Walk 04/2007 – Hope, Jaggers Clough, Edale and Lose Hill

Sunday 11th February 2007

Ups and Downs

This was a walk with ups and downs of all types. As we drove towards Hope there was still a reasonable amount of the recent snow lying (an up). We parked in the overpriced car park of Hope (a down) making a mental note to park for free near the school next time we are there. After a while we stopped to don some light waterproofs and in doing so Owen realised he had left his very new digital camera on the car bonnet for all to see (a big down). The decision was to carry on with the walk “it’ll be gone now” was the consensus. The route on leaving Hope saunters through some pretty but muddy lowland scenery, passing small farms, through wooded glades and small gurgling streams.

Shortly after our soup stop taken in one of the glades, we entered Jaggers Clough which climbs up on to the open moor land. The narrow, partially snow covered path, hugs a stream coming down the clough which was swollen with snow melt and in places large icicles hung from the shaded rocks. There were a number of slippery crossings of the stream requiring a helping hand or two and at one point Thomas decided it was time for his annual shower and decided to plunge backwards into a large pool (a big down). After a couple of ‘fed up’ moments Thomas continued manfully upwards, even seeing the funny side of it later on and as he said “it put me outside of my comfort zone”. Graham and Colin reminded Owen a couple of times what excellent photo opportunities he was missing.

It took us longer than expected to reach the top of Jaggers Clough but everyone had enjoyed doing some ‘hands on’ scrambling. There were some lovely snowy views (an up), in the now clear sunny skies and we were able to see our route up to Hollins Cross, Back Tor and Lose Hill (definitely ups and downs). At one point we were joined by some walkers who had luckily picked up Graham’s GPS which he hadn’t even realised was missing (a down and up!).

After a late lunch it was decided to break into two groups, the advance party to speed up Hollins Cross (an up) from Edale, along the ridge to Lose Hill (another up) before descending to Hope to collect the cars and pick up the others from Edale. Back at the car park there was a note on Owen’s car “Have you lost something” and a phone number; the camera was saved (a big up).

The rear guard also ascended to Hollins Cross to take in more great views before retiring to a local hostelry.

Graham

Walk rating – Excellent (as said by the advance party who all enjoyed Jaggers Clough)

A wintry landscape greets us as we set off from Hope.	More wintry scenery.
We start the ascent along Jaggers Clough.	Jaggers Clough looks an inviting place in the right light.
Thomas decides this walking (scrambling) lark is not quite as easy as he thought.	The terrain doesn’t get any easier as we get further up the clough.
But once at the top there are some good views.	View towards Win Hill and Lose Hill.
A view back towards Edale and Kinder above.	For the slow group, the evening sun makes Back Tor and Lose Hill look inviting as we return to Edale.