Hayfield Walk March 26th


The forecast wasn’t good for today with rain in the offing from 11 am but for the 12 people who turned up for this walk at Hayfield the start wasn’t bad at all. We set off on a short section of the Calico Trail before commencing the stiff ascent of Lantern Pike. By the time we reached the summit the wind was beginning to make itself felt but at that point we didn’t have any problems with it.

After our coffee stop we descended to Charlestown before walking through a short section of attractive woodland before beginning  the long climb to the trig point on Harry Hut at 441m. By the time we got there it had started to rain a little and the wind was getting stronger so cags  and hats were donned before we continued uphill to reach the flag stoned path leading to the summit of Mill Hill at 544m. Visibility had worsened but it was decided to continue on, climbing steeply up the stepped path leading to Kinder Edge before hoping to find some rocks to shelter in for our dinner stop.

By now the wind was getting really ferocious and we had to make do with the shelter given by some peat hags. It was after we set off again that the wind really hit us. It was gale force, knocking us off our feet and making progress very difficult.  Luckily for Gareth, Emma managed to rescue his hat which had blown away, fortunately towards the moor and not over the edge. After struggling for about 20 to 25 minutes a decision was made to turn back and descend William Clough in an attempt to get out of the awful wind. No-one queried the decision or wanted to carry on with the original route which would have taken us at least 2 more hours battling along to Kinder Low and Jacob’s Ladder.

The descent down William Clough is not the easiest way off the fell as you have to be so careful watching where you walk but we were more sheltered now and it got better the further we descended. By the time we got down to Bowden Bridge it seemed more like a spring afternoon but the rain put in another appearance just as we got back to the cars and on the motorway home the heavens really opened making us glad we weren’t still on the fells.

To see who came on the walk press the photo below

To see the other photos please press https://picasaweb.google.com/115303661440898504826/Hayfield03?authkey=Gv1sRgCLOWvZnzjtrD5AE