Thursday December 26th- Boxing Day

Lost Lad, Back Tor and Derwent Edge

Today's walk will rank as one of the most enjoyable of 2024. We headed East, emerging from the fog over Glossop into the bright sunshine. The sight of the clouds below us was fantastic and conditions felt amazing as we parked up at Fairholmes. We decided upon the Lost Lad walk, which is one we had done before this year, but the day was so bright that it seemed the right one to do in the circumstances. The walk up to Lost Lad is interesting and remarkably free from fellow travellers.


The path between Howden Edge (far side) and Howden Dean

It was the usual mix of dry bits and muddy bits, but the overall feeling was one of wide views and pleasant walking. We stopped and had lunch at Back Tor, still with the sun shining brightly in our eyes.

Back Tor from Lost Lad

Although we hadn't stopped to take pictures of the cloud inversion above Glossop, we were treated to an extensive inversion to the south east.

Cloud inversion beyond The Wheel Stones

The way down is easy and at times a trifle tedious, but the variety of rock formations along the path do add some interest.

The Wheel Stones in the winter sunlight

We got back to the car just after the sun went down and it was beginning to get dark.


In all, a super day and one for the memory bank when the cold and the wet are bearing down.

A walk of 10 miles with 470m ascent.


Popular posts from this blog

Saturday February 23rd

Image
 Mortimer House, Dukes Road and Back Tor We fancied a longer walk today as we'd signed up to Macmillan's Peak District Mighty Hike and we felt that we needed to start training sooner rather than later. Although we tend not to go out for walks at the weekends if we can avoid it to avoid parking problems, the weather looked very good. To be confident of a parking spot, we set off (relatively) early for Mortimer House. It had been a while since we'd done this walk, even though it is something of a favourite of ours. The drive was pretty quick- about 50 minutes, probably another benefit of getting out early. Striding out on Cartledge Flat After parking up just by Mortimer House we set off along Dukes Road with a lovely clear blue sky with only a few clouds in the distant west. There had been substantial repair works to the moorlands around us with lots of heather brash spread on bare areas of peat and breakwaters of rocks in rivulet runs . Back Tor and Lost Lad on the skyline...
Read more

Monday March 4th

Image
 Bleaklow: Grinah and Barrow Stones After the disappointment of not being able to get out for a walk with Ann and Julian on Friday, we determined to make the best use of a dry day on Monday March 4th. We decided to do a walk that we last did in March 2022, described in the guidebook as "adventure that delivers untamed wildness for the Dark Peak connoisseur!". This description certainly appealed to David. After a pit stop for a coffee and a gander at the ducks at Fairholmes, we set off for the Fagney Plantation, where we parked up. The day was clear, still and cold(ish), with superb reflections in the reservoirs of the surrounding scenery. The first section is along the road up to the turning circle and thence to the old stone bridge across the Derwent at Slippery Stones. From here, the walk to Humber Knolls is pleasant (if muddy) and then beyond to Hoar Clough is fairly easy going. On the way to Humber Knolls We went up the east side of Hoar Clough towards Shepherds Meeting S...
Read more

Friday May 3rd

Image
Beinn a' Ghlò: Càrn Liath, Bràigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain and Càrn nan Gabhar A big day out for David on his own. The Beinn a' Ghlò range is a set of three Munros to the east side of Glen Tilt, with a purpose-built car park which already had quite a few cars parked there when David arrived at 09:00! Strangely enough, the trudge up the farmer's track to where the path branched off towards Càrn Liath seemed quite wearying but it was probably just a matter of warming up. Initial track towards Càrn Liath. Restored path clearly visible The path up Càrn Liath was clearly visible as a great deal of effort had gone into restoring it as it had become extremely eroded. I reached the summit after about two hours- lovely views, but the car was still visible! From the summit of Càrn Liath (Car still visible in second picture) Looking northeast, the rest of the day's outing was clearly visible (but did look pretty daunting). Bràigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain (left) and...
Read more