The Boggiest Summit

Starting from Buckden, today’s plan was to bag a couple of Nuttalls that overlook the very pretty Wharfedale with Yockenthwaite Moor being first on the list.

I followed the Dales Way on the bank of the River Wharfe to Hubberholme before the first uphill of the day, a good track up to Scar House.  Above the intake wall I never saw another person all day.

I roughly followed a way close to the walls at the side of Strans Gill but staying out of the fenced-off areas enclosing new plantations as part of a Langstrothdale initiative.  None of the recently erected fences were marked on the map but they didn’t add any difficulty to the navigation needed to head towards the summit Yockenthwaite Moor.  The Nuttalls suggest following the wall to its end and then undertake some bog-hopping among the peat hags but I had aimed off and took a more direct route towards the top.  As I neared the trig point in the mist, the hags just to the east assumed a formidable obstacle.  Taking a straight route was impossible and it was a serious challenge to keep my feet dry and avoiding plunging into the peat.  I reached the trig point without much incident but the Nuttalls’ assessment that this is “the boggiest hill in Yorkshire” appeared to have some merit.

Yockenthwaite Moor trig point

Leaving the top and negotiating some more peat hags I took aim for the small building marked on the map.  This turned out to be an abandoned shepherd’s bothy with no roof but it otherwise appeared to be a sturdy structure on an isolated and windswept hillside.  It is worth noting that an approach to the summit directly from the south rather than from the east would be a little more enjoyable and easier on the feet.

I continued to the group of four tarns marked on the Ordnance Survey’s Explorer map only to find them completely dry.  I managed to take some screenshots of my GPS track showing me having walked through the two biggest!

I descended past a limestone crag and having dropped out of the mist I could see the way ahead, up Hagg Beck towards Birks Fell.  This was my plan at the start of the day but I couldn’t steel myself to take on another sizeable slope uphill, especially into the murk, so I decided to leave that summit for another day.

The Dales Way back to Hubberholme was a very pleasant low-level walk with upper Wharfedale showing off its charms with various some falls within the river.  Perhaps I should consider the Dales Way as a route once my legs get too old for the hills!