Stanage Edge and a Temperature Inversion

An extra early start this week because we were going up to Stanage Edge. 4 of us this week so it was straight up the A6 through Chatsworth Park, Baslow and then onto Hathersage up to the Dennis Knoll car park at the foot of Stanage Edge. When we arrived there a suspicious looking chap was coming from the moors with something in his hands, he was hurrying and quickly got into his white van and drove off without even a nod in our direction. Anyway we set off up the track and we wanted to explore the northern end of the edge, we've been a couple of times in the past but never in this direction. It was a steady climb up through the bracken which was still wet and dense, sometimes you couldn't see where you feet were going and the track had lots of loose rocks so we had to be careful. On the way up we passed several abandoned mill wheels which have been lying there for over a century i would guess and when we looked back towards Hathersage there was a fantastic temperature inversion flooding the valley below. The higher we got the better it looked, i seemed to be taking a pic of it every 10 steps i was just mesmerised by it. The last stretch to the top we needed a bit of scrambling and then we came out into the sunshine and heather. The views were just stunning. We rambled along for an hour and then stopped for our breakfast. This was the uncomfortable part of our morning we were being eaten alive by swarms of midges, we had to keep moving around while eating our sarnies.  From there we found a track down to a lower footpath and then headed back to the car again with fantastic views although the inversion had now evaporated and we could see into Ladybower Reservoir.

Route on Stanage Edge

View from the car park

Looking back towards Hathersage

This way straight its only 400 feet straight up

Ike

Lost in the bracken

Geoff and Rob

An abandoned mill wheel

Made me smile

Fabulous views over the valley

Another mill wheel

There are dozens of abandoned unfinished mill wheels lying among the bracken

Looking towards Ladybower

He' wondering what all the noise is about

Rob, first one to the top

Geoff, Rob & Ike with the mist covering Ladybower

Loads of  heather

Ike putting a small stone on top of this cairn

Not sure what this is but we found a couple more with 23 and 24 marked on them

Rob & Ike

Me and you can see Win Hill on the left.

This rock looks a bit like a lizard

The mist was just starting to clear from above Ladybower

Breakfast stop although it wasn't very long due to the midges

Ike

This on e is for Geoff he wanted to know about this feature we could see in the distance.

You can clearly see Win Hill on the left and the water in Ladybower on the right

Part of Ladybower reservoir

Win Hill you can see the track up to the top and even the white trig point

Rob

Kissing stones?

Ike

Geoff and Ike picking there way across some boggy ground

Me holding up Stanage Edge

Lovely views of the heather clad moors

More mill wheels and the mist has gone from the valley

Ike & Rob on the track on the way down

Geoff

Geoff

You can just make out Hathersage Church spire dead centre of the pic. This contains the grave of Little John

On the road going downhill couldn't resist a shot of the cement works

This was a cracking walk on a cracking morning. Its the first decent weather we've had on a Sunday for weeks. A bit autumn like with the inversion but it soon warmed up when the sun came through.
See you next week.