it is a nice little scramble and becomes very interesting in winter when it turns to ice. The views down in to Edale Valley become really spectacular now and some of the Rock Formations here are well worth a look and a snap with the camera.
After you leave Grindsbrook you make your way over to Crookstone Knoll and it was here I chose to stop once again for a bask in the glorious sunshine. I stayed for a good half an hour just relaxing and enjoying the sound of silence, which was only interrupted every now and then by the Grouse.
The next part of the walk takes you off the eastern flanks of the Kinder Plateau and down to Hope Cross, I took the opertunity to snap some more pictures of the nice little stone sign that keeps you on course and off the farmers track. You then swing South Eastward and are hemmed in by the fences that have been erected to keep us dirty walkers and cyclists from disturbing anything we shouldn’t. the walk from here up the hill with the forest to your left is another high point for me, the wind was whistling in the pine trees and reminded me of my nights of Bushcrafting.
Win Hill was the last summit of the day and it was the first time I had actually come to the very top too, I have skirted around numerous times but was impressed with the viewpoint you get from here. Ladybower was looking rather calm and majestic this evening and the light was perfect as the sun was fading off to the east. I recorded a short video, took some panoramic shots and then made my way off the rocky summit.
The walk down the grassy bank becomes rather steep at times on the route that I took and would be rather slippery in wet weather I can imagine. The road was upon me before I knew it and as I passed underneath the train line I was on the final stretch back to the car. What a fantastic day it had been, what a great route this is and hopefully the Social Hiking Map will look pretty good too. Those were the thoughts in my head as I drove home after what has been another day to remember in the beautiful Peak District.
Download the KML file so you can view the route in Google Earth ]]>
I've just got back from another great walk in the Peak District, once again I recorded it using ViewRanger and Social Hiking. I'm getting rather addicted to using the Social Hiking website as you may have noticed if you were following our progress along the West Highland Way, while i'm on the subject here is a quick link for you to view our WHW Map for 2011. Right, back to today's walk. I met up with Andy at Castleton at 10:00, we got kitted up and then headed off along the road past Odin Mine and up towards Hollins Cross.
The weather was rather overcast today but I don't mind that as I'd seen the forecast earlier in the week which promised rain. After we arrived at Hollins Cross we headed back down the other side of the hill in to Edale, past the Nag's Head Inn and then up Grindsbrook Clough on to the top of Kinder Scout, we proceeded across the top to the cairn at Kinder Low.
From Kinder Low we headed down to Edale Cross and then over to Brown Knoll, It was rather boggy on this section as we have had rain recently. Great views across to Manchester and also down in to Edale Valley.
After Brown Knoll we headed across to Lord's Seat, down to Mam Tor and then back down the broken road to join the normal route back in to Castelton. We had parked the cars just up from the Devil's Arse Caves so we dropped our bags and headed in to Castleton for a quick drink.
I was using ViewRanger and I had it set to post a Beacon to Social Hiking every 2 minutes. The map at the top of this post has some great detail because of this. if you visit the routes page on the SH website you will be able to view all the details about our elevation and distance covered. here is the link to Castleton and Kinder Scout Loop on Social Hiking. Overall the route was 24km and we had approx 756m of height gain over the 5 hours we were out for.
