A walk about Kinder Scout

I've mentioned recently that I nipped back up Kinder Scout this summer. Here is the route.

I started in Edale and headed north up Grinds Brook. The ascent would be gentle to start with but with a sharp inclined scramble towards the plateaux itself.

The path gently curves to the west and climbs steadily. It occasionally enters woodland. Grinds Brook babbles noisily next to the path for much of the way. The path eventually follows the same course as the brook itself making the journey a little difficult.

The last bit up Grinsbrook Clough is probably a grade 1 scramble. Fairly easy going but not with a heavy pack.

On reaching the plateaux I then walked across Edale Moor. This sedum moss covered peat bog covers a huge area and crossing it can be a bit daunting. About three metres of peat sits on the slab of gritstone. Where the streams run across it, the water has carved through the peat down to the bedrock. Following these streams made it considerable easier to get to the waterfall Kinder Downfall.

Particles of peat carried in the water over the grey gritstone often made ripple patterns that looked remarkably like tiger stripes.

Just before tumbling off the plateaux the many waters of Kinder scout forms into a recogniseable river known as the Kinder River. These two rocks are called the Kinder Gates. The Kinder drains into the River Sett, then the River Goyt before emptying finally into the River Mersey.

Towards Kinder Downfall the moorland is in a bad state. Moorlands need to be covered with vegetation or they simply wash away. In doing so they release the Carbon Dioxide that they have stored over the last few thousand years into the atmosphere and contribute to global warming. Causing this damage is nitrogen. Nitrogen in the form of air pollution from the major cities that surround the peak district and nitrogen in the form of ammonia from animal urine. These people are trying to fix the problem. Good on them.

The downfall was only a trickle on the day I was there.

If the peat eroded away completely the plateaux would look like this. This is the area around the high point Kinder Low. Years and Years of heavy foot traffic have completely eroded away the peat, leaving just the gritstone bedrock exposed underneath. This would take millennia to recover from this.

The walk down was pleasant in the evening sunset. Where the plateaux ends is marked with an outcrop of gritstone irrespective of the route you choose.

In my case, I went down the popular tourist route, "Jacob's Ladder".

Edale valley is one of my favourite places in the whole world. I hope that in the future careful management is able to protect it. Not only is it a valuable CO2 sink, a unique wildlife habitat but it is also a place of unexpected beauty. A wander around the plateaux will convince you of its importance, why not take a look yourself.