I've always been very fond of Curbar Edge.
As a kid I was excited by tales of Roman Roads, scrambly rocks, and being told to keep away from the edge. As a teenager I climbed routes on the gritstone crags, and bouldered on the low rocks. I even slept out there overnight in a bivvy bag.
I usually walk the edge as a there-and-back walk, but having read a circular walk described in a number of walk books, and faced with a washout inaugural Korean Formula1 Grand Prix, I grabbed dog and walking gear, and headed out.

My intended walk is detailed on the Snap The Peaks site Here.

Curbar Gap carpark was pretty quiet when I got there around 9am. Frost still lying in the shade, clear blue skies, no wind. Beautiful weather for a walk. Sadly I had forgotten my camera, so was stuck with the iPhone.

I wandered along Curbar then Frogatt Edges, following the Roman Road.  This runs for about 2 miles, with views over the Peak District and ultimately across to Stanedge Edge and Carl Wark.

Eventually after passing a large rock by Froggatt Edge, the path dips a little, and enters a woodland of Silver Birch, then eventually drops down to the road at the edge of the Longshaw Estate.

After crossing the road to the Haywood, we dropped steeply down the wooded valley to the bridge at Grindleford.
I got lost at this point. Hands up.
There is a sign on the left just before the bridge indicating that the path passes through a field. I entered the field, and given the choice between a muddy diagonal path and a gravelled riverside track, I took the river route. Mistake. The track ends at a Severn Trent building, and none of the gates at that end of the field lead further on.
Annoyingly, as soon as I realised my mistake, I remembered this had also happened last time I was down this way :( Retracing my steps, there is a muddy slither across to the edge of Horse Hay wood, and a nice cobbled path. We made good time and soon popped out into fields with a view up to Froggatt Edge.

Confession time #2.  I was fed up of muddy paths through fields with no views at this point. Faced with a roadway in Froggatt, I took the decision to head straight up the hill. A very narrow and steep public footpath took me back up to the road below the edge, which I crossed, and climbed to a path which runs parallel to the edge, along a wall.
I could hear the climbers above me, but could not see a good path up towards the bottom of the rocks. Eventually the woods thinned, and I was out among birch and bracken.

There were climbers visible on the edge between the trees. Again, kicking myself for forgetting the camera, here.


We were soon out among the rocks, and the dog took an interest in a "cave" formed by a few large slabs leaning against each other.

The chalk marks are from climbers "bouldering" - clambering about on tiny holds, inches from the ground, with a crash mat beneath. It's good fun and a great way to build technique, without having to faff about with ropes.

Passing a few abandoned millstones (it's not called "Millstone Grit" rock for nothing), we climbed back up to the edge by a climbers' descent path, and headed back to the car.
I think in future I'll stick to the top.  I was wondering about extending up towards Carl Wark / Stanedge. That would be a much better route.

Saturday morning 04:30, and after an accidental wine-fuelled late night, my alarm goes off. I grab my gear and a coffee, nearly forget my drinks bladder, and am just about ready when my lift to Wales arrives.
We're booked in to the Pen Y Pass youth hostel for that evening, and the plan is to get there for 8am, climb Snowdon by Pyg and Miners' paths, and retire to the bar. Options on Carnedd Ugain and Y Lliwedd, depending upon time and conditions.


Things didn't quite pan out that way. The Manchester ring road was closed near to Manchester Airport. We had sat-nav problems and a poorly signposted detour, which caused no end of grief. Eventually we found our way along the North Wales coast (via a McBreakfast and a SatNav special over a mountain through a forest) and arrived at Pen Y Pass about 10am. Two hours behind schedule.
Nowhere to park, so we ended up 2 miles (and 500ft) down the valley near Nant Peris.
Clearly shuttle buses are for girls, so we yomped back up to P-Y-P in about 40 minutes, and hit the Pyg.

Oh My God. The Pyg track was like Princes Street in the run up to Christmas. I had an older lady snapping up my heels to the extent that she actually pushed my rucksack as I stepped my way up the initial steep section. Getting out of their way, it transpired that they were an organised party with a guide, who was a clueless idiot. He made them put on all their layers and frog-marched them up to the bwlch. when I arrived they were a sweaty mess of complaints. Always set off cold - I was in a t-shirt and warming through nicely.

This was our first view of the route. The Pyg starts on the outside of the arm which becomes the Crib Goch ridge. As you cross at the bwlch the view opens up. Snowdon summit is briefly visible, as is Llyn Llydaw and Y Llywedd across the other side.

Once the pushy party were away off up to Crib, things improved and everyone spaced out as they got into their natural walking rhythm. The path runs almost flat until it gets up above Glaslyn below the summit, then climbs steeply.

We had considered our route carefully, and opted for Pyg and Miners' because it offers a horseshoe walk with accommodation near the start/end. We hadn't planned on an epic road walk at either end. We had considered Crib Goch, especially after enjoying Halls Fell so much, but given the mixed forecast had decided against it. Talking to walkers on Carnedd Ugain, Crib was extremely busy, and was frustrating to fast and slow walkers alike.

The cloud base was moving down as we walked, and Crib Goch above us vanished into the murk. Correct route choice in avoiding that!

The steeper section at the head of the valley caused problems for the walkers who weren't used to rocky mountain paths. The initial sections are "built" paths - basically a paved highway. The steeper sections are exposed bedrock with occasional sections of jagged exposed slate ends. There are also some sloping wet slabs which must be crossed - this would be dicey in winter. Walking poles seemed to be a hindrance to those using them. There were one or two bits where a hand on the rock gives extra confidence.

High on the Pyg above where the Miners joined in we came across this pole. A Telegraph pole with coins wedged into all the gaps. Very odd.

The top of the Pyg is marked by this large slate stone. Carnedd Ugain is shown behind it - our first summit for the day.
Sadly this is also the point where you join the chav superhighway coming up from Llanberis, and the parallel traintrack.
The cloud had risen at this point, so we set off to the summit, and away from the crowds heading to Snowdon.

We climbed Carnedd Ugain up a slope covered in jagged slate rubble. Fantastic summit with views over Crib Goch and back across to Snowdon.

The Sodding Train.   The track runs up parallel to the Llanberis path to the new Hayfod Eyri complex at the summit of Snowdon.

We buckled down and pressed on towards the summit of Snowdon. We could see a train coming up from down the valley, and as it is common for there to be queues at the summit cairn, we decided to press on quickly, despite cramping thighs.

The view back down the Pyg, with Llyn Llydaw and Glaslyn - before the clouds closed in.


As we neared the summit, the weather turned. The clouds which had lifted during the morning descended rapidly, and visibility dropped to a few feet. We raced up the steps to the heavily constructed summit cairn, and tagged the summit through the crowd.
Below us lay the cafe and train station. The Hayfod Eyri centre. It was awful. Water tanks and scaffolding restricted access to the south face. There was a queue of over 20 minutes for coffee, and the line ran out of the door. A train had just arrived, and the little old ladies were all complaining at the lack of a view.
Gangs of muscle-bound morons were quaffing lager, and the whole place stank of toilets, testosterone, and steam trains.
We decided to find a quiet-ish patch of rock, have a break, and see if things improved.
Eventually the weather lifted, and we set off in search of the path to Y Lliwedd, and a descent down the southern arm of the cwm.

Unfortunately, the weather closed back in at this point, and we were unable to find the top of the path. We retraced our steps back to the top of the Pyg ready for a descent by the Miners' Path

After a rapid descent down the rocky Miners' Path, pausing only to rescue a distressed child who had been left to fend for herself halfway down a crag by her parents, we arrived at Glaslyn, having dropped out of the weather. 
Glaslyn has a beach, which was full of resting walkers sunbathing and taking a dip in the bright green water. The water colouration is a result of contamination with copper from mining work. Not sure i'd be swimming in that.

The path follows around the line of Glaslyn and the twin lakes of Llyn Lydaw with it's causeway. There are old mine buildings along the shore of the lake.

We followed the Miners' Path back around the end of the valley and back to Pen Y Pass

After checking in at the Youth Hostel, only a 2 mile road walk back down to Nant Peris stood between us and a meal in the Vaynol Arms.
Finished off with a number of pints of nutritious Guiness in the hostel bar :D
After 12 miles and over 3500ft of ascent, then descent, we figured we'd earned it. Even the YHA beds were comfortable (if 6" too short for adult males).

Next morning looked like this -

We had to be out of the Pen Y Pass carpark by 9am to avoid getting a parking ticket, so we headed down the Llanberis Pass.

The carpark on the lake at Llanberis is cheap - 70p for an hour.

And ideally situated for a breakfast and a pint of tea at Pete's Eats, top climber's cafe. Free wifi, and they even offer showers (£2 with soap and towel) and accommodation for walkers and climbers.

Towards the end of September 2010 I climbed Blencathra, nr Keswick in The Lake District.
This pic was found on Google image search as I forgot to set the scene. All other images are from the trip.

Blencathra has a special significance to me for a number of reasons. My Dad lived and worked in a hospital on the side of Blease Fell when he first left home. Blencathra dominates the A66 coming in to Keswick from Newcastle, and I have often looked up at it in awe. I have attempted to climb the mountain before, but the weather intervened.

The route we took was a circular walk from Threlkeld, up Halls Fell, across the summit heading west to Blease Fell. While on the summit we took an excursion over to the top of Sharp Edge to look at Scales Tarn.
Halls Fell is a rocky ridge which leads directly to the summit of Blencathra. It narrows as you climb, and becomes a bit scrambly.

We parked at Threlkeld and after a pleasant stroll through a wooded valley and across fields and streams we reached the bottom of the fell. The lower slopes were smooth and steep, but the wind was gusty, and there were threatening clouds coming from the west. We could see rain on Skiddaw. As we climbed the ground became rockier, and the ridge narrowed.

Fortunately the winds dropped, and the threatened rain did not arrive. Doubly fortunate, as our route-finding was awful as we tried to avoid the difficulties, and in so doing created larger problems of our own.

I was resorting to using my buff to keep the wind out of my ears – hence the “bad hat”. In the above picture I’d just had a foothold collapse, and pulled a handhold clean off the rock. This is why I have the look of concern.

The views back across towards the Dodds, Helvellyn range, Keswick and Derwent water were superb.

The descent over Blease Fell had great views over the back of Skiddaw and the crags on the eastern side. The views across Keswick and Derwent Water continued to impress, but the route was simply an extremely steep drop down a grassy ramp. I fell a number of times, and was glad to get back onto the flat.

We had made a decision in planning that we would stop overnight in a “Camping Pod” at the NT campsite at Low Wray. This was christened “The hobbit hole”.

The hut was great – clean, dry, etc – but I suffered LiLo failure before midnight. The heavens opened shortly afterwards, and this, combined with the noise of the geese, did not make for a restful night.

Not sure what the best solution is for this type of expedition – drive back shattered, or try something like a Youth Hostel next time.