Friday 13th - A Misty walk on Winter Hill

Friday, March 13th was the first chance I had had to return to Winter Hill and find Pete37038's cache that was placed in January, you know the one - I'm Slipping, just a short walk down Deans Ditch from the Transmitter. I parked at the car park on George's Lane and walked along Belmont Road to the path the goes around the back of the mount that Rivington Pike is on. As I walked around the mount the mist was so dense that I couldn't see Rivington Pike. I left the path here I took to the open moor. There is a rough path from many people walking to the transmitter that you can follow and this was extremely muddy in places. Five days earlier there was a cache published that was along this path so I took the opportunity to grab it as well. This was In the middle of nowhere, thats the cache name and its true to its word. It was a straight forward find once I was looking in the right place. I sat on the small bridge while signing the log and then it was onward towards the top of the hill and I'm Slipping. The only reference I had as I couldn't see the transmitter or the pike was the elevation reading on my GPSr and the OS Map that I was carrying. On arriving at the top I took a quick photo, the one above, of the maintenance cradle for the transmitter and still no sign of it. I continued around to Deans Ditch and followed the wall down to the cache site. This is the third time that I have been along here. The first time was to get a FTF on Egg Hillock and then a return visit to get Counting Hill as I missed it the first time round. One arriving at the cache site I looked for about 5 minutes and then spotted it peeping out from under the hint on the other side of the wall. I signed the log and took a geocoin out before return the cache and heading back along Dean's Ditch. I decided to take the path over Smithills Moor instead of just going down the road. This would give me the opportunity to try to find Will Yo' Come O' Sunday Morning. Passing the shooting lodge I got a phone call from Pete number for a phone a friend which soon had him finding the cache he was looking for. I was successful in find Will Yo' Come O' Sunday Morning and it didn't take me long either. The last time I was here the ground was covered in snow and my hands were freezing with the cold. It was then time to head back to the car which was a simple walk along Coal Pit Lane and then taking the footpath over to Winter Hill Road and then down the hill to Wilderswood and the car. The track can be viewed here on Wikiloc.