Tuesday December 31st- New Year's Eve

Edale, Kinder Scout and Madwoman's Stones

Definitely the very last walk of 2024, and a memorable one on account of the weather. MWIS forecast rain in the mid-afternoon and the general forecast warned of high winds and rain; the weatherstation in the kitchen showed that Edale should be dry in line with MWIS and the Newfold Farm café was open, so this was clearly the place to go. We had plenty of options and made up our minds where to go as we progressed. We stopped at Heardman's Plantation for the customary pictures.

At Heardman's Plantation, Mam Tor on the horizon

We walked up beside the ridge of Ringing Roger- it was already too windy to brave the crest. On reaching the top of Golden Clough, we decided to go up to the trig point at point 590 as the way to Grindslow Knoll would be directly into the wind. We certainly didn't hang around for photos and passed Madwoman's Stones for the shelter of Crookstone Knoll for our lunch. Although the weather wasn't bright, it was clear and we could see the rock formations of Derwent Edge in the distance.

Back Tor (Derwent Edge) from Crookstone Knoll

The return to Edale via Crookstone Out Moor and Rowland Cote Moor was impressively (unpleasantly?) breezy and it was a great relief to drop down into Ollerbrook Clough and out of the wind for the final descent to the Vale of Edale and back to the car. A satisfying end to the year.

A walk of 6.6 miles with 600m ascent (but it felt like quite a bit more in the wind!)


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