With Mountain Leader training booked for April I thought it about time to practice some navigation and head out to Edale for a couple of hours in the dark on Kinder Plateau. The plan was to climb up to the summit of Kinder Scout and wait for darkness. Then I would visit Kinder Downfall before trying to find my way back to the car avoiding paths where ever possible.
With very favorable weather I parked just outside Upper Booth and head over to Edale on the Pennine Way. This is not the fastest route to the top but I had wanted to visit the crags at Nether Tor and Upper Tor to establish their suitability for a future climb. From Edale it’s a quick climb to Ringing Rodger and over Nether Tor. When I reached the top of the crags I couldn’t see an obvious route to the base of the climbs so a little down climbing was in order.
Once at the crag base, all the routes from the guide book were identified but none would be in any condition to climb as they were very green. From the base, the route back to the top was obvious and an easy scramble led over to the next crag, Upper Tor.
Upper Tor was in much better condition and the routes look very steep but with big holds and grades starting at Hard Servere (HS).
From the crag my first real navigation practice was to start with a walk on a bearing to find the summit, something that was harder than I expected and still in daylight with good visibility. I estimated the time to be about 45 minutes and set off. Withing 5 minutes I decided to adjust my timing! The top of Kinder is a peat bog with water run off channels occuring every few metres, running in various directions and up to 3 metres deep. Some I could cross while maintaining my bearing but many required I walk around them slowing my overall pace and having to adjust my bearing each time.
I arrived at the summit just as the sun was setting and after a short wait set off in darkness for my next target, Kinder Downfall. Crossing the peat bogs now became a real challenge as it was harder to judge if they would support me as I walked and, several times, I was up to my knees in cold wet peat. Finding the waterfall was very easy in the end as the closer I got the louder the sound of the water became. After the difficulty of crossing the plateau I decided to stay closer to the edge and took a bearing so I would short cut the recognised path and meet Jacob’s Ladder at the base of the valley.
Once back at the car I reflected that I was fortunate to have good visibility due to clear skies and a full moon. Much of my route finding and decision making was confirmed using the major features of ridges and peaks. My day would have been much longer in low cloud and I can fully undertand why at least 8 people have had to be rescued already this year due to being lost.
Rich S
No comments:
Post a Comment