Sunday 7 September 2014

Bleaklow in the Mist

It was my turn to drive this week and there were only 3 of us. So we set off up the A6 with Snake Pass as the destination. We drove through mist as we approached the dams and up to the Snake Inn. The mist was that thick we went past the footpath marker for the Pennine Way, so we had to turn around and come back to it. We should have taken that as a hint but brother Rob says oh it'll burn off when the sun comes through!!
Well it did eventually when we were on our way back to the car.
The track was quite good at first then it deteriorated to a mud bath and we had to walk up the stream for a bit. We passed a couple of small stone markers with an arrow on pointing the way. The mist was so bad at times we couldn't see more than 20 yards, a lot of the time we walked in gullies so couldn't see much anyway.
We eventually got to our destination Bleaklow Head where we had our breakfast.



Ike & Rob

Rob, disappearing in the mist


Me & Ike

Me & Rob

Me






Me, Rob, Ike





Ike thinks he can walk on water.





Breakfast stop

Bleaklow is a high, largely peat covered, gritstone moorland, just north of Kinder Scout, across the Snake Pass (A57), in the Derbyshire High Peak near the town of Glossop. Much of it is nearly 2,000 feet (610 m) above sea level and it is the source of the River Derwent.
Bleaklow Head, the high point at the western side of the moor, is a Hewitt and is crossed by the Pennine Way. It is one of three summits on this plateau above 2,000 feet, the others being Bleaklow Stones, some 1.9 miles (3 km) to the east along an indefinite ridge, and Higher Shelf Stones, 0.9 miles (1.5 km) south of Bleaklow Head. Bleaklow includes the most easterly point in the British Isles over 2,000 feet, near Bleaklow Stones.

Much of the main plateau of Bleaklow is a boggy peat moorland, seamed by 'groughs' (pronounced 'gruffs', water-eroded channels in the peat), and lacking strong changes in elevation – in poor conditions its traverse is probably the most navigationally challenging in the Peak District.

Just as we finished our breakfast the sun came out.
Ike on Bleaklow Head

Ike & Rob

Its like a Luna landscape

Me up the pole

Sheep on Hern Stones











Groups of DOE Award  kids planning there route.


Heading back home down Snake Pass.
Despite the misty start this was an interesting walk, disappointing we didn't get to see any of the Wain Stones but that'll be another time.
See you next week.

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