Edale Skyline

Getting away from it all.

I'm just making it home from work in time to see the sunset over my local route.  I even drive a way that gives me two different views of it.  On a bright day there is a surprising amount of light left in the sky, all the same, by the time I am changed and out it is dark once past the street lamps.

It was raining and windy when I set out for last weeks evening run, halfway round the rain turned to snow.  The ground was boggy and sodden where it wasn't muddy and slippery as hell, or actually flooded.  The rain and snow on my specs made the tree roots even trickier than usual.  The puddles on the Apedale Road were deep enough to submerge my shoes for a wash off when I left the woods behind and turned for home.  I haven't enjoyed a run so much in ages, I don't know why this one was special, but it's always good to know I have escaped the city.

 Leaving the city behind me for a while.

Edale Skyline and a window in the weather.

My knee hasn't been causing too many problems so I thought it was time to pick my mileage up a bit.  Views from the Hope valley run a fortnight ago made me think about running the Edale Skyline, I chose to do the race route, a category A of about 21 miles (plus the run from and to the car park), as the distance and ascent suited my purpose.  As a break in the weather was forecast for Sunday, that seemed like a good time to do it.

I met a bunch of people in Edale car park who were kitted like runners.  They were doing the half route (end at Mam Tor) in the same direction as I.

The sun showed its face as I started up the zig zags.   There was a haze in the sky but it was still possible to see most of the route from Ringing Roger, I allowed myself some optimism  concerning navigation.

Looking south east towards Win Hill before the real descent started.

Much of the skyline visible in this shot west from lower on Crookestone Hill, starting from Lose Hill on the left.

The run east towards The Roman Road on Win Hill was delightful except for some sludge at the bottom of Crookestone Hill.  I looked back up to the moor and thought I could see the group I met in the car park, some way off.

The ascent of Win Hill via the Roman Road was easier than the direct slog up had been a fortnight ago, but still had its moments.  There were some cracking views of the reservoirs to the left.  I could not see the group behind me, I thought I might meet them as I retraced my steps on the first part of the descent from the summit and did indeed meet them, just before I took the stile to head away.  I really enjoyed the path towards Twitchill  Farm, just steep enough to be fast without being painful.

 

A charming start to the slog up Lose Hill

I was hoping that the different path up Lose Hill might be less of a trial than the one I used last time.  It wasn't, Lose Hill is just a slog.

 

Looking back along Great Ridge.

  The Great Ridge was as busy as ever.  By now the wind had risen and was more or less directly in my face making the ridge surprisingly hard work.  There was a brief respite on the descent to the road, though the wind soon picked up again as I passed the half way point and started up Lord's Seat.

Lord's Seat.

Apart from the wind the ascent to Lord's Seat summit was pleasant enough.  Though the path was very muddy in places,  considering the recent rain, it was not as bad as it could have been.

Lord's Seat Summit.

I did not have a custom map for the Mam Tor to Brown Knoll section so I had stuffed the OS Explorer OL 1 in my sack.  I was hoping I might manage without having to wrestle the large map in the wind.  As I headed along Rushup Edge from Lord's Seat I could swear that I saw the Brown Knoll trig point and this emboldened me.  I followed the race route and soon found myself without a visible path.  Though I could no longer see the top of the knoll, I reasoned that the bump I could see was Horsehill Tor and that I needed to aim to the left of it.  This strategy worked well enough though I kept drifting slightly rightwards, in consequence I was fortunate to encounter the beautiful beehive cairn about 120 meters to the right of the race route.

I made a determined effort to move further west at this point, while this did bring me onto a more direct route the ground was boggier than nearer the edge.  After reaching the summit the ground soon deteriorated from boggy to very boggy to scarily boggy.  I went in up to my knee at one point and swear I was still sinking until I fell forward onto a solid tuft of grass. 

 Trig point on Brown Knoll, must be on a raft.

I headed down following the broad ridge and then drystone walls until I reached the path crossing near Edale Cross/top of Jacob's Ladder.  Here I saw the first other person since leaving Rushup Edge.  The change in terrain from broad brown and featureless to rocky and angular and, finally some shelter from the wind, seemed to echo the change from the solitude of Brown Knoll.

Though I am not, and never have been a 'ticker', it seemed a shame not to make the detour to Kinder Low, so I kept north leaving the sky line path.  I met a dog and a couple of ladies at the trig point.  I had to wait patiently as they posed on the landmark before I could take my snap.  this was no hardship as shelter from the wind meant that I had warmed up considerably.

 Kinder Low, surrealy like a beach.

 I could see a direct way back to the skyline path so set off across the peat, curiously dry and pleasant to run on.  I was surprised to see that snow and some frozen rivulets of water hung on in sheltered spots, despite the recent heavy rains.

 Snow at Edale Head.

As I made my way along the edge the sun sank below a temporary horizon only to reappear again several times.  The boulder fields were magnificent in the low light,  I must admit to wandering off my intended path, drawn by their irresistible charm.

Boulders in the low light.

As I neared the end of my skyline route the sun started to go down for real.  I took a last look at the skyline and a last photograph before reaching Ringing Rodger, for the second time, and starting my own descent.

 Last of the light.

This is a surprisingly hard route, not to be underestimated.  There is plenty of ascent, but it is the terrain, from plain energy sapping to quite technical that makes the route so demanding.  I chose my route and direction to suit my training needs.  If I just wanted a grand day out I think I would do the route clockwise from Mam Tor car park (thus missing out the unnecessary distance and ascent/descent from/to Edale).  Take a friend, Brown Knoll is a lonely place even for one used to solitude.