Lose Hill to Mam Tor at Dusk

Tuesday 3rd September 2013 

An evening walk along the Lose Hill to Mam Tor ridge 

Distance: 9.5km; Ascent: 380m; Dry with a clear sky; Solo

See tracked route in new window

This evening I decided to return to an old favourite: the ridge walk between Lose Hill and Mam Tor.  On a lovely sunny day it can get unpleasantly busy up here for my liking, so it's quite nice to walk up here in the evening when you hardly see anyone else!  I set off walking from near the Blue John Cavern shortly before 7pm following the old road, which had been destroyed by a landslip many years ago - Mam Tor is not called the shivering mountain for nothing!

Near the hairpin bend I picked up a footpath up to Hollins Cross, where I emerged from the shade for the first time on this walk.  There were good views from here with the sun already quite low in the sky reminding me the summer has ended!

Looking east from Hollins Cross

Back Tor

Bypassing the next hill to the south I soon reached Back Tor, from where I watched the sun set behind the western edge of Kinder Scout.

Sunset from Back Tor

Sunset from Back Tor

I continued along the ridge to reach the viewpoint indicator on the summit of Lose Hill, where I stopped for a quick break whilst admiring the post-sunset sky.

On Lose Hill at dusk

I descended southwards to pick up the path that traverses below Back Tor, so as to make the walk slightly more circular (or should that be figure of eight?).  It was quite gloomy in Brockett Booth woods, so I was pleased when I returned to the ridge and continued along the path to reach the summit of Barker Bank.  Continuing on past Hollins Cross I noticed lights ahead on Mam Tor, which turned out to be two other hill walkers also out for an evening stroll.

Soon I reached the summit of Mam Tor (Dewey), where I stopped for a while for a spot of stargazing by the trigpoint, before descending back down to the car after an excellent evening walk :-)

See also my Social Hiking live map from the walk.