Kinder Scout is a Marmite sort of a place either you love it or you hate it. Set in the heart of the Dark Peak of the UK's Peak District National Park, its the high point of the Peak District, Derbyshire and East Midlands. A bleak moorland plateau full of peat, it looks as if someone has sliced the summit off with a knife. While its edges are dotted with weird and wonderful rock formations, sculptured by wind and rain, that make you feel if you've wandered into an giant outdoor workshop of the likes of Henry Moore. High, wild and remote, a full circuit of its summit edges is not a light undertaking, particularly in poor weather. Thankfully we had a clear, if breezy, day for our epic undertaking. In contrast to my previous outing on this route, where I managed to get sun-burnt, drenched by rain and lashed by hail in the space of a few hours.
However its most striking and well know rock features are relatively easily accessible on far shorter walks from the Vale of Edale and perhaps it most well-know feature of all the Kinder Downfall Waterfall. Where, under the right conditions, the water flows uphill, thanks to the prevailing winds. It's also popular with ice-climbers when it freezes in winter. Edale itself famously marks the start of the Pennine Way, a challenging 19 day national trail, that runs along the backbone of England to the Scottish borders.
Thankfully on this particular occasion we didn't have to wait 19 days for a celebratory pint in the pub to mark the end of our walk.