I had the opportunity to spend a day in Edale and planned a circuit along the edge of the Kinder plateau, past the downfall, to the reservoir, to Hayfield and back on the Pennine Bridle Way via Chapel Gate.
During my ascent of Jacob's ladder it became clear that it would be far colder on the hill than in the village due to a strong northeasterly wind. The past weeks have been dry which was reflected in the minimal flow in the waterfall. However the wind was strong enough to be blowing back uphill most of the water. I thought that it had been around 40 years since I was last on this part of Kinder. I completed the Pennine Way in the early 1980s and walked up past the reservoir with a fellow student one very snowy morning at some point pre-1986. We'd hoped to reach the downfall but stopped as the snow was too deep for reasonable and safe progress. This time I found the path to be dry, well-made and unpopular. The latter was perhaps due to it being a potentially wet Monday morning.
I'm unaccustomed to the steepness of the cloughs and wasn't walking as quickly as hoped. So I chose to turn back after the reservoir rather than go to Hayfield village. This might not have been a wise decision as I had a caffeine-deficiency headache all afternoon.
The route along the bridleway was longer and more undulating than I recalled. Perhaps this is because my last use was on a motorbike while the track still had legal motorised access?
Chapel Gate gave me a great view along the Edale valley with Hollins Cross and Win Hill highlighted.
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