Edale 2020, Day 3

Tuesday 15 September 2020

13.6 miles, 27,348 steps

Once again, the weather was amazing, and in fact continued to be so all week. The plan for today was to go back up to the plateau again, and then to go looking for the elusive Kinder Summit, and then on to Kinder Downfall, returning to Edale via Jacob's Ladder and the current Pennine Way. And so we did, but it did make for a longish day - still less than 14 miles, but wandering over the plateau is quite hard work, picking your way around the boggy bits (if lucky :-) and through the bracken and heather.

Still we managed it OK, (but - did we really find the Kinder Summit?) and the photos below tell the tale.

First I wanted to show you this .. it is a still from a video Wayne "Hitchcock" Boothman took yesterday, as we clambered down towards Grindsbrook Clough. The barn owl I mentioned can be seen flying away, a bit to my left.

Back to today .. this is Grindsbrook Knoll. Wayne has decided he wants to stand on the rock in the centre of the picture, for a photo. I am positioned to take the photo, but actually I am rehearsing what best to say to Nicola, after he has plummeted down into the valley ..

The rock, and the gap to the hillside, are bigger than they look 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wayne is even more sensible than he looks .. so this pose will have to do!

After Grinsbrook Knoll we head off over the Plateau in search of Kinder Summit. There are few paths and plenty of bogs. here I am trying to extricate my walking pole, and myself, from one ..

 

Eventually we find what my GPS claims is the summit. It is very underwhelming, and Wayne is not impressed...

.. but I now believe that was not Kinder Summit at all, but Crowden Head. A mere 632m high, when the summit is 636. That 4m makes all the difference and I may have to go back and try again, one day. 

After summiting, or not, we flounder along and eventually find the river Kinder, and the path that runs alongside it to reach the Kinder Downfall. The Downfall is a waterfall that can be quite impressive at times, as when it is windy the water actually blows right back up, and makes a cloud. On the last day of my third Pennine Way last year, 2019, which I did from North to South, the weather was foul and when I saw the waterfall it was doing exactly that. Unfortunately it wasn't really possible to take a photo at the time! I was having trouble just staying upright in the wind, and the rain was driving into my face. All I could think of was reaching the Nag's Head!

Today was very, very different. No wind, plenty of sun and a very quiet waterfall ..

Much easier to find a nice rock to pose on, at Kinder Downfall ..

Wayne is making a video. He has decided to do a bit of "Parcouring." The view thereabouts is fine .. That is Kinder Reservoir, in the background. The waterfall itself was just a trickle, in the gap on the right. You can see the resulting video, and several other videos Wayne has done, here .. do have a look, he is good

From the Downfall we followed the modern Pennine Way back to Jacob's Ladder and then on to Edale. It is a busy path...

Clearly we are not the first to see this rock's resemblance to a monster's head..

A temptation that no clinical dental technician could resist ..

The path winds down round the shoulder ahead, towards Jacob's Ladder and the dale beyond

The top of Jacob's Ladder

After the wonders of the Plateau, the last mile or two back to Edale are rather dull by comparison

.. but this time we went to The Rambler, Edale's other pub, which was just as welcoming (and sold much the same beer and food, being under the same ownership as the Nag's Head)