This was not the easiest of hikes that I have done and even though I headed off to Castleton on a dry day the ground showed many signs that it had been a pretty wet week, with lot of boggy areas, some very deep boggy areas.
The Route
Lose Hill Pike
Even the first ascent got me a little bit, but this was climbing up onto the ridge path that would lead me around the whole of the Edale Skyline. I’ve got to say it was pretty stunning. Staring down the path towards Mam Tor, Kinder Scout in the distance and the vast valley in between.
It was raining a little bit though, I was already pretty muddy, my heart was pounding, and there was hardly any ones else around this early in the day. It was a pretty peaceful start to the hike.
Mam Tor
Pacing, pacing is something that I’m still struggling a little to get right. The path flattens out and is paved towards the Trig Point at the summit of Mam Tor. So I did try and move a bit quicker across this section.
I knew that this was still pretty early along my planned route so I didn’t stop at the trig point for long. Continuing back down towards the main path, which was starting to get busier at this point. I spotted so many white Air Max coming past me. Unless they are fell runners I wouldn’t recommend any trainers for hiking.
White trainers, in the peaks, at this time of the year, well I hope you don’t like them, because they will get wrecked. They also won’t offer the same grip, which is really important on the rocky surfaces, especially when they’re wet.
Brown Knoll
A very gradual incline over to the trig point on Brown Knoll, was a pretty quiet affair. A few cyclists past, and a couple of runners. It was a rather bleak day but at least the paving here was completely on point.
The trig point, the second of the day, was a perfect spot for a brew,. The photos here don’t really capture just how amazing the Edale Valley looked from this viewpoint.
Kinder Scout
Trig three, a concrete pillar sat atop a boulder platform. That must have taken some installing, with the ground being peaty bog. I did wander about the stability of all these stone pillars that stand, or more precisely lie, at the top of the Kinder Scout Nature Reserve. Crossing over the summit involved lots of rocks, climbing through and trying to find stable ground in between was pretty difficult.
Huge craters are cut out the landscape, dug away a footprint at a time. It was pretty fun getting across, even if my big toe is paying the price for it right now. That being said, I tried to follow paths, the boulders made it easy to get a little disorientated, I was glad to make it back to clearer path.
Grindslow Knoll
Well my toe was throbbing quite a bit at this point so after following the ridge round, I just wanted to cut back through Edale, and back towards Castleton.
I did make pretty good time coming down this section, back into the valley. The skip in my step did mean that my big toe took a little more battering.
Hollins Cross
Back up and over, a simply stretch back to the car. I was pretty muddy, I was starting to feel pretty tired, and I hadn’t noticed the swampy patch making on the AllTrails route until it lay in front of me.
I looked I could see detours, all about twice as long as this path would take me. With a group of girls, also wearing white trainers, watched on, and maybe record for TikTok. I just powered through, every step was followed with a gasp from behind me. First the mud didn’t come over my shoes, then the next step dropped suddenly, with my shin covered. Only two more steps I thought… I was down to my waist.
I was out, on the other side, now very muddy, and shouted back to suggest that the girls maybe took another route.
The last half a mile back to the car, where I was changed into fresh clothes ready to take the drive up Winnats Pass. A slow one due to the sheep.