Friday 16 October 2015

Two Walks From Edale Part One: The Recce of a Great Ridge Walk, Taking in Jacobs Ladder, Brown Knoll, Rushup Edge, Mam Tor and Back Tor. . .

I don't know the Peak District that well, but when our group did a walk on Kinder Scout last year, I was flabbergasted at how beautiful and unusual the scenery was.  So when the Liverpud signed on to lead a walk at nearby Edale, I was happy to come along on the recce. 

Edale is a lovely little village set in the most stunning valley although it was so misty when we drove down into it, that we couldn't see much beyond the road ahead of us. It's also where the Pennine Way begins; I've done various stretches of this long distance path as you often encounter it on other walks, but after reading this, I've never really been tempted to tackle the whole thing.  It's nice to finally do the very first bit though.


At least for the first two miles or so, which is all that we followed it for, you can't go astray.  The path is pretty straightforward.


Even in the mist.  And the sheep will cheer you on.


Or at least look on in bemusement.


Fairly soon you come to Jacobs Ladder, which is essentially a long, stone staircase.



It leads up to the hills surrounding the valley, but as you can see, the visibility wasn't great.


The autumn colours of the moorland were still gorgeous though.

We veered off the Pennine Way shortly after Jacobs Ladder and headed for Brown Knoll, which is one long moor, fortunately not too boggy when we got there.  The mist was slowly starting to clear and we got a glimpse of the ridge we were heading for which made me squeal because I love ridge walking!




We turned left onto Rushup Edge where I saw this sheep actually walking on the stone wall.  When I got closer, the sheep and her friends obliged for a lovely group shot.


We walked along the ridge path towards Mam Tor.  It's a wonderful path with views of the valleys on both sides.


This is looking back at the ridge and Brown Knoll.


After climbing Mam Tor we continued to Back Tor.  We climbed up to the top of the hill's edge and sat down to look down on the valley, thrilled with the day, knowing that this was the exactly the type of walk that our walking group would enjoy.


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