T'other side of Kinder.

Liner socks.....check.

Hiking socks.....check.

Insoles for boots.....check.

Blistop.....check.

Zinc Oxide tape.....check.

Something missing.......feet.....check.

Simple this walking lark really.

So, where this time, well unless you didn't read the title the answer is Kinder Scout, why, why not I say? Streams, rivers, rocks, views, peat bogs and the ever changing weather, what's not to like!

To make it a bit different, we decided to approach Kinder from a different angle, that angle being from the North. Matt decided on a cunning plan, if we didn't plan a route, we couldn't get lost.....simple, but brilliant. We're not too bad at this directional stuff by now, but we could say hand on heart that we didn't take a wrong path all day. That's fine, as long as we get back to the car sometime in the next few hours. Matt had chosen a starting point, so everything was good. Getting to the starting point took a little longer than expected due to Nottinghamshire's finest constables diverting our first attempt at getting to the motorway...'move along sonny, nothing to see here'.

We arrived at our destination at the Snake Inn on the Snake Pass (A57), kitted up, then dodged the speeding traffic, across the road and through the woods to the River Ashop. The intention was to climb up to the summit through Fairbrook, after that it could be left or right....ahh, the freedom!

Fairbrook and our destination in the distance.

We started the climb up Fairbrook, the weather was excellent, after the amount of rain that had fallen over the past few days/weeks and the dark skies, we were amazed that we were again looking at blue skies. It appears that the weather Gods are pleased with us, or, we are in for the mother of all downpours sometime soon...I fear it is the latter.

Fairbrook was a decent climb, with the last part near the summit more of a scramble over boulders and rocks than a steady plod.

Nearly there.

Reaching the top, we took a few minutes to get our breath and it was Ginsters time for Matt...a Cornish pastie on this occasion. After a few mouthfuls, he announced that it would have been better if it had been hot. You can carry your own microwave matey! Decision time, left or right, well depending on your point of view, we went right (with Fairbrook to our backs, left next time maybe). It was getting a bit breezy now, so the woolly hats came out...then the jackets. Although the views were stunning and clear, we could feel that the cloud level was about to descend upon us.

Ashop Moor where we would be walking later on in the day.

 Walking past Fairbrook Naze and along to The Edge (no U2 affiliation I think) it was still sunny and the views were fantastic. It was only when we looked back that we could see how far the cloud level had dropped, it was coming down rapidly, then the views disappeared as visibility was 20 metres at best.

A novelty shaped rock I named 'the Turtle's head'.

We'd decided to head for Kinder Downfall and as we would approach from the North, we could take in the views from a different perspective, that was the plan anyway. We carried on following the path at the edge of Kinder and hoped to find the Pennine Way which would lead us to our destination. Navigating in poor visibility is not the easiest task, especially when you can't make out any natural features, but we managed it fairly easily. The route along the Pennine Way was easy going, the fact that we couldn't see the views obscured by the low cloud, was frustrating.

The 'view' at Kinder Downfall.

Reaching Kinder Downfall we decided to have something to eat, Ginsters were not on the menu at this stage (think the special offer has finished). So we sat and looked at the view. A couple of walkers appeared through the cloud, a bit like when they appear on 'Stars in their eyes'. They had come from across the top of Kinder, a route that we have travelled a couple of times and we know that it's not the cleanest of places.....ask Adrian. But this guy was clean, show room clean, no peat on his shoes and not a splash of muck. His wife/girlfriend (we didn't get to find the level of the relationship, although judging by her face it was going to be a short relationship) looked like she was soaked, fed up and didn't want to be there. I asked if he had come across the top, to which he replied he had and that it was too bad! He must know a good route or he was wearing hover boots because even around the edges of Kinder it was like swamp land with all the rain we'd had. With a knowing smile they disappeared into the cloud.

  

After another 10 minutes we decided to get moving again, mainly because it was getting cold. We set off the same way we had come, along the Pennine Way, then as quickly as the cloud came down, it disappeared, revealing Kinder Reservoir and the surrounding landscape, but only briefly.

A brief lift in the cloud.

We followed the Pennine Way back to the point we had joined it earlier, the cloud had lifted a bit, so we could now make out some landmark features. Taking the path off from Kinder and down to Ashop Head (start of the River Ashop, or very near it), we walked close to the river. Not too sure if it was a path next to the river or whether it was part of the river because the ground was so sodden. The river almost runs parallel to the route we had taken up on the top of Kinder, so we were able to see where we had been as the cloud had almost gone and the sun was back out.

It wasn't too long before we were traversing sections of the river and its feeding tributaries further downstream, all good clean (or not so clean) fun. There was the second diversion of the day, rerouted around a section of forestry commission land due to a bit of tree felling. Tree felling!!!.... it looked more like a war zone, like a scene from Apocalypse Now. There was not a lot left. Walking a bit further we met one of the guys working at the site, who explained that most of the trees were ready to fall down, so they'd been tasked to cut them down. Apparently, the area will recover quickly, if not it will be re planted. We left to the sound of a chainsaw firing up.

Back up to the road, a bit of car dodging and we were finished. 18km walked and the best thing (for me) was no blisters, brilliant.

Chris.