A very slow crawl in low gear down the steep road from Mam Nick gave the first signs of the amount of recent rain, which had frozen in patches on the road. From the parking area we followed the lane NW to Upper Booth farm and passing the phone box, we crossed the river and took the footpath R that climbs to the plateau up Crowden Clough, which is just as attractive and interesting as the much more popular route up Grindsbrook. The path fords Crowden Brook three times, which was quite easy on a few dry rocks despite the volume of water coming down and the abundant ice generally. The black rocks of Crowden Tower stood out against the thin snow as the path approached the top, here there is a choice: the main path climbs off L out of the clough, but the more interesting route is directly up the ravine, where rocky ledges give intimate views of the caramel-coloured ice formations below but they can be a bit tricky in these conditions!. Turning L to Crowden Tower we crunched over the frozen peaty wastes and through the Woolpacks to Noe Stool, where we left the main path and headed directly to the trig point at Kinder Low, which is apparently thought by some first-time visitors to be the summit. The actual summit is 3m higher and can just be seen well to the NE marked by a small slanting post.

On past the head of Red Clough to the Downfall - the Mecca of Kinder. The rocky face of the fall had extensive ice but there is no close vantage point on the rim to capture it really well. The River Kinder which flows over it (or sometimes back over it on windy days) is a grandiose name for such a trickle of water, but today it was a thick sheet of dripping ice with a fair amount of peaty water gurgling along underneath, causing some fun and games as we crossed it further back with the aid of a large boulder. Turning NW and approaching a fence, we turned R up to the rarely visited second trig point which doesn't even have a name - we call it Kinder West. This is another of those forlorn but appealing markers in a peaty wilderness that one might call 'superb desolation'. Taking an easy line NNE to the plateau rim, there are good views of Bleaklow across Ashop Clough. We then backtracked to Kinder Low and descended on the Pennine Way route of Jacob's Ladder to Upper Booth.