Wow, what an experience! I now know what people mean when they say ‘be prepared’… more on that later.

But first… a quick summary. Great weather - would have been very different were it wet. Tiring, but wonderful views. A highly recommended bit of the world to go to. Much better when off the beaten track, parts along the Penine Way were pretty busy.

Unlike any other walks we’ve done thus far, the one we did today had no time for warm-up - a short uphill road leads to a steep cobbled track, then into a clough - at the top of which, we’ve climbed 275m in just 2.4 miles (average 10% grade). A very short break of a few tens of metres, then the next climb at 16% grade for just under half a mile taking us another 100m towards the sky.

The good thing is that having completed the climb, the walk is then pretty level for the next 4.5 miles.

Once on the plateau, we went off the track to find bits of plane - or more accurately, two planes which mysteriously crashed 50 miles off course in 1954. It is thought they were maybe descending for a visual check below the cloud level and met some Cumulo Gritstone. We didn’t find that many large pieces, but the area over which they’re spread is incredible - as, I guess, you would expect.

Next was Charged Rock, where the Aetherians of Derbyshire will be picked up by aliens in 2015. Or something like that.

Then Kinder Downfall, or Kinder Trickle-Unworthy-Of-Mention-Were-It-Not-For-The-Big-Gorge-Cut-Out-By-It as I shall now call it. Apparantly in wet weather, it can be very exciting, and in wet, windy weather there are times when every single drop of water trying to flow over the edge is blown back up on to the moor.

Then came the very best bit of the walk ever, and maybe the best bit of any walk ever. We followed the River Kinder upstream for a mile or two, walking on its bed most of the time until we ended up in a narrow gully with 12 to 15 feet of peat towering on each side - very cool, and not a soul about (well, ok - we saw two people down at the wide end). It was strange to walk so far into the moor while having absolutely no view of it, so when we surfaced at the source of the river (which was totally dry by now), there was a completely desolate landscape with absolutely no features to work from. Using the GPS (could have used the compass but was lazy), we took a bearing and found our way to the summit cairn. Another peak bagged!

After the river, it was a trek across ‘grough’ country. Really hard work. Groughs are 2 to 15 feet deep channels in the peat. If you need to go along one, you’re fine. If you need to cross them, you have to go down and up. Down and up. Down and up. At the bottom, you can’t tell which way to come up to stay on the correct bearing. If we were doing the walk in mist without the GPS working it could have taken ages. Thankfully, we had a visual landmark by now, and a GPS waypoint to head for. Still, we were very glad when we arrived at Pym’s Chair.

Then it was pretty much straightforward to aim along the side of the hill and down gently for a few miles, and back to the car for a well deserved sit with bare feet in the breeze.

Now for the bit about preparation…

Just after Pym’s Chair, we came across a young couple, probably German, but that’s irrelevant. They asked us where Glossop was, so I pulled the map out of its case, unfolded it, worked it out and showed them. You see, they’d decided to tackle the walk from Edale to Glossop with… an A5 AA Motoring Map. I understand now when people tell me “You’ve thought about it, so you’re prepared”. As someone who’s more likely to over-prepare, I just couldn’t believe they were up there with lunch and a road map, and that’s it. Wow.

Right… map, profile and stats:

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Distance: 9.3miles
Total ascent: 547m
Time taken: 4 hours, 27 minutes