I parked just out of Castleton on the old Treak Cliff road and headed cross country past the old Odin mine and up to Hollins Cross. From there down to the Valley and up onto Kinder via Edale YHA. It's a good pull up but pretty cold so I actually put an extra layer on rather than taking one off, just showing how cold it really was. There is a good catching feature of the wall which can be followed to the right straight up onto the plateau. At that end of Kinder there is a Trig Point so setting a compass bearing I headed out. It was pretty misty and being Kinder impossible to walk in a straight line but some good compass work bought me right onto it. From there I continued North to hit the main track on that side which I followed towards Fairbook Naze. The path was reasonably good but there was still quite a bit of snow in the gulleys, one of which I sank up to my waist! Just before the Naze I took another bearing back across to Kinder Downfall hitting the River just a couple of minutes off the Downfall which I was pleased about.
The weather had improved dramatically by now so I decided this would be a good choice for lunch.
From here it was an easy walk back to Jacobs Ladder which tested the knees on the way down. Walking back towards Ollerbrook Farm I noticed a sign for Rushup Edge so decided to follow it with the argument that I had to cross the Great Ridge at some point so it might as well be Rushup Edge. I was soon to regret the decision.
Almost immediately the path was blocked by a stream requiring some climbing to get past, then it just vanished so I decided I would head up in the hope of locating it later. I did think I had spied it but reaching a gate it was marked as private so onwards and very steeply upwards. It was tough going especially after almost 15 miles of walking but I persevered of course - turning back is not my style.
Finally the gradient eased but I was heading in the wrong direction to get around the river valley. Eventually the path turned and started heading towards Mam Tor and the descent to Castleton. At this point I was looking for the shortest route down so followed the road down past Treak Cliff cavern right back to the car. My total mileage for the day was 20 which is good by any standard but across Kinder Scout and the Great Ridge twice via Rushup was exceptional. My knees hurt!
The weather forecast said rain all morning and they were exactly right! I parked in Hope and after donning boots and full waterproofs headed off for Win Hill. After walking under the railway line the route heads steeply up to Twitchill farm and then out onto the fields just as steeply. The weather was pretty awful, windy and raining with very little visibility. I continued up until I hit the Roman Road, then turned right to the summit knoll which is another steep but quite short climb. Zero visibility and a biting wind meant I was soon away back down following it North West before turning down and back via a different route to the farm and back down to Hope.
I felt pretty good surprisingly and it was still early so decided I would climb Lose Hill as well. That proved quite a climb and also very muddy at the bottom - I'd so far managed to keep reasonably clean. The view from the summit was non-existent so I soon left and headed down where it cleared up nicely and the wind dropped so I decided it would be a nice stop for lunch. I had a good view across to Win Hill which was still in cloud but the Roman Road section quite clear.
Eventually I left and walked the last 20 minutes into Hope and the car. Just 10 miles today but two good hills climbed in pretty bad conditions so satisfied.
