David and Jacinta's Walks- 2023

Hayfield, William Clough and Mill Hill Despite a somewhat dodgy forecast, we decided to try a slight variant on our usual walks from Hayfield to Kinder Downfall and Kinder Low- inspired by one of our new Dark Peak walking guides. We parked up at the Bowden Bridge "Trespass" car park and made our way up to the Kinder Reservoir dam, where a few sheep were grazing on its slopes. Sheep grazing on Kinder Reservoir dam As might be seen from the photo above, the cloud was down over Kinder. For a change, we stayed on the path that runs beside the reservoir- this has much more pastoral views than our usual path, White Brow, which runs further up. We joined that path at the foot of William Clough and started our way up towards Kinder. As we climbed, the drizzle turned into more persistent rain and it became much more windy. When we reached the col between Kinder and Mill Hill, we decided that walking along the western edge of the Kinder Plateau would be pretty unpleasant in the wind an...

Hayfield, Lantern Pike, Mill Hill and William Clough We decided on a relatively close walk today, and the temptation of the Sett Valley Café was just too much to resist, so we went to Hayfield and made the café our first stop. As the weather was lovely for September and we were feeling energetic, after Lantern Pike we wet down to cross the Glossop-Hayfield road just above the old Grouse Inn. Off towards Burnt Hill from The Grouse crossing At Burnt Hill, we had a snack and admired the views- we could see as far as Mount Famine and South Head, and beyond. Mount Famine and South Head from Burnt Hill Our next stop was Mill Hill, where we stopped for lunch with a view of the Kinder Plateau and Kinder Low. The Kinder Plateau and Kinder Low from Mill Hill Normally, we come up via William Clough, but this time it was our way down. Like many descents, it looked as if it was much harder coming up! The descent via William Clough From the foot of William Clough, we reversed our regular walk across...

Hayfield, Kinder Downfall and Kinder Low A better day than forecast, and by the end of the day it was beautiful and sunny. After leaving the Trespass Car Park it was lovely to see some signs of spring as we made our way up past the Kinder Reservoir. A quick break above the Kinder Reservoir. Kinder on the skyline We then took the long walk up William Clough, climbing through quite a lot of water, presumably the heavy snow last week contributed to the wet. On the way up William Clough- the dry bit! South Head and Mount Famine on the skyline At the top of the clough we stopped for a snack and to admire the view and made the final ascent to the plateau and the big cairn. Looking back to Mill Hill from the Kinder Plateau We made our way around to The Downfall, where we had our lunch, and walked on to get a view of The Downfall itself- flowing impressively. The waterfall had been nearly dry for most of the recent times we'd been there. The Kinder Downfall waterfall flowing as it should W...