UK Mountains Expedition Report

The Peak District was the chosen destination for this bivvy weekend. The plan was to drive up to Castleton on Friday night, bivvy near there, then off across Kinder Scout on the Saturday.

Our chosen bivvy site was somewhat unusual, being in a cave! We parked the car near Speedwell Cavern, a show-cave at the head of the pass. We then walked up Winnatts Pass some 200-300m to the cave. Being in limestone country, the cave was quite damp, water dripped from the ceiling constantly, and there was water dribbling across the floor. We found suitable accommodation for the four of us and set about organising our bedding for the evening.

Sometime later, we noticed a police car driving up the pass. Realising they were probably looking for the owner of our car, we identified ourselves and went to see what they wanted. Discovering that we were planning to spend the night in the cave and that we were obviously not up to no good, smiled politely and went on their way - We imagined a tale or two in the station that evening about 4 guys sleeping in a cave.

The night went remarkably well, we were well sheltered from the wind, and only the occasional dripping noise woke us.

Saturday morning arrived clear and bright, but there was a chill in the air - the thermometer registering -2 deg C. After dressing and eating breakfast, two of us went to move the car. Castleton, it seems, has parking sewn up tight! The only overnight parking is in the town and it costs £6 per car! We drove around Castleton for a while, before finding a suitable space.

Back to the cave and we were off up Winnatts Pass and across to Mam Tor (517m) our first climb of the day. In the old days, it was possible to walk straight up the side, but erosion and a million pairs of boots have caused it to be closed. It is now necessary to walk up to the road and take the path, now laid with flagstones to prevent further erosion.

Summiting, we took in an impressive view, from Castleton to the South, looking over to Kinder Scout, Crowden Tower and Jacobs Ladder area to the North and North West. We stayed just long enough for some photos, the wind chill causing the temperature to drop to at least -10 degrees, before we were off to Hollins Cross and then North West to head towards Upper Booth and the Pennine Way, which we would follow for much of the day.

Upper Booth was reached in due course and the track up to Jacobs Ladder an easy rise on firm ground. The bridge that signals the start of the climb still looks the same as it did 30 years ago when I first came to this area. Heading upwards we were greeted with views across Kinder Scout and to the South as far as the eye could see. It is a good pull, rising some 300m before the Kinder Plateau is reached. Our route took us North towards Kinder downfall, an impressive waterfall, which sometimes freezes enough to form ice-climbing routes.

Today though, whilst it was freezing, there was nowhere near enough water to form routes. We chose a sheltered spot for lunch and watched in amazement as a group of walkers negotiated the middle area of the rocks, eventually exiting up some very doubtful looking grassy slopes - a fall here would almost certainly be fatal and the opportunity to effect a rescue difficult.

After a short lunch due to the cold, we headed off to Mill Hill (544m) followed by Featherbed Moss (544m). The route to this point is entirely on flagstones, so makes the walking easy. I recalled how, years earlier I walked the Pennine Way along here, through peat bogs and mud that had us wondering how we would finish the 270 miles if this was what it was going to be like! Fortunately, it improves.

From Featherbed Moss, we took a route Eastwards across the top, now making our way through 'moon grass' and peat grough, to drop to the River Ashop that would bring us to our bivvy site for the night. Due to one of our number suffering with a tendon injury, we elected to walk through the forest along the gently sloping path, rather than dropping straight down to the stream. We arrived at the bivvy location at about 4:30pm and set about erecting bashers, brewing tea and sorting sleeping systems in the fading light.

We decided to light a fire to keep us warm - the wind blowing up the valley was keeping the air temperature well below zero, and despite having every piece of clothing on, we were only just warm enough. There was plenty of fallen wood around for the fire and it wasn't long before we were huddled round it.

Being a well planned bivvy site, there was a pub within about 5 minutes walk, so after a while we decided to pop up for a drink. This was a welcome relief from the constant wind and cold.

When we finally returned to the bivvy site, the wind had dropped a little so we wasted no time getting into our sleeping bags and settling down for the night, making sure of course, that our bivvy bags were facing the correct way.

Sunday dawned bright, but cold. Whilst we were preparing breakfast and packing away, a few flurries of snow were seen, but soon vanished. About 9:00am, having ensured the site was free of debris, we set off for Kinder Scout again, this time planning to walk across the summit, via Crowden Tower. Our route followed the River Ashop before turning south west and heading up the Fair Brook valley. It is a good climb here, steepening as it gets closer to the plateau, rising 300m in total.

Once on the plateau, the compass and map were out - Kinder Scout is featureless even on a clear day such as this one. In addition, it is impossible to walk in a straight line due to the Peat groughs, so we dipped, twisted and turned and eventually came out the other side to join the Pennine Way path to follow it down Grindsbrook Clough to Edale. This is the opposite of the first climb of the morning - now steep to start, then easing off to a gentle walk. We decided to take lunch here in the relative shelter. It was still cold, the thermometer reading a chilly -3 deg C, but the wind chill adding at least another 10 degrees to that.

After a short lunch stop, we headed down to the famous final bridge and the Nags Head which signal the start (or end) of the Pennine Way. Through Edale and across the fields saw us head for the final climb of the day to Hollins Cross, pausing briefly for photos, we dropped down and completed the last few kilometres into Castleton and the car.