Stuart and I both independently came up with the idea of a jaunt around Kinder last weekend, which made deciding on a route much easier. What also helped was that I’d Googled “scrambles in the Peak District” and found Nether Red Brook for some added interest.

Apparently a Grade I scramble, we had no idea what was in store because the cloud hid everything from view on our ascent from the Snake Inn road up Ashop Clough. We broke off south at what looked like the right location on the map, and soon things got a bit rockier. The downside was that the vegetation level didn’t really diminish!

We slithered our way up the rather slimy river bed, eventually skirting one distinctly greasy and holdless step to pop out on the plateau. Stuart was very gracious and didn’t complain, but perhaps I’ll invest in some sort of guide instead of an internet search next time!

Once on the top we followed a bearing over typical Kinder terrain, up and down groughs, and still in cloud. We hit the Downfall almost exactly as planned, and then ambled over the middle to the top of Crowden Clough. Despite the rather inclement weather there were a few people around, although most were fairly miserable looking DofE or school groups! Skirting the edge around Grindsbrook we took a good path north again to Blackden Brook.

Sticking along the edges (still no view, but it seemed like cheating to descend), we passed a few more people sheltering from the wind with their sandwiches. We eventually found Fairbrook Naze in the mist and soon regained visibility on the final descent back to the River Ashop.

A leisurely return trip was embarked upon, with a stop at Grindleford to check out the carnival and then partake of some cake at the station cafe. So it seems that “great minds think alike enjoy running and like cake“.