Lake District - Geocaching - Welcome to Wasdale!

Here is a quick video I've put together while we were out Geocaching in the Lake District. The Geocache I go off to find in the movie is Welcome to Wasdale! http://bit.ly/hXRk2b

Lake District - Geocaching & Wasdale Head Inn

Peak District - Kinder Scout - Wild Camping

Wild Camping in the Peak District is something I haven't done for a while, I suppose as its so close to home its easy enough to cover lots of distance on a day walk and still be home in time for tea. I've walked up Kinder Scout more times than I can remember but decided to go for a wander and see where I ended up. I started by getting the train from Chesterfield via Sheffield to Edale, something i've never done before so enjoyed the novelty of it.

The first part of my journey took me up the never boring Grindsbrook Clough, a nice little scramble in summer or winter. Its here where I decided to have my first stop and have a quick go at some slow exposure water movement style photography, that is my technical term so is undoubtedly wrong.

The image below will give you an idea of what the upper part of Grindsbrook Clough looks like if you haven't been, it was rather misty but you get the general idea. a bit of a boulder field and allot stepper in person than it looks in the picture.

Next I pushed on along westward along the southern edge of the Kinder Plateau, It gets rather boggy at times and I had very low visibilty today. Luckily I always go prepared so had my map, compass & gps, even though I've been here many times before I never risk it as the path goes to nothing at times amidst the bog.

I stopped for lunch at the trig point at Kinder Low and took a few photos, they haven't made it onto the sight as i've probably taken the same view more times than regular viewers of my site could stand. I headed off north along the western edge towards Kinder Downfall, it was rather still there today with just a small amount of water trickling over the edge down towards Kinder Reservoir. I pushed on and it didn't take long before you reach the north western edge of Kinder. It was then that I swung east along the northern edge, an edge that is less wandered by others and have only been along a couple of times myself. The path is non existent at times and your met with knee deep bog but the plus side is you have an edge to follow.

I managed to get as far as I had planned to get today which was the eastern tip of the Kinder Plateau, It had gone dark by the time I had got there and had walked with the head torch for around half an hour before. The long days walk through the bog had taken it out of me whilst carrying my kit, I was certainly ready to pitch up and have a break for a while. I'd had no mobile signal all afternoon but luckily it re-emerged as I got to the edge so could update Lisa of my location.


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Kinder Scout - Magic Mountain

This is a video tribute i've put together to show you the best of Kinder Scout. I've used footage and pictures from all seasons that i've taken over the last decade. Kinder is a fantastic place to be no matter what the weather. I love it come Rain or Shine.

Kinder Scout is a Mountain in the Peak District and it is packed full of interesting spots. From Kinder Downfall, Sabre Jet Crash Sites and Charger Rock that is tied to George King founder of the Aetherius Society. Click here to see more of my Kinder Scout Adventures

Kinder Scout - Jacob's Ladder & Grindsbrook Clough

I went for another walk up Kinder Scout today, thankfully its beginning to become a regular occurrence again. I decided to differ from my regular route from Hayfield and revisit and old route Stevo and I used to take. The route begins in Edale and head west along the slopes of Kinder then down to Upper Booth, next point of call is Jacob's Ladder which is the only major accent and it leads you up on to the plateau.

I took the image above at the bottom of Jacob's Ladder, The River Noe gains pace here and flows down the valley back towards Upper Booth.

From the top of Jacob's Ladder you swing back east all the way to Grindsbrook, on the way there you cross Crowden Brook and lots of other interesting spots. The image below was taken a few minutes scramble down Grindsbrook Clough.

It was nice to do this walk again and see all the changes that have been made on this side of Kinder. The last time I came across this side was in winter when I Scrambled up Grindsbrook Clough in snowy conditions. There have been allot more "improvements" made to the path above Jacob's Ladder and I spotted a Helicopter lifting materials for the planned flood prevention scheme.

Kinder Scout - Hayfield Route Highlights

I've just got back from another fantastic walk on Kinder Scout. This time I decided to go and take some pictures of what I feel are some of Kinder's highlights that are easily accessible following a route from Hayfield, this will be part one of a multi part series as i'm sure next time I go up there i will get some more shots to show you. Firstly we'll start with the view from Kinder Reservoir up towards the plateau, I must have this exact shot in all different weather conditions and seasons.

Sabre Jet Wreckage... I've covered this topic before on the site but decided to get some better pictures today to post up, The last few times i've visited the wreckage sites i've sadly been shrouded in mist and fog. luckily today was nice enough weather to get a good few shots. The History surrounding the wreckage is as follows.. In 1954 two Canadian Sabre Jets took of from their base at linton-on-Ouse near York, They failed to reply to radio messages and simply disappeared. A group of ramblers found the wreckage later that evening, It can only be assumed that they collided mid air. The reason why they were about 50 miles off course remains a mystery.

The wreckage is spread across quite a wide area, there is also some more scattered down in Ashop Valley but i'm yet to photograph that part. If you would like to visit this area then head for N53°24'14", W1°53'48". The exact coordinates of the wreckage below are N53°24'15.63", W1°53'44.24". Why not give it a click and have a look on Google Maps, if you pan around you will be able to make out metalic items which more than likely will be wreckage.

Aetherius Society... Another rather intriguing highlight of Kinder is its link to the Aetherius Society. What is that I hear some of you ask.. Well for those that don't know here is a brief outline. The Aetherius Society is an organization founded by George King in London in 1955 as the result of what King claimed were contacts with advanced extraterrestrial intelligences. For more of an incite why not have a look at the Aetherius Society on Wikipedia. To cut a long story short, the Society have identified a number of Mountains around the world which they call "Magic Mountains". Kinder Scout is one of them.

You may notice the white cross and the intials GK in white paint on the image below. They stand for George King and this is the point where Aetherians will be evacuated by Extra Terrestrials from Venus when the world ends in the year 2015. I'm yet to find an exact date for this but i'll keep looking. If you manage to find out some more info and would like to view this spot or perhaps phone home with ET .. The co-ords are roughly N53°23'58.99", W1°53'29.94.

Kinder Downfall is well known highlight, perhaps the most famous and congested part along the plateau. it is a fantastic place to have lunch or just sit and admire the views. Kinder Downfall is the main drain for the plateau, dependant on recent weather and time of year the waterfall can range from a raging torrent to a small trickle. Perhaps one of the best times to be here is when the wind is blowing from the south west, if the wind is strong enough then the waterfall turns into reverse gear and looks to go back upwards.

River Kinder & Kinder Gates... If you head up the river Kinder from the downfall you will follow its shallow sandy bed up to Kinder Gates. This is a nice spot to experience the plateau at its most remote. providing the weather is good from here you could continue to follow the river and then head on a bearing towards the summit cairn or Edale Rocks, it wouldn't be advisable to attempt this if the weather is bad and you aren't competent with a map and compass.

In the image below you can get an idea of how deep the layer of peat is on the top of Kinder, in places it is over 15 feet thick.

KinderLow Bowl Barrow... if you descend via KinderLow End then you will most certainly pass the Barrow. The monument is within a fence and is an early Bronze Age (2000-1500BC) burial mound. Over 500 barrows have been identified across the Peak District. Most are still highly visible in the landscape. Evidence shows that it was normal for between 5 to 20 burials to be placed individually, in various positions, within a barrow. It is thought that monuments were probably built by family communities, to reflect the importance of ancestry and people's relationship with the land.

Kinder Scout - March 2010

I've just got back from a fantastic wintery walk on the Kinder Plateau, I did the usual route from Bowden Bridge at Hayfield.The weather today was absolutely fantastic, beautiful sunshine, fresh wintery air and still plenty of snow left up top. I set off from Bowden Bridge and headed up to William Clough via the Reservoir.

The snow line was 50 metres or so below Ashop Head and it made the final accent up onto the Plateau very interesting. A guy descending resulted to sliding down as the snow was nice and slippery.

Up on the Plateau the views as always were amazing, still plenty of snow and I only passed a dozen or so other walkers in the time i spent up there. I stopped for lunch at Kinder Downfall which was iced and snowed over still and enjoyed the silence.

Here is a short 360 degree near the cairn at Kinder Low, I had the place to myself and it was totally silent, apart from the odd aircraft heading into Manchester Airport.

The decent down via Kinder Low End marked the end of the snow and the end of another great walk. I saw a badger wandering across the field infront of me and i managed to get a few pictures before it disappeared off under the fence and down the hill.