Day 45 - Snake Pass to Crowden

Not wishing to get behind with the blog or schedule, The Walker was up, showering, coffee making and blogging all before 7 am. The weather forecast was for heavy rain from lunchtime, so he wanted to, at least, reach Crowden, which is only a short walk, and then review the situation.

The drive along the Snake Pass and down into Glossop is lovely and, fortunately, I was behind a cyclist who was racing downhill at over 35 mph; there was no way of overtaking him on the narrow road so I could cruise down slowly and enjoy the view.

By the time I had found the meeting place the rain had started and looked set in for the day. So , once at the campsite, we did a bit of sorting of all the new maps, post, books etc. brought to us yesterday and we are all set for a cosy night in! Bring on the wine and the DVDs!

From Bernie:

Today's walk 6.8 miles : Cumulative 572.8 miles

Being fast asleep, the Expedition Manager is unaware that the Walker was showered by 6.00 am & the coffee & biscuits ready by 6.30. Sounds ridiculously early but it was a beautiful morning; not a cloud in the sky, birds singing & the sun streaming in through the van windows. It was, however, only 3.5 degrees outside & I was pleased that I'd put some heat on in the van overnight otherwise I wouldn't have been so keen to leap out of bed!

With a huge belt of rain sweeping across the country there was no way I was going to avoid a drenching. The Pennine Way & a huge expanse of open moorland lay ahead so it seemed sensible to make a quick dash over into the next valley, hopefully before it became too wet, & then wait for the rain to pass through.

Bleaklow Head.... appropriately named!

The plan was mostly successful. I was past half-way at Bleaklow Head when the light rain started & almost down to Torside reservoir when it began to take itself seriously! With a huge grey blanket of cloud folding around me I couldn't help but be amused by the OS map - I was descending from Shining Clough Moss!

Picking up the stream at the top of Torside Clough

Highlight of the Day: the walk along Clough Edge - in good weather the views would be absolutely stunning; a chain of 5 reservoirs runs along the valley bottom with a 6th just beyond the delightfully named village of Tintwistle. Even in the rain this was impressive stuff!

Looking down Torside Clough - very wet!

Beer of the Day: no pub visit today so I finished my last bottle from the Woodland Brewery in Nantwich. 'Oak Beauty'; described as having a taste of acorn! Not sure about the attraction of that: its use as an advertising ploy or the actual beer.... rather ordinary, I thought.

Torside Reservoir from the end of Clough Ridge

5.00 pm now & I'm still waiting for 'the rain to pass through'! The van has been rocking in the wind, the rain drumming on the roof & I've put the heating on again. Good job we have a Lamb Byriani to look forward to! Oh well, back on schedule & tomorrow is supposed to be a day off - let's hope the sky will be empty by then.

Nicola: good to hear from you again! It might sound daft but Eve's red GCSE Exam Timetable is still at the top of my box with all my daily walking notes in & I've been checking it to see who's been doing what! Fingers & everything else crossed for Billy, 11U & the rest of Year 11 - looking forward to seeing them all again. With regard to your 'new' year group, I have very fond memories of my old Year 9s..... !!