Some weeks preparation had gone into this 'laning trip to the Peak District... so it was with some trepidation we met up on the Sunday morning, at 8am!, in a railway station car park-
3 Jimnys, and my Vitara "Stealth", the Jimny's belonged to Brett and Gary who had put their heads together and planned our routes for the day, so that's the two green Jimnys - they look like a pair, but Gary's has a spare wheel on the door (luckily! - read on) and Brett's doesn't - the fourth vehicle, a red Jimny is piloted by our "old" mate Andy ;) :p
There's Stealth... replacement alternator and battery fitted a few days ago, so he's ready for a good day's greenlaning... or should that read "white" laning... as there's a fair bit of snow on the ground already!...
And so, 8am in the morning, we'd planned an early start to make the most of the daylight! It'll be going dark around four, so that gives us a good few hours...
The streets are quiet at this time of the morning! Luckily! As there's still snow on the roads...
Going out to our first lane of the day, look at the white countryside!
Picturesque anytime of year, but the Peak District looks particularly nice today with a blanket of snow...
Our first lane of the day then... The Roych Clough... note that we're going the opposite way to the arrows though, (Roych is the left hand of the two lanes in the above map)... it's snowing, so of course we decide to go the hard way! LOL
That may sound a bit flippant and fool-hardy but, we'd planned to do the roughest lanes first and get them out of the way before there was more snow falling, and it gave us plenty of time to get out if anything did go wrong... not that it would though, we all came well equipped with provisions, clothing, rescue kit, and well equipped vehicles - my Vit runs twin LSDs, Brett and Gary's Jimnys have both rear lockers and rock crawler boxes, and Andy's Jimny as a rockcrawler box but no locker (yet?)... so we well up to it.
Sooo, onto the lane...
Nice thick snow!
Errr, there's a useful signpost! LOL
Dropping down into the valley, stunning scenery!
We'll eventually end up at the bottom in the middle of the picture and then climb up that slope to the right...
Here we are at the bottom... little stream, and through the gate...
Stealth with Gary behind, with his passenger for the day "Dave", or as Gary knows him... "Dad" ;)
No passenger for me, as I thought it was too long a day, and too cold, for my laning partner, "Cadbury" my Labrador, who is now 11, or 77 in doggy years, so I left the pensioner at home in the warm with his "teenage" housemate "Fudge" who is 2, or 14 in doggy years, so he's a bit of a handful! ;)
Andy's caught up too now...
Brett starts to climb... our leader for the day, is was the hardest job - one I didn't envy - as he had to pick the routes on the ground with out being able to see what was under the snow... superb job he did though, many thanks to you Brett! ;)
Brett sailed up, the locker doing the business, I must admit I had a few goes a the rock step in the middle, making it up on the third attempt...
Here comes Andy, third in the queue by now... Gary's coming up last, as he's carrying our gateman for the day... good on yer' Dave ;)
Here they come...
Nice these Jimnys aren't they? If I didn't own Bits4Vits I might be tempted...
Looking back down the lane... ahhh, excuse Brett, he always wears shorts when we go laning, and today was no exception! He said he would, and he did!, albeit over some warmer clothing!
Andy's struggling up the icy rock step, he's got crawler gears but lacking a bit of traction...
It's a tough lane in the dry though, never mind with snow and ice...
So I back Stealth back down again, it has it's uses... today it's a ground anchor! You can just make out the winch cable in the snow...
I couldn't get out and take pictures as I was standing on the brakes! So I used the wing mirror! ;) Here's Andy lining up...
Halfway up, nearly there...
Another tug and he's over the top of the rock step...
Ah, yes, this rock step!
Thanks to Gary for that picture, his are the smaller photos with the dates on them, cheers for them mate, and thanks to Brett for the maps too! ;)
Garycomes up, locker and crawlers, so no problems there...
And we're all up safely and onto the top...
Picturesque isn't it?
So, that was us back onto the road, up a bit and then we turned off onto our next lane...
Chapel Gate! Gulp... in this?
LOL... it's snowing again, and it's a bit of a white-out!
Up we go...
Few nice rock steps on the way...
Errr, where's the scenery gone?
My view to the right out of the driver's window... white, white and more white...
Bit of a sideslope Andy? ;)
Brett still intrepidly picking the line for us...
Wow! There's a view for you!
Nice and rocky (deceptively obscured by a blanket of snow)
Andy on the side slopes again...
Errr.... we stop to survey the terrain...
Lined up ready to come down...
Brett leading the way again...
You can just make out on the mountain right in front of us where someone has skied down it!
Brett's stopped to survey the route and pick a line again... as I follow him down...
We have to mount the bank on the left without sliding into the ditch on the right...
And down through a gulley of rock steps...
Looking back at Andy coming down...
Ummm, errrr, it's 9am, it's freezing, and snowing... and there's a group of walkers coming up the other way! Hardened die-hards, got to respect their guts for venturing out in this weather! We stop to let them pass, and get a few cheery waves, but not from everyone, shame... we all have a right to use these routes...
They're passed, and again we have to mount the bank without sliding into the ditch...
Safely sown, and it's blowing snow like a blizzard! And they're walking into it!
We stop at the bottom for a warm drink, and Gary fixes the accelerator cable on his Jimny, that has worked loose...
My Christmas pose! LOL... yes, I was wearing a Santa hat all day... it's the Sunday before Christmas and it's cold... two reasons to wear it! ;)
Hot Asparagus soup...!
Quick break, and we're back in the trucks and off again...
Andy opens the interestingly terrained gate opening!
"Back to tarmac", Brett says, "Where?" we wonder... it's under there somewhere! LOL
Third lane of the day, "Dirtlow Rake", sandy moorland as I remember it last time I drove it...
But today, it's all white...
And a blizzard...
Errr... lone mountainbiker...?
... in a blizzard of snow... hence the term "pushbike" ??? ;)
It's now cleared up (for a bit) and the sun even ventures out...
Following Gary this time...
Little lane below "Brough"...
... nothing to taxing, but a nice lane...
... and a ford at the end...
Fifth lane of the day, "Burbage Moor"...
... again not too taxing... note the lone walker in the distance...
Few rocks, but a nice scenic drive in the snow...
I can see the mainroad on the Sat Nav...
Here it is...
Sixth lane, a little BOAT we thought we'd have a look at...
On our way, still a white-out, and the roads are snowing over...
Start of the lane and there's a hand-cranked tricycle going up in front of us...
Further up we find a motorist who's slipped back on the slope and come to a halt against a wall... no damage to his rear wing luckily, so we - or rather Brett with our assistance - tug him out and up the hill enough to where the head of the red arrow is on the map, so that we can push him round and see him slide back down the lane... errr, only there's someone else coming up (why we don't know!) so Brett winches him up too, we turn him round and watch him slide into a ditch as he applies his brake on the way down, despite being told by us to drive with his gears rather than his brakes... why do they venture out in this weather when they haven't got a clue how to drive in the snow and ice?! Anyway, we get him out of the ditch and watch that he gets back to the road safely... we rescued a few vehicles before the day was out!!! LOL
The BOATs a surprisingly good drive, didn't get any photos as I was steering! LOL
Backon the road, and approaching a hamlet in the snow...
Then onto another big, notorious lane - "Stanage Edge"...
Reservoir to the left has been emptied for maintenance work...
Hoohoo, my favourite sign! ;)
Up we go...
The monument at the top...
Errr, another white-out blizzard... we stop and discuss whether we really want to do Stanage in this weather... it's heart in your mouth most times of the year... but we get a vote of 4/4 to do it... so on we go...
Stanage Edge is a rocky outcrop ledge on the side of a steep valley... luckily I've ended up last in the group...
Big proper rocks... ;)
Mad? Yes, we are all mad-keen 'laners...
Nice view of the drop down...
Making good progress... slow and steady...
Spectacular scenery...
Oooh, there's a holdup and the cameras are out!
Brett's grounded on a rock (photos courtesy of Gary again) out comes the Hi-Lift (into one of the "spokes" of the GV wheels fitted to Brett's Jimny) and...
... a rock is inserted to allow the underside to clear the obstacle...
Unbeknowingly, I've decided to take some pictures while the queue clears!
The snow's stopped for a bit, and nice to get some photos of Stealth on Stanage...
Handsome devil isn't he?
Ahh, we're moving again... over slippy rocks :D
Looking back up...
And down... one of the best lanes in the UK?
Ahhh, approaching ground level...
And it starts puthering again... LOL, apparently it's an expression used in this area to describe some good snowfall... I learnt it off an old mate (Hi to Adrian Foster if he ever reads this) many years ago... so there's a new word for your vocabulary "puthering" with snow...
Andit certainly is puthering!
Ummm, we've christened this lane "Slippery Lane"...
It's still puthering it down as we turn onto the lane... we stop for another warm drink break... and then start down the lane...
Only it's like a slippery slide crossed with a bumpy rollercoaster... and your brakes have little effect, apart from making you slide some more... at this point I decide to bail out, and stuff Stealth into the bank on the right, and promptly get stuck... spinning as I try to reverse out...
Meanwhile... Gary's slid into the back of Andy, and Andy's spare wheel has taken out his rear window!!!
I finally manage to get out using waffle boards to get some traction... and then, once back on the lane have no way of stopping, so a slide down uncontrollably before Gary's Jimny finally brings me to a halt... sh!t! Now I'm imbedded into the back of Gary's truck... it's all gone tits-up! But, remember at the top how I described the difference between the two green Jimny's of Gary and Brett... the spare tyre! Luckily that took most of the impact of my Vit ploughing into the back of Gary's Jimny...
I go back and retrieve my waffles with help from the other Dave (Gary's Dad - come on, keep up!), and then wait in the queue...
There's only one way down, and that's one at a time like an insane fast rollercoaster... brakes have no effect other than to make you slip faster down the slope... so it's low box and engine braking and hang on for dear life... as after that crest in the above photo it's down hill and fairly steep...
It's a bit like sledging in a Zook!
Exhilarated, we gather at the bottom, and amazingly - well you do at this sort of thing, don't you - we have a laugh about it?!
Little to Great Hucklow... a snowy meander up a hill...
Nothing taxing, but after what we've just been through it's a welcome break!
Thick snow by now, but no problem in a well equipped Zook ;)
Last lane of the day, as the light is starting to fade... it's around three by now?
I'm in the lead somehow, after we gathered in the village after the last lane, and Brett guides me by remote control, or as we call it "CB" down to this road? Road? WTF? Where's the road? LOL
And onto the lane...
It was a nice steep bumpy rise up the hill, but again - unfortunately - I was too busy hanging onto the steering wheel to take photos...!
Headlights now on, as the lights fading, so we decide to call it a day, once this lane's finished...
Interesting sign as you pass through the farmyard... shame all of greenlaning couldn't be like this? Signs to show where the byways are, etc...?
And then, the final adventure of the day... making our way home... it's getting dark, the roads are terrible, and other motorists flying along with disregard to their own and others safety... we even got overtaken at one point?!
We came back over ??? which was treacherous... only 4x4s up there... heart-in-your-mouth driving as you put all of your concentration into driving safely through the rutted snow...
But, obviously we made it back, a superb day, excellent scenery and company, my thanks to all the guys - Brett, Gary and Dave, and Andy... fantastic! Where we going next then? ;)
