A 2-day backpack of the south-western tip of the Kinder area and around the western fringes of Bleaklow, visiting our last remaining unclimbed 500m Dewey top in the Dark Peak, culminating at Higher Shelf Stones and returning to Glossop via the Shelf Moor path.

The first backpack of this year, having done one single-day walk to assess our weakening capabilities, we designed this route as a rather easy trial overnighter with almost the lowest weight of kit possible for a backpack. The ascent on the first day in the sheltered heat of William Clough was slow and arduous as expected but improved considerably on the second day ascending to Higher Shelf Stones, a very encouraging result.

This trip included a Saturday for day 2, not a choice we wanted on a sunny forecast in the very popular Peak District but the only available slot between appointments. We chose what we thought would be a relatively little used path for the return leg but we were spectacularly wrong.

Anyway it was great to be out with the tent in superb weather and a welcome morale booster to show we could still do it, at least on a very modest scale.

Full report & Photos

A single day training walk of the eastern half of the Etherow-Goyt Valley Way (EGW), a route that runs from the Longdendale Trail at Hadfield station on the western fringe of the Dark Peak to Vernon Park in Stockport, terminated today at Marple station.

After a long winter layoff, enforced in recent times by medical issues, coupled with an apparent big drop in fitness and stamina late last year, we tackled this very modest route mainly to assess our current state.

Allowing for the lesser weight of a daypack, the ascents and distance coverage went considerably better than expected, an encouraging result. The time however did not:- arriving in Compstall around 17:00, much later than originally expected, we diverted off the EGW to follow the Midshires Way through Brabyns Park to nearby Marple station.

The delays were partly because of inaccurate mapping of my GPX version of the route in a couple of places, but mainly due to improvising a diversion around a major footpath closure near Hollingworth. The interactive OS map linked above shows the normal EGW route in magenta and our diversion route added in blue. The closure notice is signed on the A57 at Tara Brook Farm and is scheduled to remain in force until winter 2028/2029.

Report & Photos